Stan Fonsen Stan Fonsen was born on a cattle ranch in Willets, and the ranching lifestyle exposed him to animals and developed his love for horses. The training facet of his life began when he was about 19 years old and working on the Ridgewood Ranch, home of Seabiscuit. Fonsen remembers, “There was a man there named Al Payne, who was my first mentor.”
After attending Cal Poly, Stan moved to Petaluma and married Marti. He competed in rodeos, taught riding lessons, and started colts in his spare time. Just after beginning to train full time, he won the 1971 Cow Palace Reserve Championship. Stan also won the very first NRCHA Hackamore Maturity. The biggest pleasure futurity in the ‘70s and ‘80s was in Santa Rosa, and he had an outstanding barn. Stan and Marti swept the 2- and 3-year-old championships. Only three years after starting his full-time training operation, Stan competed in his first Snaffle Bit Futurity and nailed third place, and in 1976 he won the reserve championship. That year, he also won the Bakersfield Hackamore Championship. In ’79 Stan won the Cow Palace Bridle Horse.
But 1983 would be Stan’s biggest year. Stan and Doc's Ruby Girl ran away with the title in the Snaffle Bit Maturity of the California Reined Cow Horse Association. The same year, Im Full Of Pep and Stan captured one of the greatest titles in the performance horse industry, the Snaffle Bit Futurity. In 1983 Stan also won the West Coast Quarter Horse Association Pleasure Horse Futurity, and in 1984 he won the Cow Palace Snaffle Bit Futurity on Lei Aloha. In 1985 the pair returned to the Cow Palace to win the Hackamore Championship.
From 1975 to 1999 Stan contested nearly every Snaffle Bit Futurity and made the finals all but once, and he’s equally as tough in the cutting horse pen. He’s consistently made the PCCHA Finals in the aged events, and he’s trained and shown some of the industry’s greatest horses while coaching top riders.
In addition to decades of training, showing and winning, Stan has served as an AQHA judge for more than 15 years. He’s judged at the open, amateur and youth divisions at the World Show and has traveled around the world judging competitions.
In 2001, Stan was honored with the Pacific Coast Cutting Horse Association’s prestigious Dave McGregor Award for outstanding horsemanship and leadership skills in the cutting horse arena. In 2004, he was inducted into the National Reined Cow Horse Hall of Fame. Stan and Marti have recently moved to their ranch to Potter Valley, where they’re enjoying a much more laid-back lifestyle while breeding and raising some fantastic cutting horses.
Ed Laney Ed Laney receives the Equus Award for his achievements as a role model and teacher in Sonoma County’s farrier trade, and for his extraordinary caring for the wild horse. Ed was one of the first shoers certified by the American Farriers Association (AFA) in the 1980s. In his very first blacksmithing and horseshoeing contest in Carson City, Nev., in his first attempt, Ed swept the division 2 competition and moved up to the highest, division 3.
Today, Ed Laney is one of only a few who have been classified by AHA as a “certified journeyman farrier.” But there is still more to the man. At age 69, his photographs of nature and horses have begun to gain him newfound fame. You can see them in gallery at the Pacific Arts Center in Healdsburg.
Ed was born in Utah and raised in Idaho. Four generations of Laney blacksmiths came before him. He remembers in 1948, at the ripe old age of 9, that he and his cousin Butch tried to trim their first horse. They wanted to ride Chico, a favorite small blue-eyed horse. They trimmed him so close his feet were sore. After catching the dickens for their mistake, they had to turn Chico out to pasture and be satisfied with riding the workhorses the rest of the summer.
He’s always considered the “high desert” his place of origin. While packing in the high country where Oregon and California share state borders, he discovered hardy herds of wild horses. These were tougher and warier than their lowland counterparts, he realized, and he’s returned many times to photograph and study these wild horses, which thrive in the arid environment above 4.000 feet. “You can’t hide or sneak up on these horses,” Ed says. “They know when you’re near.”
But the herds have allowed him to get closer over his years of visits. “The frogs of their feet are thick and wide, and the hoof walls grow longer to contact the ground and raise the sole,” he notes.
In the early ‘60s, Ed seized the chance to work with legendary Sonoma County horseshoer Maurice (Mossy) Fitzpatrick. Mossy was one of the old-school shoers, and Ed learned much from him. Ed decided to move to Sonoma County, realizing the diversity of horse activity and seizing the opportunity to learn from some great farriers. In those days, the Sonoma County fairgrounds were a year-round training facility. Ed shod everything from gaited horses to Thoroughbreds to harness race horses.
He spent the next 35 years learning all he could by shoeing Sonoma County’s ever-expanding variety of horses. Ed remembers what he learned from an earlier group of local farriers, including Saul Benelli, who made barn calls in a tiny Nash Metropolitan with the trunk lid removed; and Joe Pike, Harold Young and Bruce Northridge. He likes and respects Stuart Greenberg and his SRJC farrier program; he remembers shoeing Fred McMurray’s horses for nearly 30 years, and he considers his horse “bible” to be the Wagner Stock Manual, first published in1887. Observes Ed, “Basic principles never change.”
Gene Harlan
Gene Harlan, DVM, is a recipient of this year’s Equus Award to honor his amazing sensitivity and dedication to the health care of horses and other agricultural animals.
Gene is a serious Sonoma County cattle rancher who was raised in Fresno County on a dairy and beef farm. His early interest in horses and animal health led to a job as a teenage veterinary technician, assisting his early mentor, Dr. C.D. Cooper.
He first earned his bachelor’s degree in quantitative biology at U.C. Davis, and then graduated from the renowned veterinary school there in 1973. Two of his college summers were spent packing professionally in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. During his college years, Gene supported himself by shoeing horses. He recalls that his girlfriends weren’t too impressed, though, when they heard horseshoes unromantically clanging around in the back of his station wagon. He still prefers to shoe his own horses.
After completing his internship in equine and bovine reproduction at U.C. Davis in 1974, Gene was hired by Dr. Bill Kortum at the Cotati Large Animal Clinic. Dr. Harlan has been a partner in the business for the past 33 years. He established the “Preceptor Program” at the Cotati Clinic, which allows vet students at U.C. Davis to intern at the clinic for a year. This program receives veterinary interns from all over the world, and the clinic has recently welcomed students from Iraq and Kenya.
Gene Harlan is dedicated to our Sonoma County community, where he’s volunteered as president of the local Cattlemen’s Association and served as vice chairman of animal health for the California Cattleman’s Association. He’s been a Sonoma County 4-H leader for the past 33 years. For the past 15 years, Gene has served on the Agricultural Committee for the California Veterinary Association. He also is an animal health advisor for the California Dept of Food and Agriculture.
Kris Huot
Kristine Huot receives an Equus Award this year for her dedication to children and for the hard work she did to earn her special place in the equestrian world. She spent 32 years teaching history and science in Sonoma County K-12 schools, and she’s been a competitive rider and trainer since her early college years. She owns and operates Wine Country Riding Academy, in a lovely hillside setting near the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. In a world where customer loyalty is highly valued, many of Kris’ students today are children of her former students. Any age and any level of aspiring rider is welcome at her stables.
Kris first began to ride her uncle’s horses at age 8. When her family moved to Stockton, she began taking saddle seat lessons from Mrs. Clark, who taught her the basics and provided inspiration. Kris rode all through high school and moved on to college in Santa Barbara. By now she was riding hunt seat, and Mrs. Clark gave her a horse to take with her. She spent college summers as a camp counselor and riding instructor. After completing her teaching degree, Kris still didn’t have her own horse. So she “begged and borrowed horses” until she received a horse as a wedding present, a Thoroughbred named Sea-Bam, an offspring of Seabiscuit.
The year after her graduation, she came to Sonoma County. It took a while to get settled, but in 1970 Kris moved to her current horse property. She ponied and exercised racehorses at the fairgrounds and gave riding lessons on weekends. She also competed in endurance racing and eventing. After retiring, she trained and taught at Double Bar M Ranch for several years, while she also supported the Sonoma State intercollegiate equestrian team, often lending her own horses for students to show. In 1999 Kris built a new arena, and today she teaches the next generation of equestrians at her own ranch.
