Horses

Steven Spielberg's "War Horse" is shaping up to be a big hit for DreamWorks. The film tugs on our heartstrings by highlighting the love between a man, Albert, and his horse, Joey — a love so deep that Albert joins the service to get his horse back after it is sold to the cavalry. But "War Horse" does much more. It reminds us of the role these majestic animals have played in the history of war. Horses were first used in warfare 5,000 years ago, and the cavalry was a cornerstone of warfare during World War I, the war featured in "War Horse.

A universal truth is that girls love animals. So when the girls from Orange County Troop 871 brainstormed ideas for their next service project, their leaders, Trish Anastos and Lori Miskell, knew the project must involve helping cute, cuddly animals with big brown eyes. Nearly 200 hours and several badges later, these 10 fifth-grade girls from Newport Beach, Corona del Mar, Newport Coast, Irvine and Huntington Beach earned the Girl Scout Bronze Award after completing a project that could be considered a trifecta of service: Scouts support a therapeutic riding center, the riding center rescues horses with big brown eyes, and the horses provide a means for therapy for developmentally disabled children and adults.

Young Chang When Gilles Ste-Croix looks into the eyes of a horse, he says he sees the history of man. Good, evil, war, peace, the importance of a decision made 3,000 years ago when man chose to ride a horse instead of eat it. They're emotional animals with sharp memories and distinct personalities, said the former director of creation for Cirque du Soleil. And because they carry a beauty and grace and sense of humanity, Ste-Croix has paired people with horses to showcase equestrian artistry.

The Orange County Fair board is discussing doing away with the equestrian center in order to make way for more parking spaces. The horse stabling and training facilities might have to leave the north end of the grounds to make room for the expansion needs of the complex as a whole, officials said. Since the center is surrounded on all sides by municipal buildings, houses and schools, the facility doesn’t have many other places to turn to satisfy its growing demand for space.

DON CANTRELL Out of World War II, prep football and horse racing, Joe Muniz has known triumph and trauma. He can write off the trauma from his memory bank, but he will always treasure the triumphs that have blessed him and his family over the years. Some of the high points include: Marrying the lovely queen of the 1944 Newport Harbor High junior-senior prom, the former Jerri Conner, which would lead to three wonderful children. Seeing one of his race horses, "Chicks Beduino," named the 1986 state champion in California.

Two teenagers who regularly ride at the Orange County Fairgrounds' equestrian center will take their competition to a new level internationally at the end of the month. Taylor McClung, 14, and Brittney Allyn, 15, have been chosen to ride in two prestigious equestrian show jumping competitions. Taylor, a student at Corona del Mar High School, will fly to Bogota, Columbia for the World Children's Championship. Brittney will travel to Calgary, Canada for the West Coast Active Riders Childrens Amateur Jumper Team competition.

Young Chang COSTA MESA -- Barely two days since the third annual Eclectic Orange Festival closed, the Philharmonic Society announced Tuesday that a gypsy-like team of horses, horsemen, actors and dancers will be the centerpiece of the fourth annual festival. Twenty-six horses will be flown in on 747 aircraft in October for Theatre Zingaro's national premiere of "Triptyk" -- a production described by philharmonic leaders as a "one-of-a-kind" show directed and choreographed by Bartabas.

The Washington family of Costa Mesa will be riding in the Rose Parade for their 11th year, bringing “curliest regards” to viewers along the spectacle’s six-mile route. Jim Washington, his daughter Tiffany, son Lawrence and extended family members comprise the Classic Curly Riders in the parade every year, astride the rare American Bashkir Curly breed, which has a unique, curly coat and paradoxically smooth temperament. Washington owns a ranch in the Antelope Valley, where he breeds and raises Curly horses.

Michele Ryan has lunch once a month at a dusty, makeshift restaurant with dining companions who have little understanding of table manners. She wouldn't have it any other way. Ryan, who owns two horses at the Huntington Central Park Equestrian Center, is among the regulars every second Saturday at Have Lunch with Your Horse Day. The fundraiser, hosted by the nonprofit Red Bucket Equine Rescue, invites owners and other members of the public...

It's an agricultural icon, a behemoth that ranks up there with the horse. In fact, it's a piece of machinery that replaced the horse. That would be the John Deere BN tractor, built in the early to mid-1940s. And now you can be the proud owner of one designed in 1946, bought in Fresno three weeks ago, then restored for auction at the Orange County Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction on Sunday between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. at Lot No. 617.2. The money raised from the sale will go to Centennial Farm Foundation, a youth-oriented educational arm that anchors the fairgrounds in the form of the Millennium Barn — a popular destination to some 50,000 school children a year with all its farm animal pigs, chickens, cattle and goats.

