owned by Virginia Haley, she was always in Horses magazine and Fashion Plate ridden by Jimmy Williams. I can still picture them at the Forum horse show. here are some catagories to choose from:
I feel brain dead today. I might need some inspiration here… 
Hack Pack - everyone crowded in one part of the arena, too stupid/obstinate to circle
Hack Back - that rare back up the horse while lined up in front of the judge
Hack Zack - the one guy riding in the flat class
Hack Smack - junkie flatter
I just had to see what you guys have been
doing over here for 33 pages!
And while I’m here, I’ll jump in with my
vote for: the beagle! Sweet, devoted,
good with horses, cats, kids, and other
dogs, small enough for smuggling, just in
general excellent dogs!
(Notice I did not mention obedient.) 
Merry that is hilarious. I have done my share of silly stuff like that also. I am glad to hear other people run into closed doors also.
Beezer thanks for spilling the beans. 
If you guys ever get up this way we will have to get together.
I havn’t really chimed in on this thread, being a newbie southern Califonian. I have however read every post with baited breath and sweaty palms, facinating.
I do have one question-was Valor a bay, little or no white conformation hunter in the 70’s/80’s? My old trainer rode at Sutton Place as a junior, and I remember her showing me a Horses mag with his retirement ad on the back. Gorgeous animal, but I can’t quite remember his name.
Coreene, are you going to Equine Affaire? I will wear a name tag, or a silly hat so that I may be recognized. I’m going for the clinic on handling spooky horses 
and to look at the Myler bits. Shopping here I come!
Taryn
Merry, sound’s like could be same place. Interesting! Was it Richard Johnson who did the dirty deed’s? Melissa had mentioned that “her” Seabreeze farm’s arena is now in the ocean.
Get this;
I had bred my mare to her stallion last year thinking, because she said, he was a IJF and IHF approved stud. Well, what do you know, when the colt was born i had asked for the breeding certificate. You know her relpy, “Oh, I didn’t nominate him this year.” Needless to say, that really burned by britches!! She’s very unstable, and not a good buisiness person at all.
PamM, Melissa had said that she rode at Flintridge, she is now 48 or 49 years old. I guess you’d know her though if she did indeed ride there.
Really funny situation we’re in though, thank’s girl’s for all you input!! I don’t think I will be dealing with her anymore. To bizzare for me.
Hummm, maybe she was a groom at Flintridge?
One other thing, she said her parent’s were in Las Vegas…show biz. Her dad was a matador (sp?), bull fighter, in Mexico. She also talked of driving Lamborghini’s, that her ex, Richard had $…don’t know. Oh well, got a go, ciao!!
LOL Merry…great story…I love this thread!!! I think the CA clique is going to win the title of longest thread if this keeps up!
I haven’t decided yet if I am going to the Equine Affair or not. If it rains, I will definitely go. But if it is sunny, I don’t think I can pass on my Saturday lesson. Is anyone going on Sunday? If I go, I’ll wear something with my barn logo (Victorian Farms) on it, probably a black jacket. I might wear my cool straw hat I bought at Indio last week…it has a leopard print scarf on it.
The only part of the Pomona Fairgrounds I am familiar with is the nasty hall that I had to sit in for 8 hours a day, two days in a row taking an engineering licensing exam. Yuck. And I’ve blocked that out of my memory, so I’m pretty useless in the Pomona landmark department! 
AS far as PV goes…it is a very nice place with trails all over the entire city. AS far as boarding goes, there are many places both public and private. My trainer there didn;t have her own facility so I boarded at someone’s backyard and rode to public rings for all my lessons. It worked well because if you are looking for turn-out, you won’t find it at any boarding stable there. Seahorse is the only good training barn there. Access to all these places from the freeway isn’ the easiest, though.
I agree with Coreene, Huntington Beach is far and away the best place to board in North Orange County. Rancho Rio Verde in Long Beach is OK. No trails and right under big powerlines. Lisa Leger and brother David Wall are trainers there and they are really nice and pretty good. Lakewood Equestrian Center is also there but I don’t reccomend it.
I board at El Toro stables. It has decent turn-out, decent trainers, and access to trails. And there is good lighting (a plus for me because I only ride at night after work.) There are a couple decent trainers there. There are several similar barns near El Toro but I don’t know much about them. There are also some places in Anaheim I considered boarding at but only because I was desperate. Also the Orange County Fairgrounds had very nice box stalls, limited but large turn-outs, and Hillary Ridland is one of the trainers there. I hacked horses for her last summer and really liked them there and thought the horses were well taken care of…except for the fact there is no access to trails and they get little turn-out time.
Now on to “The Valley.” I also happen to board a horse in Agoura Hills where my trainer is. (I know, I know, I really get around) There are so many places in that area. Our barn isn’t all that fancy, we have limited turn-out, but great trails. The best part is we have a covered ring…and the footing in the outdoor holds up so well in the rain. It usually only takes 1-2 days and we are back in there jumping. There are about 5 big training barns located on the same street as us.
If I knew more of what you are looking for (training, retirement, trails) it would help. If you have more questions, you can e-mail me at
Glad to hear she’s still alive – since a number of us bought and/or rode horses of hers…I will always be grateful for her finding Talkalot for me.
We may have to set up an e-mail mailing list to find out who’s who in the gossip items, so we don’t incur the wrath of Erin! Inquiring minds want to know!! Perhaps the statute of limitations for libel and slander has run out on things that happened that long ago… 
…tells Beezer she can’t remember the gal’s name, only that she also did Magazine Journalism at CSULB, was short and blonde, and was never one of Coreene’s favorite people (the week down there left a very bad taste in Coreene’s mouth and she was doubtless traumatized by the entire experience).