Nancy Smith Kasovich
Nancy Smith Kasovich began taking riding lessons at age 4, inspired when her grandmother began to take her to watch international polo at Golden Gate Park. The stables at the park then housed polo and stock horses, Saddlebreds, hunter/jumpers and racehorses. Nancy earned the chance to ride, and later to show, a wide variety of horses there for their owners, an opportunity rarely available in today’s specialized world.
In 1956, Nancy married Bob Smith, an outstanding polo player whom she’d first admired at the Golden Gate Park stables. Together, they operated training stables in Northern and Southern California, specializing in polo, jumping and racehorses. Bob handled polo, and Nancy handled the show ring and the track. In 1959, Nancy followed a client on her hunter in her first Tevis Cup100-mile ride. She quickly learned how much endurance training it really takes for horse and rider to aggressively attack those mountains. She returned a year later and completed the race to earn her Tevis Cup buckle, and she’s added five more over the years.
Bob and Nancy moved their horse operation to Santa Rosa in 1961. Soon their ranch was teeming with horsey kids who wanted to form a competitive drill team. Nancy enthusiastically trained the Rincon Rider Drill Team, whose riders made quite a name for themselves in both competition and exhibitions. The youngsters became famous for their speed, and the crowds loved them. Nancy also took them on trail rides and saw the need to educate riders on safety and horse care out on the trail. In 1962, Nancy became part of an organization that did just that, the North American Trail Ride Conference (NATRC).
Nancy has completed more than 12,000 NATRC miles, presented clinics, and has served three terms as NATRC president. In 1987-’88, when she was battling advanced breast cancer, she continued to compete by scheduling chemotherapy treatments around her riding schedule. Then, in 2005, as vice president of the Sonoma County Mounted Assistance Unit, Nancy rewrote the training requirements for MAU horses. She’s now ridden more than 900 MAU hours, patrolling Annadel State Park each week, in all seasons.
Nancy served as president of the Sonoma County Driving and Riding Club for 2006 and 2007. It was a challenge she truly enjoyed, especially when the newly formed junior auxiliary chose the name Rincon Riders.
George Snyder
George Snyder is being honored with an Equus Award for his journalistic achievement in publicizing horses and the equestrian culture. His work is particularly relevant because it fulfills the Sonoma County Horse Council’s mission to inform the general public of the important social role of horses and horse owners. You might remember a wonderful photo story he wrote for the San Francisco Chronicle a few years ago, about the trail-clearing work of our local back-country horsemen.
George has had an admirable career reporting for the Associated Press, the Sacramento Union, the San Francisco Chronicle, KPIX and KGO-TV. Ask him for the favorite stories of his career, and you’ll most likely get a tale involving horses. Like the spring night he spent with rancher and BLM horse-catcher Jim Clapp, up in Modoc County, sitting in the sagebrush, drinking Buds around a fire and spinning horse tales. Or gathering cattle with Rick Baxman on what’s now the Willow Creek tract of Sonoma Coast State Beach, with the deep blue ocean as a backdrop for the grazing Herefords.
He was born December 6, 1944, in New Orleans, La., of a Creole family that truck farmed and sold timber. His family worked a section of land in Natchitoches, which had been in the family since 1836. The property was owned by Joseph Welch, a Scots-Irish, who is George’s great-great-grandfather. In addition to that heritage, you’ll find in George some Cherokee, Choctaw, Chinese and African American. In a native way of thinking, that blood represents the Four Directions. In another way of thinking, George is a full-blooded American.
George is a Sonoma County resident, married, with four children. He is a horse owner, riding out of the Occidental area. He currently works with the Sonoma West Times and News, where he has published a number of articles about the horse world.
Natlee Kenoyer Natlee Kenoyer, a Sonoma County equestrian and author, is presented with the Equus Award for living a joyful life surrounded by horses, as a role model for all who dream of horses. Natlee says she’s “a Californian, by birth and by choice.” She was born in Modesto on March 1, 1907, and just turned 102 years old a few weeks ago.
Natlee’s love of horses began when she was 7 and she first rode a burro through Golden Gate Park. And she loved watching the fire horses rushing their water wagons down busy city streets. At the time, San Francisco was still recovering from the destructive earthquake and fire of 1906.
Natlee’s father bought her a pony when she was 8. Their next-door neighbor gave her a book about riding and said, “Here, read this. I’m tired of watching you fall off that horse!” She rode her pony to and from school. Natlee says, “I’d go anyplace a horse would take me.”
She moved to Sonoma County in the 1960s. Natlee already had a successful career in nursing, but knew she needed to work with horses full time. She trained horses at the Smith Ranch on Highway 12 and at the Perriman Ranch in Geyserville. In 1975, Natlee started her own riding school, the “K-5 Ranch.” There, she gave riding instruction in English, Western, dressage, jumping, trail riding and gymkhana. She has judged horse shows at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds.
Natlee has authored many articles for horse publications and is a member of the Western Writers of America. She has written ten books about horses, including Three Children and a Firehorse, which became a Literary Guild selection. She also authored Gymkhana Games and A Beginner’s Guide to the Western Horse. Natlee Kenoyer is a renaissance horsewoman, a part of Sonoma County’s equestrian foundation, and is currently writing her autobiography at her residence in Windsor.
2007 Inductees
Ray Valladao
Ray Valladao is the real deal, the “cowboy in the white hat” for Sonoma County. A long time member of the Back Country Horsemen’s North Bay Unit, Ray is considered by his hard-working peers to be the best planner and most productive hand that group has ever seen. For more than a decade, Ray has acted on his belief that he would earn respect for equestrians by delivering benefits to the state and county park systems and other local land stewards. We have him to thank for many of the hundreds of miles of developed horse trails in Sonoma County. He not only has negotiated for us as parks are being developed; he gets his hands dirty cutting trails, side by side with park employees. He has organized volunteers to expand the work force, acting, always with humility, as lead worker, installing hitching rails and building all those recycling manure bunkers in Sonoma County parks, so appreciated and used by local rose growers. As Public Lands Representative of the North Bay Chapter Ray’s heartfelt advocacy has produced untold benefits for all horse and stock users of California’s backcountry. It might be difficult to find a Sonoma County trail rider who hasn’t run into Ray on the trail. He always offers a friendly greeting, and often helps newer riders get oriented. Following some personal challenges, last year Ray sold his horse, Sox, and his friendly smile and helpful ways haven’t been seen as much lately on local trails. This Equus Award is the Horse Council’s way to let Ray know we need him back in the saddle, again!
DICK DILWORTH
Dick Dilworth earns entry into the Equus Awards Hall of Fame through his lifelong dedication to Sonoma County agriculture. He is admired by many for his Geyserville vineyards, his good nature and willingness to help, and his fine Belgian horses. Dick’s father, Norman, was a career police officer for the City of Santa Rosa. His mother, Florence, was a Geyserville native. Florence’s father, August McPherson, used horses to work his Sonoma County acreage. Dick spent much of his childhood with his grandparents on the ranch, forming his life’s goal to become a farmer, horseman and steward of the land. Dick eventually moved to Geyserville to begin farming. His first team of draft horses, Belgian geldings Chubby and Red, had been used in the filming of Little House on the Prairie. He used his team to work the fields, and in a business he started, Stage a Picnic, where patrons toured vineyards and were treated to gourmet picnic lunches. In 1982, Dick Dilworth, Greg Hannan and Bob Donnelly founded the North Bay Draft Horse & Mule Club to preserve the use of draft animals in local agriculture. Even today, horse drawn wagon rides are presented by club volunteers, including Dick’s son, Casey, as a popular feature at the Sonoma County Fair. Dick is a Sonoma County Trail Blazer who shares his love of horses and children at the Farm Bureau’s annual Kid’s Day each spring. He has served as President for the Geyserville School Board, and is currently Battalion Chief for the Geyserville Volunteer Fire Department. He has been a board member of the Alexander Valley Grape Growers. He is a member of the Sonoma County Driving and Riding Club. Dick Dilworth is a true Sonoma County horseman!
