NorthBay biz moves beyond the race track to uncover the business side of horse care and maintenance in the North Bay.

It’s probably better that you’re not looking for housing construction errors while on a galloping horse anyway. As Ashley Herman Griffin puts it, “Riding a horse is all about establishing trust: You have to communicate with the horse without talking. And horses are so therapeutic. Yes, they’re often used to benefit the disabled, but I know a woman who teaches leadership classes and uses her horse to demonstrate what it means to take control of a situation.”

“We’re located right on the cusp between Sonoma and Marin County,” says Griffin, the facility’s owner. “Not only have we built a world class show facility, but also central to our vision is showcasing all that both counties have to offer. We’re inviting wineries, local vendors, artists, celebrated chefs, restaurants, farmers as well as the community to participate in our shows.”

Griffin knows what she’s talking about. As a youngster and a teen, she was actively engaged in competitive show jumping at the highest level—in 1997 and ’98, she was national champion junior hunter rider—before burning out at age 18 and heading to Europe to further her education. “The American University in Paris was amazing and life-expanding,” she says with relish. “I was amazed to find that equestrian sports were second only to soccer in Europe. We don’t really market the sport here very well, despite having a jumping team that won gold in the last Summer Olympics!”

She studied art history in Paris (“We had classes in the Louvre!”), then transferred to Parson’s in New York City to study fashion design. From 2004 to 2009, she worked at Goldman Sachs in event management. “I was very detail-oriented and became an expert at organizing large events and conferences. But the horses were calling. Growing up, we owned a barn in Fairfield, and then in 1997, bought Riverside Equestrian Center. My dad wanted to spend a little more time on the golf course, so I came home in February 2009 to help run Riverside and oversee the building of Sonoma Horse Park, which is on a flat, 40-acre parcel that was, essentially, a blank canvas mostly surrounded by Land Trust.

“For 2010, the main events will be the hunter-jumper shows. We hope to host dressage shows and other horse disciplines at Sonoma Horse Park. Additionally, we’d like to have food-and-wine events. It can be an expensive sport, with top horses going for hundreds of thousands of dollars and sometimes more than $1 million, and owners often spend six figures each year to show them in competition. When we get going, the Sonoma Horse Park is going to draw lots of new revenue to Sonoma and Marin county businesses. People who attend these shows are an upscale audience with money to spend. The equine industry in this country is reported to have a $112 billion impact and includes 7 million people and a like number of horses.”

Griffin is proud of Sonoma Horse Park’s connection to Giant Steps, which will receive “all profits from the Giant Steps Charity Classic [August 4 through 8, 2010],” she says. “The highlight of the five-day show will be the $25,000 Carousel Investments Grand Prix & Gala on Saturday. The evening will commence with a Calcutta, followed by a catered dinner, a live and silent auction, entertainment, a riding demonstration by some very inspirational Giant Steps riders and the exciting Grand Prix competition. There’s more than $50,000 in prize money being offered, and some of the West Coast’s finest professional and amateur exhibitors will compete in fantastic events to benefit the organization.”

Big ambitions

Even more ambitious is the new equestrian center planned by the Sonoma County Horse Council, a volunteer-run 501(C)(3) organization of more than 300 members that’s been serving the horse community since 1993. “After winegrapes, horses are the second largest agricultural resource in the county,” says Council President Karl Bastian. “The equine industry represents about three-quarters of grape revenue. It’s also significant that the economic benefit of horses to the county is circular—that is, it stays in the county. A lot of money generated from grapes goes overseas or to other states, but horse money circulates in the county. It goes to the vet, who buys a truck here; the truck salesman buys a horse, needs feed, a cowboy shirt, dressage boots and the like. It’s the best kind of circle.”

What the county really needs, though, says Bastian, is an equestrian center large enough to draw from the nationwide pool of equestrian events. What’s planned is a world class, 1,400-acre venue. “We want to be open in the next four or five years, and have the center completed by 2020 in case San Francisco gets the bid for the Summer Olympics. All manner of breeds and disciplines would have high-end events and shows here. The Draft Horse Classic might be an example, and we’re talking with them and others. We’re looking at seven potential sites and are fortunate to have the dynamic Wanda Smith as project director. A Stanford graduate, she’s been a high-powered project manager at IBM and Hewlett-Packard [where she spearheaded work on ergonomics and usability engineering], so she knows about project development and management. She’s also the author of Horses of Sonoma County.”