Like all good Irish funerals, this one could go on for days!
Who knows, the funeral alone may take up another 30pages!
By the way, did you notice that this very post was NUMBER 666!?!? Augh! The Merry thread is cursed!
Ah, yes: Christimar and the fabled endless pages of ads. I can still remember being at a Foxfield show and watching in amazement as Chrissy threw a total temper-tantrum and REFUSED to go in the flat equitation championship because she drew into the same section as Tippy and “Now I’m not going to win!!”
Someone mentioned Hillary Mayfield … she “used” to be Kuehne – though that spelling may be way off. She and her older sisters were another formidable trio. For a while they tried to combine THEIR first names into a stable name, but it just didn’t roll off the tongue quite like “Christimar.”
How about Elizabeth Guerin (sp?), whose parents (I think) owned Far West Farm, of the fabled Kosti fame? Does anyone know if she started riding again? She had dropped the horses shortly after her junior years were over. (Or am I being really dumb here and not realizing that she became Elizabeth Something-or-Other and is a megastar now?) I always really liked her Gopher Broke horse.
Those who rode with Mark and Mickey: Light a fire under my withering neurons. What was the name of the really tall girl who rode the big chestnut with the star? Her first name was Lynn, if I recall. She was really winning big for a time.
Wasn’t the name of the woman that ran Circle J named Wanda? I distinctly remember a blond woman with a western belt (the kind with the name punched into the back) named Wanda! Anybody else remember her??? Man are my brain waves working overtime now!
Much as Merry and I would like to join you in spirit on those trail rides, I fear we will be taking her fancy-schmancy baby to a schooling show tomorrow. (I soooooo love getting up at 5 a.m. for a show I am not riding in. ) He is supposed to go canter an actual course – a first for him. (And no doubt Merry will be wearing her brand-new TS rust breeches. Sigh.) If there is not success, please be prepared to offer condolences … Merry is always VERY disheartened when her gifted child acts like a baby horse.
And re Dennis: What a waste. As he spiraled downward, he just kept making worse and worse decisions. I think back to how good he was when we first rode with him and then how things wound up. Not pretty.
Somewhere in the deep recesses of my garage are horse show programs from the “olden days.” I shall have to try to find some so this thread can go on forever!
I had another issue unrelated to this thread on my last post, and I deleted it and made a new thread.
PamM, I wish I had a relative in the TB breeding and pedigree business, but alas…
When did you ride at Lake Oswego Hunt Club? Portland Hunt Club was about 4 miles west of the little town of Progress, on Scholls Ferry Road, technically in Beaverton or Tigard. It was at the top of a hill, and most of what you could see from there was farmland. They had a clubhouse, outdoor ring and outdoor hunt course and the views of the surrounding countryside were spectacular! I went back to Oregon for the first time in about 25 years last spring, and all the places I rode at (Portland Riding Academy, Sunwood Farms, Mountain Park Stables) were long gone, replaced by houses and shopping malls, as well as Ridgeview Equestrian Center. Quite sad.
Lake Oswego Hunt Club is one of the sole surviving stables from my era, and looks virtually unchanged in all that time! It’s been designated a historic landmark by the state of Oregon, and I found a website for them that you might want to check out:
http://www.lakeoswegohunt.com
SuaveReno, I loved Best Bet, and was lucky enough to compete against Susie a couple of times when I rode at the California State Fair. And I remember Eastpoint and Debbie Flanagan - wasn’t he a really flashy bay (or chestnut, brain cells are failing me) with lots of chrome??
Does anyone recall Donna Storkan? I actually met her one year at the Oregon State Fair when she was up competing from California, and we became friends. I kept in touch with her while I was in
college in Southern California, and actually spent a Thanksgiving with her at a show at the Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara. Her dad was nice enough to have a catered turkey dinner for all of her barn friends, which we ate out by their portable stalls! I lost touch with her after I moved to Northern California, but saw a few years ago in an alumni newsletter that my husband gets that she was married, with a couple of kids, living in Eugene, Oregon.
And finally, thanks for the nice words, Merry! It seemed like the local papers back then were always taking publicity photos for shows – I have several more, along with ones of people I rode with, in an old scrapbook.
Today’s $64. question: Did any horse actually go well for George Lindemann?
Pam, you’re not the aforementioned “crazy lady from Kentucky”, LOL! That was the scary big-haired gal at the riding apparel booth at Equine Affaire in Pomona. Although, the way you look in that veil does make you look kinda crazy… You can be the slightly off-kilter gothic long-lost relative from the south who only shows up for momentous occasions.
I have some finger sandwiches set out on the table. They’re Underwood Deviled Ham and Kraft American cheese. Don’t laugh; at least I cut the crusts off the Wonderbread! Anyone else bring food?
I also remeber when Alan Balch used to manage horse shows up here too.
Just helping to put this topic back on the top.
As it is now, Linda Allen is supposed to give a clinic/talk in the outside show ring on Saturday, Feb. 10 at either 10:00 or 11:00 a.m. That one is on jumpers, assessing the course, and “How Your Horse Sees the Course”. (How about as a barrier to the out-gate? ) On Sunday (I think at 1:00 pm) she is in the covered ring (the one used at the fair for sheep & goats!) talking about huntseat equitation, trends in the show ring, and little points from the judge’s view. Since the times are “subject to change” I’d keep verifying up to the last minute possible!
Merry remember when I asked you about GiGi Gaston a few thousand postings ago?
Well I think I meant GiGi Green!!
Looking at some olde HORSES that I went pulled out of my storage room in my rental house, I saw an ad for one of her horses.
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