Dr. Jim Steere
Dr. Jim Steere is a most deserving 2007 Equus Award Hall of Fame inductee He is a true renaissance man – athlete, horseman, physician, teacher, student, trail builder, and family man. He is the founding partner of Artaurus Veterinary Clinic, an innovative vet practice with special emphasis on equine health and fitness. The clinic and hospital are recognizable along highway 101 at San Antonio road, near the Marin/Sonoma county line, memorable for its unique and award-winning sod roof. Jim began his life-long journey with animals when, at age nine, his father gave him a horse to ride from the family’s desert homestead to a one room elementary school in Rosamond, CA. In high school, he competed in horse shows and worked on local cattle ranches. During WW II, he served in uniform from l942 to 1946, ultimately as an officer in the Air Corps, navigating B29’s in the Pacific Theatre. He earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from UC Davis in 1953. Doc Steere is a Fulbright Scholar, and in 1965, he attended Harvard University School of Public Health in Boston and added a Masters’ Degree to his credentials. He resides in Petaluma and is a member of the Sonoma County Trail Blazers and past President of the Marin Horse Council. He is a dedicated senior athlete, a sporting competitor in endurance horse racing and a role model for all equestrians, as we age. He has participated in the Levi Strauss Ride and Tie Race since 1971, eight years as a competitor, and 26 years as the head veterinarian for the World Championship Ride & Tie Race. He still competes in endurance racing, completing the 100 Mile Tevis Cup in 2005. Being a horse doctor is not work for Doc Steere; for him, It has been a dance with horses for 53 years.
Liselotte (Lilo) Fore
Liselotte (Lilo) Fore is owner of “Sporthorse America” in Santa Rosa. Lilo is being honored with an Equus Award for playing a major role in raising the quality of Dressage training and horses to an international level in Sonoma County. She has offered as many as six Champion stallions at stud at one time, and received national and international awards for Dressage horses from her breeding program. She frequently offers Dressage symposiums and clinics at her Sonoma County facility, delivering uniquely expert Dressage education to the local equestrian community. She grew up outside of Dusseldorf, Germany, where, at age four, she saw her first horse. Lilo says “...from that time on I knew that four legs, a mane and tail would be my life.” She came to California in 1971 and bought, for one dollar, an injured three year old American Thoroughbred, Dionysus. Under her training, Dionysus not only healed; he became U.S. “Horse of the Year” in all national levels. She and Dionysus were selected for the USET short list in 1976. Dionysus was only the first in a succession of Lilo’s many hard earned and on-going accomplishments over more than 30 years in Sonoma County. She is the winner of numerous national and international Horse of the Year awards for California, USDF and USET. Her judging credentials include: USEF “S” Judge, FEI “I” Judge and Sporthorse Breed Judge. She is among the founders and serves as chair of the USDF Instructor-Trainer Certification Program. She is continuously involved in many educational programs for Dressage trainers, teachers and judges throughout the United States.
Joann Slissman
Joann Slissman is being honored with an Equus Award for her many years of promoting horses and agriculture in Sonoma County. She operates the Wyammy Ranch in Occidental, where she has bred Quarter Horses for forty-six years. “Wyammy” comes from her younger sister’s mix up of “Wyoming” and “Miami.” Joann took over full responsibility for the family ranch in 1982. She and her sister, Karen, continue to oversee the family business in San Francisco. Joann’s career as an expert equestrian has been shared with many North Bay children and adults to whom she has taught horsemanship. She has practiced “gentle use” principles with her horses, even before this approach became mainstream. She volunteered for a decade as a project leader for 4H. Her students have gone on to compete significantly in dressage, steeplechase, and hunter/jumper. One of her star pupils became a top female farrier in the U.S. Joann founded the Occidental Equestriennes over thirty years ago and remains a charter member. She took up cutting at the age of fifty, and enjoys packing in the Emigrant Wilderness in the Sierras for fun and recreation. She is past president of the Sonoma County Driving and Riding Club, past president of the Redwood Empire Cutting Horse Association, and a board member of the Vintage Cutting Horse Association. Joann was among the original organizers of the Sonoma County Trails Council.
Art Grunig
Art Grunig is honored with an Equus Award for his outstanding achievements training horses in Western disciplines, general horse training, and for his innovative contributions to equine wellness and performance. Art began his career as a trainer in 1966, and learned farriery in 1971 to assist his horses’ performance. He became a full-time trainer in 1980, then incorporated innovative bodywork with his training in 1986. Art Grunig has studied bodywork in the United States, France, and Italy. His list of credentials include: massage, cranial sacral, visceral manipulation, lymphatic drainage, sports massage, watsu, and tantsu. Art also has developed a form of bodywork called Reflex Balancing. Art says fairness is the key in his approach to training. He defines fairness as the horse always having a good opportunity to find a way to be happy, comfortable and healthy. All of his techniques, methods, and procedures are based on this philosophy. He has performed his work from coast to coast in the continental US and Hawaii, as well as Mexico, Italy, Ethiopia and the Virgin Islands. Art has trained horses for reining, cutting, working cow horse, western riding, western pleasure, trail, jumping, dressage, gaited horses, jousting, vaulting, driving, and racing. He and his students have won more than 30 equine championships and reserve championships, at both regional and national levels. One of his unique accomplishments is training two draft horses, ridden by their owner Kelly Bailey, that have won money in the National Reining Horse Association Florida Reining Classic 5 out of the past 7 years.
Bob and Alice Larsen
Bob and Alice Larsen of Larsen’s Feed and Pet Supply are honored with the Equus Award for their thirty years of teamwork, helping Sonoma County residents understand the proper balance of nutrition for their horses, livestock and pets.
Alice grew up in Paradise and Manteca, a 4th generation Californian. Both her grandfathers were excellent teamsters “who could turn 8 horses on a dime.” She loved horses, and rode whenever she could. She moved to Santa Rosa, met Bob and married him in 1953. They settled down on their dairy ranch, which stood at Stony Point and highway 116.
Bob is a native of Petaluma. His dad, Henry, did custom farming with teams of horses. Bob grew up going to local rodeos and fairs, where his dad operated the bucking chutes and ranked well in horse pulling contests. Bob recalls that Andy Devine was a clown at the rodeo, and how Andy took young Bob under his wing, protecting him from the “rowdy” cowboys.
In 1968, Bob bought the dairy from his dad and immediately implemented a top nutritional program for the cows. Feeding top quality hay and a balanced diet, Bob increased daily milk production by 27%. After tripling the herd, Bob sold the cows in 1974 “for a great price” and found himself with a barn full of hay. That stack of hay was the first product sold by the new Larsen’s Feed and Pet Supply. These days, Larsen’s delivers hay, grain and supplements as far north as Sea Ranch and throughout Sonoma and Napa Counties. Son, Kenny Larsen, a SC Trailblazer, carries on the family tradition of owning and driving his Belgian draft horse team for fun and entertainment.
2006 Inductees
Nancie Benson
Nancie Benson is a gifted and generous horsewoman, a true Sonoma County equestrian community leader. She opened Santa Rosa Saddlery in 1978 and became a well known and successful North Bay businesswoman. She has distinguished herself with her tireless support of the PRDC Junior riders, FFA and 4H horsemanship. She has volunteered for many years at the Sonoma County Fair as Director of the youth oriented Farmer’s Day program.
For the past seven years, Nancie has been an active contributor to the development of Santa Rosa’s Mounted Police Unit, providing equipment and professional expertise. She recently received a commendation from the Sonoma County Sheriff for her ten years of housing the Frank Trejo Memorial, in memory of Deputy Trejo who was murdered nearby in 1995 in the line of duty. In the words of the Sheriff of Sonoma County, Nancie Benson is a model citizen and role model. Nancie was recently awarded a “lifetime membership” in the Petaluma Riding and Driving club for her long term efforts and support for the club.
Cookie and Buzz Bozzini
Buzz and Cookie Bozzini are honored as community leaders in promoting good horsemanship and the equestrian way of life in Sonoma County. Together, they have taught countless numbers of kids, teens and adults how to ride and rope over the last three decades. Cookie teaches equitation; Buzz trains teens and adults in roping.
A native of Southern California, Cookie started riding English when she was 7 years old. When she was 10, she was seen on horseback in western movies being filmed in Burbank. She moved to Northern California in the 70’s, established the Doubletree Ranch in Sebastopol, and teamed with Buzz in 1976. They opened the tack shop and made the ranch a Sonoma County institution where kids learn about horses.