The book presents the animal’s colorful history in the county, from the DeTurk Round Barn to Cavonnier (see “Place Your Bets,” Aug. 2007). The photographs are exquisite and the history illuminating, and Smith is an indefatigable proponent for the new Equine Center. “It will provide a huge economic stimulus for the county,” she says with fervor. “Any one of the center’s uses—an all-weather training track, a covered pavilion, a polo field, camping grounds, extensive horse trails, a restaurant, a large animal veterinary hospital, equine museum and a children’s learning center—would have a big impact on its own. But taken all together, the economic impact will be tremendous. Right now, people have to trailer their horses to Sacramento for some of those services. Much better that they can all be obtained right here.”

To the rescue

Another side of equine business includes classes and rescue work. Tracee Beebe owns and runs Sunrise Stables Riding School and Horse Rescue in St. Helena (on Lodi Lane, across the Napa River from Duckhorn Winery). “Our connection to horses goes back to prehistoric time,” she says, her voice pitching up as she talks about her life-long love. “At the outset—this is hard for me to say—the horse was seen merely as a food source. But gradually, we began to see the benefit of some sort of partnership; we found we could take to the hunt faster, more efficiently and more successfully. Thus, the relationship between man and horse was born. Today, we like to say that every person, at one time or another in their lives, wishes he or she owned a horse!”

That idea of relationship remains the key today for Beebe. “When we teach our riding classes, the relationship between rider and horse is paramount—front and center. That’s why I like to say, for the riding school, that we teach horsemanship, not just riding. Anybody can get up on a horse and walk around. But horsemanship is all about the relationship: caring for the horse, understanding the horse, giving the horse guidance and affection.

“We do have a horsemanship team of really dedicated riders who go out to a half-dozen competitions a year. We compete at the ‘local’ level. We see our horses as partners, going out to compete is just another way for us to spend time with our horses in a healthy manner. We have riding classes for kids and for adults, and the theme in all of our classes is about the relationship.”

A big part of Sunrise is rescue work, taking in neglected or abused horses. “We’re fortunate to have as our board of directors a fantastic group of ladies—volunteers who let this operation continue to work. As a nonprofit, we do rely on volunteers, fund-raisers [a Ride-a-Thon at Sunrise Park took place in Napa on May 22], grants and donations to keep things going. Right now, we have eight rescue horses that are supported solely through donations, and we give them the best available food, vitamins, veterinary care, grooming and exercise. We also have a dozen more who are supported by the Riding School. Horses that are rescued by Sunrise are given a forever home here.”

Slowed by lyme disease, Beebe nonetheless remains a steely eyed advocate for her horses. “I’ve been working with horses since I was five years old, and I rescued my first horse with my dad as a teenager,” she says. “When my grandmother made half of this 20-acre parcel available to me in 2003 for the horses [the other half is planted to vineyard], I jumped at the chance. I’d attended a liberal arts college in Virginia where part of the curriculum was horse training, but by that time, I’d already been training for several years. I came back here to get an AA in early childhood education, and have since done some teaching. But I finally realized that the horses needed me more than the kids did, though I do home school my 14-year-old son, Drew, who has acting ambitions. In the end, what I was meant to do was care for horses. It’s what I’m good at.”

Taking care

You can’t talk about the horse business without acknowledging what the animals can do for us on an entirely different and more personal level. Seven years ago, Napa High School English teacher Wendee Walker adopted a bay-colored Mustang she named Yogi for the Yankee baseball player. (Yogi’s show name is “And the Crowd Goes Wild!” but that’s another story.) For the last three years, she’s worked closely with Napa’s Cornerstone Assisted Riding and Equitherapy (CARE), a nonprofit organization located in American Canyon, which provides equine activities for the cognitively and physically challenged.

“When you make a connection with a horse, you don’t leave the troubles of your day-to-day life at the gate,” she says thoughtfully. “You go to the horse, you acknowledge what’s on your mind—verbally or in your head—then you let it go and get with the horse. Because when you’re on or with a horse, you need to be there 100 percent; you can’t be thinking about other things. You have to be absolutely present when you’re with a horse, if you’re not, the horse will know it—and let you know!

