2021 was a banner year for West Coast Ranch Horse. The prominent ranch horse organization offered two buckle series and two large multi-day shows in the Temecula area last year. Coming off of the success of the Ranch Horse Rendezvous last November, WCRH has big plans for 2022 including 14 shows in the southern CA area.
The WCRH show year kicks off on February 27th at California Ranch Company in Temecula with a schooling show and clinic featuring Roy Rich of the Rich Group in Temecula, CA and Jando Guerra of Guerra Performance Horses in Madera, CA as clinicians. Roy Rich recently had tremendous success with SJR Smooth Cadilac a 2016 stallion owned by Rocking J Ranch bringing home multiple AQHA world and reserve world championships in both cowhorse and ranch riding. Jando is a carded ranch horse judge and experienced ranch horse trainer and clinician. Attendees will show in a mock show with back-to-back classes, including Ranch Riding, Ranch Trail, Ranch Rail and Ranch Conformation. Live feedback from our clinicians after each run or class will offer real time opportunities for improvement to help members prepare for the upcoming show season. The ‘Lunch with the Pros’ session is a catered lunch with a question and answer session with the clinicians. The sessions are already sold out for riders for Sunday, but sessions have been added for Saturday, Feb 26th to accommodate the demand. Auditor tickets are offered for all sessions.
2022 will be a year of firsts for WCRH. The spring will bring the first WCRH show in Los Angeles county, the Ranch Horse Spring Celebration at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center April 1-3. The Celebration will feature renowned ranch riding judges & clinicians Debbie Cooper and Sami Hernandez, clinics and a horse sale produced by XIT Western Productions. The first WCRH San Diego county buckle series will also be held in the spring and will highlight San Diego county facilities and clubs. The series will be held March 13th at Poway Valley Riders Association arena, April 30th at the Star Valley Park in partnership with the Valley Center Vaqueros and May 29th at the International Equestrian Center in Ramona, CA. WCRH will also be offering the Ranch Horse Retreat, an exclusive opportunity to join top competitor, judge and trainer Laurel Walker Denton for two and a half days at the beautiful California Ranch Company in Temecula, CA. This is the first time Laurel has offered this experience away from her ranch in Arizona. This unique experience will be limited to 10 riders and will feature intimate clinics on ranch riding, ranch rail and ranch trail. It will be an all-inclusive event including RV hook ups, stalls, campfire breakfast, chuckwagon dinner, live music, trail ride with wine tasting and a schooling show with buckles. She will also be offering the option to review videos prior to the retreat. This will be a once in a lifetime opportunity to spend a weekend with Laurel getting personalized tips for improvement. It will also include the rare opportunity to hear her talk about the history of ranch riding and see show bits from her personal collection.
WCRH will also be holding the Ranch Horse Spectacular Show June 24-26 at a southern California location to be determined with industry standouts Gary Roberts and Michael Damianos as judges and clinicians. Buckles will be given to all division champions for this three day event. Two buckle series in Temecula will be held as well. The Ranch Horse Round Up Summer Buckle Series will be April 24th, June 5th and July 24th. The Fall Classic Buckle Series will be held August 13th, September 10th and October 8th. 2022 buckle series shows will be held at Green Acres Ranch and California Ranch Company and will offer division champion buckles with the best two out of three shows to count for division champions. As always, the WCRH show season will conclude with the popular Ranch Horse Rendezvous, which will be held November 17-20th at California Ranch Company. This year end event will include a maturity for horses 7 and over, futurities and a two day ranch horse show with divisions for all levels of horses and riders. The event will include a horse sale in partnership with XIT Western Productions, clinics, shopping, ranch rail stakes classes, a chili cook off, wine & cheese reception and a catered dinner. WCRH is working to add the West Coast Ranch Horse Championships in northern California to accommodate the large member base it has in that area. It is possible due to conflicts and availability that the event may need to be slated in 2023.
In keeping with the 2022 theme of firsts, WCRH will be holding its first standalone social events. The Social Sorting will be held on Thursday April 28th at California Ranch Company. This event will include a casual catered dinner, an introduction to ranch sorting and a sorting competition with champion buckles. WCRH is holding its first year end banquet on Saturday December 17th to present awards from its popular ‘Best in the West’ year end awards program and to give away the four champion saddles for high point riders in Open, Amateur, Green Rider and Youth divisions from WCRH shows for the 2022 season. So far, saddle sponsors include SJR Smooth Cadliac, The Rich Group and California Ranch Company.
WCRH sanctions many ranch horse shows throughout the West Coast Region (CA, NV, AZ, UT, ID, WA and OR) including the Gold N Grand series at the Rancho Murieta Equestrian Center in Murieta, CA, the Southern California Professional Horseshow Association shows in Temecula, CA and the Quarter Horse Exhibitors Association of California (QHEAC) shows among many others. Points earned at WCRH and WCRH approved shows are automatically transferred to WCRH and count towards the Best in the West program. Points from any ranch horse shows held in the West Coast Region will also count with the submission of a competitor report form. The Best in the West program features six divisions including Open, Amateur, Youth, Short Stirrup, Green Horse and Green Rider. The 2022 Best in the West program will run February 1st – October 31st (with the Ranch Horse Rendezvous to count). For awards schedule, details and to nominate, visit the WCRH website.
To see the full 2022 WCRH and WCRH sanctioned show schedule, visit www.westcoastranchhorse.com.