Buzz was born in San Francisco. He learned to ride and rope in “Butcher Town,” where the stockyards were located in the city. He came to Santa Rosa to compete in jackpot roping, met Cookie, and they settled down together.
In the early 80’s, the Bozzinis joined the grass roots discussion that initiated the SCHC. They objected to paying taxes for trails which didn’t accommodate horses. Then Supervisor, Ernie Carpenter, told them to get organized. The first meeting was held at Sebastopol’s Veterans Memorial Building.
Cookie and Buzz have been promoting the horse for many years through organizations such as AQHA, APHA, American Buckskin, Sebastopol Wranglers, PRDC and Novato Horsemen.
Jim Carlson
Jim Carlson, Santa Rosa Police, retired, is honored with the Equus Award for being the key player in the establishment of Santa Rosa’s contemporary Mounted Police Unit. Jim spent a year and lots of personal time authoring and advocating formation of the unit. Jim credits officer Joe Heath and retired officer Jim Miller for partnering with him in setting up and riding in the unit.
During his tenure as the Mounted Unit Supervisor, Jim and his officers used the horses for hundreds of community programs, including Elementary School Safety presentations throughout the county; Farmers Day at Sonoma County Fair; Rose Parade; Wednesday Night Market; and a variety of charitable community details. Santa Rosa’s mounted patrol is also used for general law enforcement, search and rescue, crowd control, and traffic enforcement.
Jim attended the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Equitation School in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and is a certified Mounted Police Instructor for the California Mounted Officer’s Association. He has assisted other agencies throughout California in the development of Mounted Police Programs.
Jim Carlson is a lifelong resident of Santa Rosa, attended Santa Rosa High School, SRJC, and was awarded his BA degree from Sonoma State University. He recently moved with his wife of 36 years to Southern Oregon, and is enjoying horse ranching in his retirement.
Jim is a past member of the Sonoma County Horse Council; Back County Horsemen; Petaluma Riding and Driving Club; Redwood Empire Quarter Horse Association; and a lifetime member of the California Mounted Officer’s Association.
Barbara Chasteen
Barbara Chasteen is being recognized for so generously sharing her amazing gift of helping horses, especially damaged horses, heal. She continues to restore useful lives to horses thought to be beyond saving, due to emotional or physical injury. Barbara’s gift has brought much joy to horses and horse owners.
She has spent the past 18 years studying anatomy, biomechanics, bodywork and horsemanship, deepening her insight with every horse she encounters. Barbara’s bodywork and management techniques are observed to restore posture, movement and disposition in equine athletes and companions, especially so-called “hopeless” horses.
Barbara has taught at massage schools, conducts workshops, is widely published, and is currently writing a new book. She owns five geldings: a Spanish-style Mustang, an Arab Saddlebred, a Dutch Warmblood, and two Morgans.
Barbara came to Sonoma County in the early 1970’s, but developed her equestrian skills in her childhood, riding the levees, orchards and hayfields of the Central Valley. Her riding interests are broad; she enjoys trail riding in western mountains and participates in local dressage events and clinics. She has ridden horses in several countries and many states and has worked with some of the finest equestrians in the world. She is a volunteer with and past president of the local branch of the California State Parks Mounted Assistance Unit.
Maxine Freitas
Maxine Freitas receives the Equus Award for her life’s work, Equi-Ed, now in its twelfth year, which offers an individualized equestrian experience to motivate academic, personal, social and physical growth for students with and without special needs.
Equi-Ed is affiliated with the Adapted Physical Education and Equine Science departments of Santa Rosa Junior College and offers horsemanship instruction, competition opportunities and specialized educational programs for children and adults. Today’s Santa Rosa Junior College Agriculture Department offers courses for training in therapeutic riding methods, which are taught by Equi-Ed's Director, Maxine Freitas.
Maxine says the inspiration for Equi-Ed came from her work with a paraplegic, brain injured client who came to her barn out of a desire to be with horses. Amazing and positive changes occurred for the patient in the presence of horses, observed by his entire treatment team, including Maxine Freitas. She then drew upon her education in Therapeutic Recreation and Counseling, and her love of horses, to create a pilot program in 1994.
Today, Equi-Ed has a lovely home in Loch Haven, off Mark West Springs Road. There, students and volunteers conduct sessions in therapeutic horseback riding. Other riders and vaulters come from Sonoma and Napa counties.
Maxine has been an instructor in the Equine Science Department at SRJC for 17 years. She has developed the only college level curriculum in therapeutic riding/equine assisted activities, in the State of California. She is a real heroine, a two time breast cancer survivor and a fifth generation Californian.
Bobby Keville
Bobby Keville receives the Equus Award for her leadership and volunteerism on behalf of the Sonoma Chapter of the California Dressage Society. She is a constant volunteer, and twice has been the CDS annual show volunteer coordinator for Northern CA. She has arranged and managed equestrian fashion shows, fundraisers and a number of educational programs.
Bobby is a USEF registered steward and technical delegate, a recorded judge of Hunters, Jumpers and Hunt Seat Equitation, and works as secretary for numerous horseshow managers. She is a graduate of the USDF “L” program and is very dedicated to improving her knowledge and her “eye.” She is currently vice president of CDS and CDS liaison to its scholarship committee, and a member of the Sonoma County Chapter Board.
Bobby was born in Richmond VA and graduated from Westhampton College of the University. of Richmond. Her husband’s military career took the family across the USA and Germany for over 22 years. Her experience with horses began at the Ft. Leavenworth Hunt and Stables where she and her daughter purchased their first horses and became members and very involved with equestrian activities in that area. Military orders brought the family to the Presidio of SF where they became members of the Presidio Riding Club.
Bobby Keville lives in Cotati with her husband, Red, lots of horses and animal pets. They recently celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary.
John Neves
Santa Rosa’s John Neves was nominated for the Equus Award by the Sonoma County Driving and Riding Club (SCDRC). Since the 1980’s, John has been recognized as a North Bay leader in developing the positiverelationships today’s local equine industry enjoys with local parks and political entities. While John has been instrumental in building and installing so many of the hitching rails, water troughs and other improvements seen today along Sonoma County Trails. It was a near fatal accident in 1997 that raised John’s influence on local equestrians to a new level.
His recovery from the spinal injury that left him fully paralyzed borders on miraculous. Drawing on an incredible drive to survive and his love of people and horses, at nearly 60 years of age, John pulled himself up through excruciating pain and made his injured body respond. He taught himself to walk again. Surrounded by a loving circle of family, friends and supporters, John fought his way back in the saddle and on to the back of his horse.
He has been both student and volunteer at SRJC and in private riding programs, offering personal insight and demonstrating the possibilities for the disabled to find balance aboard a horse. Still riding Sonoma County trails weekly, John retired this year from the Vice Presidency of the SCDRC, where he has been locating and booking club rides.
Robert Walter
A posthumous Equus Award is presented to Robert H. Walter, respected breeder of race horses, benefactor, and a most talented horseman who introduced the sport of Polo to Sonoma County. Mr. Walter passed away at 86 in May of 2003.
Bob and Barbara Walter established their Vine Hill Ranch in 1983 and developed it into an award-winning thoroughbred breeding and racing operation. In 1995, two year old filly and two year old colt championships were awarded the Walters, for the first time in California state history to the same owner, breeder, and sire. Bob left most of the breeding decisions to Barbara. He was the consummate horseman whose passion was early training. “You give a horse balance and agility with the proper developmental program,” he believed. Bob and Barbara’s partnership produced the gelding, Cavonnier, winner of the Santa Anita Derby, who came within a nose of winning the 1996 Kentucky Derby, as well as five California championships and Horse of the Year, returning horse racing fame to Sonoma County and the Walter’s Sebastopol ranch.
Mr. Walter was well known as a benefactor, making significant contributions in support of music and education. According to Wine Country Polo Club founder, Henry Trione, It was during the 1950s that Bob coaxed Trione and other friends into playing polo—a lifelong passion for Walter since his childhood in Wisconsin.