“That’s the greatest thing a horse teaches you. If your emotions are incongruent, the horse will not react well. When a horse steps away from you, and turns his backside to you, he’s really saying something. If your mind is elsewhere, there’s no way you can connect with the horse. You can actually see the horse recalibrate his expression.”

A native of Walnut Creek, Walker attended Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where she rode on the polo team. “I’d always loved horses and constantly begged Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and even the Tooth Fairy for a horse! I was desperate. For as long as I can remember, I’ve felt a special connection to animals, especially horses. Growing up, I had some opportunities to ride ponies, but I didn’t get my own horse until I was 37. I adopted a wild Mustang from the Bureau of Land Management. Yogi was completely untrained and, when I looked at him, he would rear up on his hind legs. He taught me to take things very slowly. I read books and watched videos to learn how to teach a wild horse to be calm around people. Horses are herd animals, and they have the ability to bond with their herd and their family of people. To me, he was the most beautiful thing in the world. Within two months, I was touching him all over, leading him and climbing up on his back.”

The upshot is that Yogi now does well in competitive dressage and ranks on the national level. “What’s remarkable,” continues Walker, “is that most of the horses we compete against were bred to do dressage. Yogi is usually the only Mustang at the shows. There are only a dozen other Mustangs registered to compete in United States Dressage Federation events. Yogi has a sensible disposition. It’s as if he asks himself if he really needs to get upset about that loud noise or that blowing plastic. He has a good mind and the physical ability to do the gymnastic dressage movements. He really seems to shine when he has an audience. He’s wise, funny and forgiving.”

Over the past 10 years, Walker has volunteered with various therapeutic horseback riding centers and served as a mentor for the BLM Adopt a Wild Horse or Burro Program. “Working at our therapeutic riding center, I’ve seen people with autism, who would not speak, begin to open up and communicate verbally with the therapy horses. I witnessed the complete transformation of one young man, from throwing a tantrum during his first session to willingly wearing a helmet and using his hands, voice commands and legs to guide his horse around obstacles. The four-beat-walk and the two-beat-trot move the rider’s body in such a way that core muscles are engaged. This rocking motion causes the rider to find and re-find his or her balance. It really works wonders. Horses help therapeutic riding clients improve self esteem, in addition to building neurological pathways and motor skills.”

She notes that horses are beneficial in equine-assisted psychotherapy as well. “Horses are nonjudgmental and, if a person approaches with honesty, they respond with a gentle willingness to let us ask them to do all sorts of things. If people approach with a hardened heart or emotional discord, the horse will often turn and walk away. Horses are sentient beings with opinions. There’s no way we could get them to do the things they’ve done for us for thousands of years by using brute force. When worked with as a partner, horses will give us their whole hearts."

Polo Gives Back

By Shirley Schaufel

The Wine Country Polo Club, located in Oakmont (Santa Rosa), was founded in the late 1960s by Sonoma County businessman—and avid horseman—Henry Trione. It currently consists of 30 players, men and women, from principally Sonoma, Napa, Marin, San Francisco and Solano counties.
Each Polo season, which runs May through October, the Wine Country Polo Club hosts three major charitable events that support important causes in Northern California. Here’s what to catch this year.

June 20: The Wounded Warriors Polo Benefit. Sanctioned by the United States Polo Association, this tournament features some of the top players in Northern California and supports our nation’s injured combat soldiers returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. Sponsored by the Order of St. John, a group of retired Officers of the Armed Forces of the United States and its Allies.

August 29: The National Kidney Foundation Tournament is a favorite cause of the Club’s president, Roger C. Schaufel, and his family, whose young grandson now thrives as a result of kidney transplant surgery.

September 12: Polo in the Wine Country is a special fundraising tournament for Junior Achievement, a local nonprofit organization that prepares young people in Sonoma County for effective careers in the business community.

Throughout history, polo has been a training ground for leaders. Alexander the Great played polo, as did Winston Churchill and George S. Patton. Art attests to the ancient nature of polo, depicting the sport in Persian paintings from 1000 A.D.

Members of the British cavalry witnessed polo in India and became intrigued with the intense mounted competition where mallet control seemed similar to saber strokes. The game matured in England and was later introduced to horsemen in the United States and Argentina.

The attitude of giving back, and of supporting worthy community causes through polo, reflects the spirit of the Wine Country Polo Club, where an ancient sport cultivates leadership in its members.