Howdy,

Great news! Horses are now officially part of our county’s agriculture, according to the new Sonoma County General Plan, updated by the Board of Supervisors on Jan. 15.

The new wording states: "The raising of horses has long been a tradition in Sonoma County. Equestrian uses are second only to grapes and wine production to the county's agricultural economy. Horses play and important role in many aspects of life, including farm and ranch work, timber harvest, riding, packing, shows and racing. Policy support is needed in order to assure that horses and agriculture-related equestrian facilities are explicitly recognized as agricultural uses."

The updated General Plan further states:

“GOAL—Provide for the raising of horses in the same manner as the production of other agricultural products.

“Objective 1. Allow the raising of horses and related facilities and activities in all agricultural areas.

“Objective 2. Provide opportunities for the development of support facilities for the horse industry on appropriate lands, consistent with best management practices.

“The following policy shall be used to achieve these three objectives: Permit raising of horses and related facilities in the same manner as other agriculture production uses.”

This is a fabulous step forward in your Horse Council’s goal to return the horse industry to its rightful place as an accepted part of the agricultural economy in Sonoma County and in California. But this step is only approval of it as policy. The next, important steps will be to transfer that policy into actual procedure, and, as they say, “the devil is in the details.” For instance, the General Plan still has a sentence that reads, “Equestrian uses conducted for recreational or other non-agricultural uses are not considered agricultural uses in this context." Obviously, we have to get that sentence changed.

Nevertheless, this monumental development will affect all future aspects of horse keeping and use on our private and public land. As the details of these recommendations are finalized, we at the Sonoma County Horse Council will keep you informed.

But this political news isn’t the only happy news in this special issue of the Sonoma County Horse Journal. This issue also features our 4th annual Equus Awards, for which the Nomination Committee has chosen the winners. There were many nominees this year, which made for some difficult choices. If your nominee wasn’t chosen, please try again next year. Seniority does help.

The winners are: Kristine Huot, George Snyder, Ed Laney, Gene Harlan, Stan Fonsen, Natlee Kenoyer, and Nancy Kasovich.

The selected nominees slowly worked their way to the top of the list. And when it was done, we knew we had the right people, people who had definitely earned this award.

This is the part of the Sonoma County Horse Council that is truly joyous to be a part of. We welcome all volunteers who would like to come and help us out.

Happy Trails,

Karl Bastian

President, Sonoma County Horse Council