Mr. Walter is survived by his loving wife Barbara, his daughter Cathy, her husband John, and Grandson David. Barbara will accept the Equus Award on behalf of Bob, and continues the family horse racing tradition.
Dr. Jack Woolsey
Dr. Jack Woolsey joins the Equus Award Hall of Fame in honor of his more than 50 years of caring for the horses and other animals of Sonoma County. Born in San Francisco and raised in Woodland, he grew up riding a cow pony and loving horses. After serving in WWII, he graduated from Veterinary school in Kansas. He finished his education at U.C. Davis, where he taught veterinary medicine for several years. But he longed for his own practice.
“Doc” Woolsey opened his first Vet practice in Santa Rosa, which had a population of just 36,000 then, in 1952. He came to know every pay phone in Sonoma County, traveling the backroads day and night to serve his clients. He eventually established his equine practice, Empire Equine Hospital, in Windsor. Doc made the farm calls in the field, while his practice partner, Dr. Norrie, performed in-hospital surgeries. They used 2-way radios, considered state of the art.
Doc Woolsey has enjoyed much success raising his beloved racehorses. He also has a long involvement breeding Australian Working Kelpies. When Doc came to Santa Rosa, there were five vets. Now there are around 100 with many specialties. He’s proud to have worked with many outstanding vets over the years, including his own daughter, Elizabeth, who now practices and lives in Australia.
Equus Hall of Fame 2005
Johnny Brazil, Jr.
Johnny Brazil, Jr. of Geyserville began his brilliant career in the reined cow horse industry at the age of 15 in Lafayette, CA. In the ‘40s Johnny joined with other breeders and exhibitors to write bylaws for an organization to promote competition based on the methods of the California Vaquero. These giants of horsemanship were charter members of the California Reined Cow Horse Association, the organization that later became the NRCHA.
He has won over 60 championships from Snaffle Bit Futurity, Salinas Rodeo, Monterey Horse Show, Cow Palace and the California State Fair. In 1997 Johnny Brazil Jr. was inducted into the NRCHA Hall
of Fame for his lifetime as a trainer of champion hackamore horses and bridle horses. He continues to train and show professionally and at the age of 83, is the oldest professional competitor in working cow horse classes.
Orin Burgess
Orin Burgess grew up on a ranch in Trinity County. He has owned and ridden horses for hunting, trail riding and working cows for most of his adult life. Orin and his brother, Lee, founded Burgess Lumber in the early 1970’s. They operate a retail building materials yard in Santa Rosa and a remanufacturing plant in Redwood Valley, CA.
Orin is known to act on his belief that local business communities need to do all they can to support the equine and agricultural industry in Sonoma County. He has been an active supporter of the Healdsburg Future Farmers Fair, Back Country Horsemen, and is a member of the Sonoma County Trailblazers. He continues to be one of the most generous contributors of time and materials used by local equestrian
volunteers to develop the manure bins, hitching racks—even bridges that make our local parks and trails such a pleasure to ride. He has been married to his wife Ravelle for 30 years. They have 2 sons.
Ginger DeGrange
Ginger DeGrange has been Grand National Rodeo Queen, a top ten finisher in the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Association finals, and has competed successfully in reining and cutting in the AQHA world
competition. In 1963 she was the Sonoma County Horseshow Queen.
Her volunteer work has included 77A and 4-H groups; she’s judged backyard horseshows; served on the county Agricultural Advisory Board; and worked as a fundraiser for the JC’s Warren Dutton Ag Pavilion. Ginger has been teaching for 34 years at the Santa Rosa Junior College in the Equine program, and been instructing young riders for 43 years at her and Ron’s DeGrange’s Cloverleaf Ranch summer camp. Tonight we honor Ginger DeGrange with The Equus Award for her success and leadership of Sonoma County’s Equestrian Community.
Mickey Harman
Mickey Harman grew up on a farm in Indiana and fell in love at the age of 8 with the family’s Tennessee Walker, Black Beauty. She pursued formal riding instruction at Christian College in Columbia, Missouri and was schooled in 3-gaited and 5-gaited Saddlebreds. After moving to Northern California, Mickey found not only her first Peruvian Paso, but the trainer who had been so highly recommended. The trainer was Inca Indian from the high Andes in Peru.
Her dedication and hard work have helped to create a strong presence for the Peruvian Paso in Sonoma County and throughout the United States. Mickey is a member of WCPPHC, and has been affiliated with the Peruvian Paso Horse Registry of North America since she bought her first Peruvian Paso in 1986. Mickey is currently organizing the Peruvian Paso exhibition for the 2005 Horse Expo in Sacramento in June. She and her horses reside on her ranch in Calistoga.
Judy McHerron
Judy McHerron has served for 14 years on the Board of Directors of the Sonoma County Chapter of the California Dressage Society, as Merchandise Chairman for the annual “Dressage in the Wine Country” event. In 2001, CDS presented her with The Ursula Lliarkos Award for working for the good of horses in Sonoma County.
Judy was instrumental in starting the Hoofbeats Pony Club in Healdsburg, acting as instructor and advisor for many years. For 13 years, Judy has served as Treasurer of the Russian River Riders Club at Hoofbeat Park in Healdsburg. As CEO of her own company, “Equine Events,” she organizes, manages and produces horse shows, clinics, fund raisers for improvements and up keep at Hoofbeat Park. She teaches gentle, natural and supportive methods for the horse and rider at Chalk Hill Ranch in Healdsburg.
Silvio Piccinotti
Silvio Piccinotti is a 96 yrs old life-long Petaluman. He was instrumental, 23 years ago, in starting the North Coast Draft Horse and Mule Club. Silvio ran his 6 horse teams until he was nearly 80, feeding
cattle at his dairy farm in west Petaluma. He has been the quintessential draft horse and mule promoter for Sonoma County, providing wagon rides at The Sonoma County Fair and the Harvest Fair, as long as he was able.
Silvio and his teams helped drag and grade Western Avenue in Petaluma. He was famous for 25 years for sponsoring and organizing his annual Wagon Train, traveling Western Avenue to Spring Hill Road, then out to Chileno Valley. Silvio is currently residing at a Petaluma rest home. He has personally mentored many draft horse owners, helping them get started in their driving careers.
Jim Porter
Jim Porter is the founder of the SRJC Equine Science Program which began as one class in basic horse husbandry, and has grown to over 20 courses, including both a certificate and major in Equine Science. Over the past three decades, Jim personally has taught thousands of students, many of them working today at ranches, horse stables and farm-related businesses in Sonoma County and throughout Northern California.
Dennis Reis
Dennis Reis is the founder of the “National Day of the Horse,” occurring each December 13th from now on, as passed by Congress, just this past November 18, 2004 by unanimous vote. He first lobbied for and achieved the “California Day of the Horse,” which was passed by the California legislature by a unanimous vote June 2002. The outstanding single effort of this local trainer has produced this special day focused on our horses for the entire nation, for which we are all so grateful.
Dennis has devoted his life to the practice of horsemanship and is dedicated to improving the horse-human relationship through the sharing of age-old methods. He is an internationally recognized leader and expert in this method of dealing with horses. He founded the Reis Ranch School of Universal Horsemanship in Penngrove in 1988.
Dennis can be seen on his own weekly TV program via satellite broadcast of RFD TV. His weekly program is shown 5 times per week since July 2002.
Dennis’ clinic has been featured the last three years for a ten-day run during the National Finals Rodeo at the Excalibur Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, NV. He has an extensive “No Dust” seminar and clinic schedule in 14 U.S. States throughout 2005. He is a P.O.S.T. Certified Mounted Law Enforcement Instructor, and a Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association Gold Card member.
Sharon Saare
Sharon Saare was born and raised right here in Santa Rosa CA. She attended Santa Rosa High School, SRJC, and graduated from the Univ. of Washington. Sharon has a worldwide reputation as the maker of fine saddles, beginning with endurance saddles, and now including police saddles and western trail and show equipment. She is also an Akhal Teke horse breeder.
Sharon is a Santa Rosa woman of achievement. She has competed in the Tevis Cup and worldwide endurance events; she is the author of many books, and has had her writing and photography published in over 100 publications; she has served on The American Horse Council, National Trails Council, California Livestock Symposium, and the U.S. Pony Club. Today, she travels the world conducting clinics and lectures on aspects of horsemanship.
