PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM 117 including wrangling communications with 800 members. “I’m an ambassador for the park,” he summarizes. Being around these events 24-7, Steve has met many kinds of competitors. “Each horse discipline brings with it its own culture,” he reflects. Take reining, a Western discipline where riders exhibit cattle ranch skills through a precise pattern of maneuvers. “Their horses are bred to be very submissive, and they’ll do whatever they ask,” Steve says. “They will drop their reins on the ground and the horse will stand there!” He chuckles, “We will find a horse just stopped in You can imagine that a property triple the size of Disneyland (with an incessant flurry of activities) takes quite a bit of upkeep. “It became pretty clear that we needed a full-time executive director,” recalls Steve, who first came to the Park to compete in eventing more than two decades ago. “So I failed retirement and, three and a half years ago, came back to run The Horse Park.” Steve oversees the countless tasks necessary to ensure that the Park runs smoothly, the middle of nowhere—nothing around it—and the rider had to go use the bathroom!” Then there’s the hunter/jumper crowd. “They come with a whole support group—trainers and grooms and all,” describes Steve. “These horses are immaculately braided and they’re spectacular athletes.” Steve himself is an “eventer” who competes in dressage (a performed sequence of movements) as well as cross-country and show jumping. “We are much more hands-on,” Steve explains. “We have strong relationships with our horses to be able to do what we do out there.” As anyone associated with The Horse Park can tell you, the bond between horse and rider is sacred. Fondly, Steve recalls his journey to the Emerald Isle to find Billy, his 17.3-hand Irish sport horse. “I saw 20 horses in five days, got on 10 of them, got thrown by one of them—and fell in love with this horse that I have.” As Steve describes it, “The communication is very subtle and almost subconscious. I don’t use my reins to steer with him. All I have to do is move my shoulders, which changes the pressure of my hips and ankles and he moves!” ABOVE: The Horse Park executive director Steve Roon with Molly Kaster, who organizes the Park’s schooling shows.
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