PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM 115 Step onto the sprawling 270-acre landscape known as The Horse Park at Woodside, and find an equestrian paradise replete with nine arenas, stocked with stables and dotted with every kind of imaginable horse jump from logs to rails. On this particular ambling afternoon, the quiet is punctuated by far-off whinnies and nickers, while a lone tractor kicks up a cloud of dust in the distance. Don’t let today’s calm fool you. With a bustling event calendar and numerous organizations using its facilities, The Horse Park attracts everyone from Olympians to kiddos clad in their first equestrian helmets and riding gear. “We’re a huge show venue,” notes Steve Roon, executive director here. “We have some of the best competitions in the various disciplines anywhere on the West Coast—whether it’s vaulting, the reining shows (which is a Western discipline), the hunter/jumper shows or the horse trials (three-day eventing).” And not only are hundreds of horses circulating in and out of the Park for events, but the facility also hosts some 120 boarders year-round. Now add to that the Woodside and Portola Valley Pony Clubs, the Stanford University Polo Club, the Woodside Polo Club and B.O.K. Ranch’s therapeutic riding lessons. Then factor in organizations like Hillview Equestrian, Aspen Ridge Stables, CORE Equestrian, McIver Equestrian, Tayside Sport Horses, West Coast Performance Horses, Stone Harbor and Woodside Vaulters, all dedicated to raising up the next generation of equestrians on The Horse Park’s grounds. “There’s a huge ballet of activities that goes on,” Steve aptly describes. And he’s at the center of the dance.
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