Ed Vanoni
Ed Vanoni was a founder of the Redwood Empire Cutting Horse Association in Sonoma County In 1972. Presently, he belongs to the local Vintage Cutting Horse Association. Ed is a member of the National Cutting Horse Association, and a life member of the Pacific Coast Cutting Horse Association.
At almost 75 years of age, Ed still rides and trains 6 to 8 horses per day and shows cutting horses throughout California, Nevada and Oregon. He is a graduate of Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in Animal Science. During his college days, he ran his cattle ranch on the weekends. While Ed was in the Army in Korea, his wife and business partner of 52 years, Johanna, ran the cattle ranch. Their Lazy V Ranch in Geyserville CA measures 1800 acres, with a mile of the Russian River flowing through it.
Stan Fonsen was born on a cattle ranch in Willets, and the ranching lifestyle exposed him to animals and developed his love for horses. The training facet of his life began when he was about 19 years old and working on the Ridgewood Ranch, home of Seabiscuit. Fonsen remembers, “There was a man there named Al Payne, who was my first mentor.”
After attending Cal Poly, Stan moved to Petaluma and married Marti. He competed in rodeos, taught riding lessons, and started colts in his spare time. Just after beginning to train full time, he won the 1971 Cow Palace Reserve Championship. Stan also won the very first NRCHA Hackamore Maturity. The biggest pleasure futurity in the ‘70s and ‘80s was in Santa Rosa, and he had an outstanding barn. Stan and Marti swept the 2- and 3-year-old championships. Only three years after starting his full-time training operation, Stan competed in his first Snaffle Bit Futurity and nailed third place, and in 1976 he won the reserve championship. That year, he also won the Bakersfield Hackamore Championship. In ’79 Stan won the Cow Palace Bridle Horse.
But 1983 would be Stan’s biggest year. Stan and Doc's Ruby Girl ran away with the title in the Snaffle Bit Maturity of the California Reined Cow Horse Association. The same year, Im Full Of Pep and Stan captured one of the greatest titles in the performance horse industry, the Snaffle Bit Futurity. In 1983 Stan also won the West Coast Quarter Horse Association Pleasure Horse Futurity, and in 1984 he won the Cow Palace Snaffle Bit Futurity on Lei Aloha. In 1985 the pair returned to the Cow Palace to win the Hackamore Championship.
From 1975 to 1999 Stan contested nearly every Snaffle Bit Futurity and made the finals all but once, and he’s equally as tough in the cutting horse pen. He’s consistently made the PCCHA Finals in the aged events, and he’s trained and shown some of the industry’s greatest horses while coaching top riders.
In addition to decades of training, showing and winning, Stan has served as an AQHA judge for more than 15 years. He’s judged at the open, amateur and youth divisions at the World Show and has traveled around the world judging competitions.
In 2001, Stan was honored with the Pacific Coast Cutting Horse Association’s prestigious Dave McGregor Award for outstanding horsemanship and leadership skills in the cutting horse arena. In 2004, he was inducted into the National Reined Cow Horse Hall of Fame. Stan and Marti have recently moved to their ranch to Potter Valley, where they’re enjoying a much more laid-back lifestyle while breeding and raising some fantastic cutting horses.
Ed Laney receives the Equus Award for his achievements as a role model and teacher in Sonoma County’s farrier trade, and for his extraordinary caring for the wild horse. Ed was one of the first shoers certified by the American Farriers Association (AFA) in the 1980s. In his very first blacksmithing and horseshoeing contest in Carson City, Nev., in his first attempt, Ed swept the division 2 competition and moved up to the highest, division 3.
Today, Ed Laney is one of only a few who have been classified by AHA as a “certified journeyman farrier.” But there is still more to the man. At age 69, his photographs of nature and horses have begun to gain him newfound fame. You can see them in gallery at the Pacific Arts Center in Healdsburg.
Ed was born in Utah and raised in Idaho. Four generations of Laney blacksmiths came before him. He remembers in 1948, at the ripe old age of 9, that he and his cousin Butch tried to trim their first horse. They wanted to ride Chico, a favorite small blue-eyed horse. They trimmed him so close his feet were sore. After catching the dickens for their mistake, they had to turn Chico out to pasture and be satisfied with riding the workhorses the rest of the summer.
He’s always considered the “high desert” his place of origin. While packing in the high country where Oregon and California share state borders, he discovered hardy herds of wild horses. These were tougher and warier than their lowland counterparts, he realized, and he’s returned many times to photograph and study these wild horses, which thrive in the arid environment above 4.000 feet. “You can’t hide or sneak up on these horses,” Ed says. “They know when you’re near.”
But the herds have allowed him to get closer over his years of visits. “The frogs of their feet are thick and wide, and the hoof walls grow longer to contact the ground and raise the sole,” he notes.
In the early ‘60s, Ed seized the chance to work with legendary Sonoma County horseshoer Maurice (Mossy) Fitzpatrick. Mossy was one of the old-school shoers, and Ed learned much from him. Ed decided to move to Sonoma County, realizing the diversity of horse activity and seizing the opportunity to learn from some great farriers. In those days, the Sonoma County fairgrounds were a year-round training facility. Ed shod everything from gaited horses to Thoroughbreds to harness race horses.
He spent the next 35 years learning all he could by shoeing Sonoma County’s ever-expanding variety of horses. Ed remembers what he learned from an earlier group of local farriers, including Saul Benelli, who made barn calls in a tiny Nash Metropolitan with the trunk lid removed; and Joe Pike, Harold Young and Bruce Northridge. He likes and respects Stuart Greenberg and his SRJC farrier program; he remembers shoeing Fred McMurray’s horses for nearly 30 years, and he considers his horse “bible” to be the Wagner Stock Manual, first published in1887. Observes Ed, “Basic principles never change.”
Gene Harlan, DVM, is a recipient of this year’s Equus Award to honor his amazing sensitivity and dedication to the health care of horses and other agricultural animals.
Gene is a serious Sonoma County cattle rancher who was raised in Fresno County on a dairy and beef farm. His early interest in horses and animal health led to a job as a teenage veterinary technician, assisting his early mentor, Dr. C.D. Cooper.
He first earned his bachelor’s degree in quantitative biology at U.C. Davis, and then graduated from the renowned veterinary school there in 1973. Two of his college summers were spent packing professionally in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. During his college years, Gene supported himself by shoeing horses. He recalls that his girlfriends weren’t too impressed, though, when they heard horseshoes unromantically clanging around in the back of his station wagon. He still prefers to shoe his own horses.
After completing his internship in equine and bovine reproduction at U.C. Davis in 1974, Gene was hired by Dr. Bill Kortum at the Cotati Large Animal Clinic. Dr. Harlan has been a partner in the business for the past 33 years. He established the “Preceptor Program” at the Cotati Clinic, which allows vet students at U.C. Davis to intern at the clinic for a year. This program receives veterinary interns from all over the world, and the clinic has recently welcomed students from Iraq and Kenya.
Gene Harlan is dedicated to our Sonoma County community, where he’s volunteered as president of the local Cattlemen’s Association and served as vice chairman of animal health for the California Cattleman’s Association. He’s been a Sonoma County 4-H leader for the past 33 years. For the past 15 years, Gene has served on the Agricultural Committee for the California Veterinary Association. He also is an animal health advisor for the California Dept of Food and Agriculture.
Kristine Huot receives an Equus Award this year for her dedication to children and for the hard work she did to earn her special place in the equestrian world. She spent 32 years teaching history and science in Sonoma County K-12 schools, and she’s been a competitive rider and trainer since her early college years. She owns and operates Wine Country Riding Academy, in a lovely hillside setting near the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. In a world where customer loyalty is highly valued, many of Kris’ students today are children of her former students. Any age and any level of aspiring rider is welcome at her stables.
Kris first began to ride her uncle’s horses at age 8. When her family moved to Stockton, she began taking saddle seat lessons from Mrs. Clark, who taught her the basics and provided inspiration. Kris rode all through high school and moved on to college in Santa Barbara. By now she was riding hunt seat, and Mrs. Clark gave her a horse to take with her. She spent college summers as a camp counselor and riding instructor. After completing her teaching degree, Kris still didn’t have her own horse. So she “begged and borrowed horses” until she received a horse as a wedding present, a Thoroughbred named Sea-Bam, an offspring of Seabiscuit.
