The week before, Nicolai and I rode out among cattle. We chased calves along the creek and followed the ridge to a quiet spot above the barn. Usually, we are show jumpers, but sometimes we ride for miles along trails, down rural roads, and to the ocean.
For equestrians like me, the beauty of California is that there are incredible and diverse opportunities. Although my horse’s main job is to train with me under the tutelage of our trainer - grand prix show jumper and native Australian Harley Brown - we spend quite a bit of time outside the arena. In the years since I purchased Nicolai, he’s adapted quite well to his second life as a trail horse. He will ride with the cows, go to the beach for a run, or get lost with me in the hills behind the barn. There’s not a day that I don’t cherish these opportunities. California is not all serene beauty though.
For all the miles of landscape and trails in there is also plenty of competitive action. I’ve ridden at hunter/jumper shows, been to Thoroughbred sales, attended breed shows in Los Angeles, and walked the stately halls of Santa Anita. In any given month, there’s an event for every type of horse enthusiast across our state and within each region. Though the Central Coast – where I attend school - is slightly more Western, there are plenty of English barns and events amid the rodeos and reining shows.
My first barn in Southern California was surrounded by freeways, parking lots, and roads. There were no trails in sight and certainly no cattle. Because my riding career was confined to arenas and concrete barn aisles, I always jumped at the chance to trail ride. There were a few trails around my hometown, Newport Beach, but they were municipal paths packed with bikers and joggers.
It wasn’t until a few years into my riding career, when I took a family trip to a ranch in Central California, that I first experienced the joy of galloping through open fields. It was as if a whole new realm of the horse world had suddenly opened for me. I realized that riding is more than lessons and grooming and strict rules. I realized that a rider’s relationship with their horse is so much stronger for the experiences that challenge them. Fortunately for me, California allows Nicolai and I to share such experiences.
Today, there are few places where horses are still used as work animals. Central California is one of the last holdouts in an increasingly mechanized country. The region is an agricultural gem where fields brim with food and cattle dot the hillsides like ants. There are tractors and other equipment for power-related tasks, but farmers here know that horses are still the most effective way to move herds and survey the land. I’m not a farmer, but I’ve been invited on cattle drives before, and I can tell that Nicolai is starting to think like a cowhorse. When we cool out after lessons I walk him up toward wayward calves in the field and watch as he observes them and mirrors their movements.
Nicolai is a Dutch Warmblood – a far cry from the stocky Western breeds that the ranchers here use - yet I feel connected to the land in primal way when we trail ride. He relaxes, stretches his head out, and takes in the views. He picks his way up and down narrow trails like he’s been doing it forever. On the trails he’s just a horse as nature intended. It’s as hard to picture him pulling a plow as it is think of him braided up and bouncing at the in-gate of an indoor arena.
I’m lucky that my horse is unflappable enough to put up with victory gallops, freeways, trail rides, and cows. My career as a rider is so much richer for all the times we’ve spent out of the arena, and my horse is healthier for it. Not only do the hills give him strength and endurance, but the quiet and the space allow him to mentally unwind. He’s a much different animal than he was at our first barn, where he spent his time in a stall with little turnout and a freeway hum.
While we might get some odd looks out on the trail with our English saddles and breeches, riders from all backgrounds are supportive and friendly in my area. Love of riding spans disciplines. California riders love riding.
Kristin Kenney is a public relations major at California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo. When not studying, she writes on a freelance basis and spends as much time as possible with her KWPN gelding, Nicolai.