Steven Spielberg's "War Horse" is shaping up to be a big hit for DreamWorks. The film tugs on our heartstrings by highlighting the love between a man, Albert, and his horse, Joey — a love so deep that Albert joins the service to get his horse back after it is sold to the cavalry. But "War Horse" does much more. It reminds us of the role these majestic animals have played in the history of war. Horses were first used in warfare 5,000 years ago, and the cavalry was a cornerstone of warfare during World War I, the war featured in "War Horse.

We've been lying low at my house, nursing our bitterness, and indulging in theatrical self-torment as we try to assuage our battered egos. We are UCLA fans. It's not easy being one these days, not since last weekend's shellacking of the Bruin football squad by that other college team from Los Angeles. It doesn't help that the enemy is everywhere in Newport Beach. Sometimes I wonder if the city is actually just an extension of the USC campus. Do residents get a break on their taxes when they fly those annoying flags?

Michele Ryan has lunch once a month at a dusty, makeshift restaurant with dining companions who have little understanding of table manners. She wouldn't have it any other way. Ryan, who owns two horses at the Huntington Central Park Equestrian Center, is among the regulars every second Saturday at Have Lunch with Your Horse Day. The fundraiser, hosted by the nonprofit Red Bucket Equine Rescue, invites owners and other members of the public...

Too much has been made in Costa Mesa of similarities between businesses and cities. Sure, they both have employees with payrolls to meet. Both have offices and janitors and other maintenance workers. I've worked at many companies that even had their own security personnel, some with firefighters as well. Yes, there are similarities, but there are differences, and these differences are huge. To focus solely on the similarities is unwise. If we applied this same philosophy to baby-making, wouldn't we want to incentivize a woman to produce a baby in fewer than nine months?

A universal truth is that girls love animals. So when the girls from Orange County Troop 871 brainstormed ideas for their next service project, their leaders, Trish Anastos and Lori Miskell, knew the project must involve helping cute, cuddly animals with big brown eyes. Nearly 200 hours and several badges later, these 10 fifth-grade girls from Newport Beach, Corona del Mar, Newport Coast, Irvine and Huntington Beach earned the Girl Scout Bronze Award after completing a project that could be considered a trifecta of service: Scouts support a therapeutic riding center, the riding center rescues horses with big brown eyes, and the horses provide a means for therapy for developmentally disabled children and adults.

Eulalie "Lalie" Solomon died in Newport Beach on Aug. 24, 2010. She was 88. Lalie was born in Pomona on June 26, 1922, to Nony and Thomas "Hart" Nesbit. The youngest of four, she had three sisters -- Pat, Jeanne and Nona -- all of whom were born two years apart. Nona is 90 years old and lives in Seattle. Growing up in Pomona during the early 20th century, Lalie was surrounded by teeming orange groves. Her mother owned horses and was a prominent trainer. Their horses raced all over California, including at Santa Anita and Hollywood Park, as well as in Tijuana, Mexico.

It's an agricultural icon, a behemoth that ranks up there with the horse. In fact, it's a piece of machinery that replaced the horse. That would be the John Deere BN tractor, built in the early to mid-1940s. And now you can be the proud owner of one designed in 1946, bought in Fresno three weeks ago, then restored for auction at the Orange County Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction on Sunday between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. at Lot No. 617.2. The money raised from the sale will go to Centennial Farm Foundation, a youth-oriented educational arm that anchors the fairgrounds in the form of the Millennium Barn — a popular destination to some 50,000 school children a year with all its farm animal pigs, chickens, cattle and goats.

This isn’t the first time that someone rode “Trigger” the horse off into the sunset. For what store owners are saying is probably the fourth or fifth time, the iconic fiberglass horse in front of the Feed Barn in Costa Mesa — nicknamed “Trigger” by customers — has been stolen. The 6-foot-tall, 8-foot-long Palomino-colored steed was secured in concrete with rebar in his hooves, fastening him to the parking lot foundation in front of the pet food store at 2300 Newport Blvd.

Torelli Realty, a premier independent real estate firm in Costa Mesa, Calif., will be co-sponsoring the first and only Ricky Quinn Horsemanship Clinic in Southern California on the 2009 schedule. Quinn, who travels the United States to teach his Vaquero style of horsemanship and helps create true partnerships with horses, will be providing colt starting and foundation horsemanship classes at the Huntington Central Park Equestrian Center in Huntington Beach Oct. 1-4, marking the 4th annual partnership of Torelli Realty, HCPEC and Ricky Quinn.

Submitted by Lisa Rodriguez Clement  You may or may not have heard the term Husband Horse before. That’s what American Quarter Horse Leo’s Keep Sparkling was brought home to be. It started when my vet, Dr. Janice Posnikoff , called to tell me of a good horse needing rescue. She had watched as I rehabilitated one after the other of the rescues all these years, then got them good homes. She had known this horse before the owner died of a fast moving cancer. The Owner’s friends did their best to place the horse but despite everyone’s best effort it hadn’t worked out. It was raining the day my partner and I pulled up with the trailer to have a look.