The year after her graduation, she came to Sonoma County. It took a while to get settled, but in 1970 Kris moved to her current horse property. She ponied and exercised racehorses at the fairgrounds and gave riding lessons on weekends. She also competed in endurance racing and eventing. After retiring, she trained and taught at Double Bar M Ranch for several years, while she also supported the Sonoma State intercollegiate equestrian team, often lending her own horses for students to show. In 1999 Kris built a new arena, and today she teaches the next generation of equestrians at her own ranch.
George Snyder is being honored with an Equus Award for his journalistic achievement in publicizing horses and the equestrian culture. His work is particularly relevant because it fulfills the Sonoma County Horse Council’s mission to inform the general public of the important social role of horses and horse owners. You might remember a wonderful photo story he wrote for the San Francisco Chronicle a few years ago, about the trail-clearing work of our local back-country horsemen.
George has had an admirable career reporting for the Associated Press, the Sacramento Union, the San Francisco Chronicle, KPIX and KGO-TV. Ask him for the favorite stories of his career, and you’ll most likely get a tale involving horses. Like the spring night he spent with rancher and BLM horse-catcher Jim Clapp, up in Modoc County, sitting in the sagebrush, drinking Buds around a fire and spinning horse tales. Or gathering cattle with Rick Baxman on what’s now the Willow Creek tract of Sonoma Coast State Beach, with the deep blue ocean as a backdrop for the grazing Herefords.
He was born December 6, 1944, in New Orleans, La., of a Creole family that truck farmed and sold timber. His family worked a section of land in Natchitoches, which had been in the family since 1836. The property was owned by Joseph Welch, a Scots-Irish, who is George’s great-great-grandfather. In addition to that heritage, you’ll find in George some Cherokee, Choctaw, Chinese and African American. In a native way of thinking, that blood represents the Four Directions. In another way of thinking, George is a full-blooded American.
George is a Sonoma County resident, married, with four children. He is a horse owner, riding out of the Occidental area. He currently works with the Sonoma West Times and News, where he has published a number of articles about the horse world.
Natlee Kenoyer, a Sonoma County equestrian and author, is presented with the Equus Award for living a joyful life surrounded by horses, as a role model for all who dream of horses. Natlee says she’s “a Californian, by birth and by choice.” She was born in Modesto on March 1, 1907, and just turned 102 years old a few weeks ago.
Natlee’s love of horses began when she was 7 and she first rode a burro through Golden Gate Park. And she loved watching the fire horses rushing their water wagons down busy city streets. At the time, San Francisco was still recovering from the destructive earthquake and fire of 1906.
Natlee’s father bought her a pony when she was 8. Their next-door neighbor gave her a book about riding and said, “Here, read this. I’m tired of watching you fall off that horse!” She rode her pony to and from school. Natlee says, “I’d go anyplace a horse would take me.”
She moved to Sonoma County in the 1960s. Natlee already had a successful career in nursing, but knew she needed to work with horses full time. She trained horses at the Smith Ranch on Highway 12 and at the Perriman Ranch in Geyserville. In 1975, Natlee started her own riding school, the “K-5 Ranch.” There, she gave riding instruction in English, Western, dressage, jumping, trail riding and gymkhana. She has judged horse shows at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds.
Natlee has authored many articles for horse publications and is a member of the Western Writers of America. She has written ten books about horses, including Three Children and a Firehorse, which became a Literary Guild selection. She also authored Gymkhana Games and A Beginner’s Guide to the Western Horse. Natlee Kenoyer is a renaissance horsewoman, a part of Sonoma County’s equestrian foundation, and is currently writing her autobiography at her residence in Windsor.
Ray Valladao is the real deal, the “cowboy in the white hat” for Sonoma County. A long time member of the Back Country Horsemen’s North Bay Unit, Ray is considered by his hard-working peers to be the best planner and most productive hand that group has ever seen. For more than a decade, Ray has acted on his belief that he would earn respect for equestrians by delivering benefits to the state and county park systems and other local land stewards. We have him to thank for many of the hundreds of miles of developed horse trails in Sonoma County. He not only has negotiated for us as parks are being developed; he gets his hands dirty cutting trails, side by side with park employees. He has organized volunteers to expand the work force, acting, always with humility, as lead worker, installing hitching rails and building all those recycling manure bunkers in Sonoma County parks, so appreciated and used by local rose growers. As Public Lands Representative of the North Bay Chapter Ray’s heartfelt advocacy has produced untold benefits for all horse and stock users of California’s backcountry. It might be difficult to find a Sonoma County trail rider who hasn’t run into Ray on the trail. He always offers a friendly greeting, and often helps newer riders get oriented. Following some personal challenges, last year Ray sold his horse, Sox, and his friendly smile and helpful ways haven’t been seen as much lately on local trails. This Equus Award is the Horse Council’s way to let Ray know we need him back in the saddle, again! 
dedication to Sonoma County agriculture. He is admired by many for his Geyserville vineyards, his good nature and willingness to help, and his fine Belgian horses. Dick’s father, Norman, was a career police officer for the City of Santa Rosa. His mother, Florence, was a Geyserville native. Florence’s father, August McPherson, used horses to work his Sonoma County acreage. Dick spent much of his childhood with his grandparents on the ranch, forming his life’s goal to become a farmer, horseman and steward of the land. Dick eventually moved to Geyserville to begin farming. His first team of draft horses, Belgian geldings Chubby and Red, had been used in the filming of Little House on the Prairie. He used his team to work the fields, and in a business he started, Stage a Picnic, where patrons toured vineyards and were treated to gourmet picnic lunches. In 1982, Dick Dilworth, Greg Hannan and Bob Donnelly founded the North Bay Draft Horse & Mule Club to preserve the use of draft animals in local agriculture. Even today, horse drawn wagon rides are presented by club volunteers, including Dick’s son, Casey, as a popular feature at the Sonoma County Fair. Dick is a Sonoma County Trail Blazer who shares his love of horses and children at the Farm Bureau’s annual Kid’s Day each spring. He has served as President for the Geyserville School Board, and is currently Battalion Chief for the Geyserville Volunteer Fire Department. He has been a board member of the Alexander Valley Grape Growers. He is a member of the Sonoma County Driving and Riding Club. Dick Dilworth is a true Sonoma County horseman! 
Dr. Jim Steere is a most deserving 2007 Equus Award Hall of Fame inductee He is a true renaissance man – athlete, horseman, physician, teacher, student, trail builder, and family man. He is the founding partner of Artaurus Veterinary Clinic, an innovative vet practice with special emphasis on equine health and fitness. The clinic and hospital are recognizable along highway 101 at San Antonio road, near the Marin/Sonoma county line, memorable for its unique and award-winning sod roof. Jim began his life-long journey with animals when, at age nine, his father gave him a horse to ride from the family’s desert homestead to a one room elementary school in Rosamond, CA. In high school, he competed in horse shows and worked on local cattle ranches. During WW II, he served in uniform from l942 to 1946, ultimately as an officer in the Air Corps, navigating B29’s in the Pacific Theatre. He earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from UC Davis in 1953. Doc Steere is a Fulbright Scholar, and in 1965, he attended Harvard University School of Public Health in Boston and added a Masters’ Degree to his credentials. He resides in Petaluma and is a member of the Sonoma County Trail Blazers and past President of the Marin Horse Council. He is a dedicated senior athlete, a sporting competitor in endurance horse racing and a role model for all equestrians, as we age. He has participated in the Levi Strauss Ride and Tie Race since 1971, eight years as a competitor, and 26 years as the head veterinarian for the World Championship Ride & Tie Race. He still competes in endurance racing, completing the 100 Mile Tevis Cup in 2005. Being a horse doctor is not work for Doc Steere; for him, It has been a dance with horses for 53 years. 
honored with an Equus Award for playing a major role in raising the quality of Dressage training and horses to an international level in Sonoma County. She has offered as many as six Champion stallions at stud at one time, and received national and international awards for Dressage horses from her breeding program. She frequently offers Dressage symposiums and clinics at her Sonoma County facility, delivering uniquely expert Dressage education to the local equestrian community. She grew up outside of Dusseldorf, Germany, where, at age four, she saw her first horse. Lilo says “...from that time on I knew that four legs, a mane and tail would be my life.” She came to California in 1971 and bought, for one dollar, an injured three year old American Thoroughbred, Dionysus. Under her training, Dionysus not only healed; he became U.S. “Horse of the Year” in all national levels. She and Dionysus were selected for the USET short list in 1976. Dionysus was only the first in a succession of Lilo’s many hard earned and on-going accomplishments over more than 30 years in Sonoma County. She is the winner of numerous national and international Horse of the Year awards for California, USDF and USET. Her judging credentials include: USEF “S” Judge, FEI “I” Judge and Sporthorse Breed Judge. She is among the founders and serves as chair of the USDF Instructor-Trainer Certification Program. She is continuously involved in many educational programs for Dressage trainers, teachers and judges throughout the United States. 
Joann Slissman is being honored with an Equus Award for her many years of promoting horses and agriculture in Sonoma County. She operates the Wyammy Ranch in Occidental, where she has bred Quarter Horses for forty-six years. “Wyammy” comes from her younger sister’s mix up of “Wyoming” and “Miami.” Joann took over full responsibility for the family ranch in 1982. She and her sister, Karen, continue to oversee the family business in San Francisco. Joann’s career as an expert equestrian has been shared with many North Bay children and adults to whom she has taught horsemanship. She has practiced “gentle use” principles with her horses, even before this approach became mainstream. She volunteered for a decade as a project leader for 4H. Her students have gone on to compete significantly in dressage, steeplechase, and hunter/jumper. One of her star pupils became a top female farrier in the U.S. Joann founded the Occidental Equestriennes over thirty years ago and remains a charter member. She took up cutting at the age of fifty, and enjoys packing in the Emigrant Wilderness in the Sierras for fun and recreation. She is past president of the Sonoma County Driving and Riding Club, past president of the Redwood Empire Cutting Horse Association, and a board member of the Vintage Cutting Horse Association. Joann was among the original organizers of the Sonoma County Trails Council. 
training horses in Western disciplines, general horse training, and for his innovative contributions to equine wellness and performance. Art began his career as a trainer in 1966, and learned farriery in 1971 to assist his horses’ performance. He became a full-time trainer in 1980, then incorporated innovative bodywork with his training in 1986. Art Grunig has studied bodywork in the United States, France, and Italy. His list of credentials include: massage, cranial sacral, visceral manipulation, lymphatic drainage, sports massage, watsu, and tantsu. Art also has developed a form of bodywork called Reflex Balancing. Art says fairness is the key in his approach to training. He defines fairness as the horse always having a good opportunity to find a way to be happy, comfortable and healthy. All of his techniques, methods, and procedures are based on this philosophy. He has performed his work from coast to coast in the continental US and Hawaii, as well as Mexico, Italy, Ethiopia and the Virgin Islands. Art has trained horses for reining, cutting, working cow horse, western riding, western pleasure, trail, jumping, dressage, gaited horses, jousting, vaulting, driving, and racing. He and his students have won more than 30 equine championships and reserve championships, at both regional and national levels. One of his unique accomplishments is training two draft horses, ridden by their owner Kelly Bailey, that have won money in the National Reining Horse Association Florida Reining Classic 5 out of the past 7 years. 
Bob and Alice Larsen of Larsen’s Feed and Pet Supply are honored with the Equus Award for their thirty years of teamwork, helping Sonoma County residents understand the proper balance of nutrition for their horses, livestock and pets. 
Buzz and Cookie Bozzini are honored as community leaders in promoting good horsemanship and the equestrian way of life in Sonoma County. Together, they have taught countless numbers of kids, teens and adults how to ride and rope over the last three decades. Cookie teaches equitation; Buzz trains teens and adults in roping.
Jim Carlson, Santa Rosa Police, retired, is honored with the Equus Award for being the key player in the establishment of Santa Rosa’s contemporary Mounted Police Unit. Jim spent a year and lots of personal time authoring and advocating formation of the unit. Jim credits officer Joe Heath and retired officer Jim Miller for partnering with him in setting up and riding in the unit.
Barbara Chasteen is being recognized for so generously sharing her amazing gift of helping horses, especially damaged horses, heal. She continues to restore useful lives to horses thought to be beyond saving, due to emotional or physical injury. Barbara’s gift has brought much joy to horses and horse owners.
Maxine Freitas receives the Equus Award for her life’s work, Equi-Ed, now in its twelfth year, which offers an individualized equestrian experience to motivate academic, personal, social and physical growth for students with and without special needs.
Bobby Keville receives the Equus Award for her leadership and volunteerism on behalf of the Sonoma Chapter of the California Dressage Society. She is a constant volunteer, and twice has been the CDS annual show volunteer coordinator for Northern CA. She has arranged and managed equestrian fashion shows, fundraisers and a number of educational programs. 
Santa Rosa’s John Neves was nominated for the Equus Award by the Sonoma County Driving and Riding Club (SCDRC). Since the 1980’s, John has been recognized as a North Bay leader in developing the positiverelationships today’s local equine industry enjoys with local parks and political entities. While John has been instrumental in building and installing so many of the hitching rails, water troughs and other improvements seen today along Sonoma County Trails. It was a near fatal accident in 1997 that raised John’s influence on local equestrians to a new level.
A posthumous Equus Award is presented to Robert H. Walter, respected breeder of race horses, benefactor, and a most talented horseman who introduced the sport of Polo to Sonoma County. Mr. Walter passed away at 86 in May of 2003.
Dr. Jack Woolsey joins the Equus Award Hall of Fame in honor of his more than 50 years of caring for the horses and other animals of Sonoma County. Born in San Francisco and raised in Woodland, he grew up riding a cow pony and loving horses. After serving in WWII, he graduated from Veterinary school in Kansas. He finished his education at U.C. Davis, where he taught veterinary medicine for several years. But he longed for his own practice.
Johnny Brazil, Jr. of Geyserville began his brilliant career in the reined cow horse industry at the age of 15 in Lafayette, CA. In the ‘40s Johnny joined with other breeders and exhibitors to write bylaws for an organization to promote competition based on the methods of the California Vaquero. These giants of horsemanship were charter members of the California Reined Cow Horse Association, the organization that later became the NRCHA.
up on a ranch in Trinity County. He has owned and ridden horses for hunting, trail riding and working cows for most of his adult life. Orin and his brother, Lee, founded Burgess Lumber in the early 1970’s. They operate a retail building materials yard in Santa Rosa and a remanufacturing plant in Redwood Valley, CA.
Ginger DeGrange has been Grand National Rodeo Queen, a top ten finisher in the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Association finals, and has competed successfully in reining and cutting in the AQHA world
Indiana and fell in love at the age of 8 with the family’s Tennessee Walker, Black Beauty. She pursued formal riding instruction at Christian College in Columbia, Missouri and was schooled in 3-gaited and 5-gaited Saddlebreds. After moving to Northern California, Mickey found not only her first Peruvian Paso, but the trainer who had been so highly recommended. The trainer was Inca Indian from the high Andes in Peru.
Judy McHerron has served for 14 years on the Board of Directors of the Sonoma County Chapter of the California Dressage Society, as Merchandise Chairman for the annual “Dressage in the Wine Country” event. In 2001, CDS presented her with The Ursula Lliarkos Award for working for the good of horses in Sonoma County.
Jim Porter is the founder of the SRJC Equine Science Program which began as one class in basic horse husbandry, and has grown to over 20 courses, including both a certificate and major in Equine Science. Over the past three decades, Jim personally has taught thousands of students, many of them working today at ranches, horse stables and farm-related businesses in Sonoma County and throughout Northern California.
Sharon Saare was born and raised right here in Santa Rosa CA. She attended Santa Rosa High School, SRJC, and graduated from the Univ. of Washington. Sharon has a worldwide reputation as the maker of fine saddles, beginning with endurance saddles, and now including police saddles and western trail and show equipment. She is also an Akhal Teke horse breeder.
