This page is devoted to all things horsey in Sonoma County, and elsewhere if relevant. Please watch us grow, and let me know if you would like to contribute your writings and photos or horsey news to the site. (with credits and link love of course!)
The place to start linking to if you are interested in horses and Sonoma County, is the Sonoma County Horse Council. This volunteer led group was founded in 1993 to advocate for horse-owners and horse-related businesses in Sonoma County. Like many such organizations, it was formed in response to a threat, in this case a plan by the Sonoma County Planning department to require use permits for most equestrian related facilities, despite zoning regulations which permitted equestrian uses as agricultural. If you follow the links, you will see they have come a long way, and assembled a powerful voice out of a diverse, horse-loving community. Sonoma County has one of the highest rates of horse ownership in the country.
 I have posted about this important organization before, but wanted to permanently add some links on this page as well. In addition, they have assembled a useful list of links to local and regional equestrian resource groups, including places to ride and one of my favorites, Bay Area Equestrian Network. For a link back in time to a 2006 article about horses and wine country from Bay EquestMagazine, click here.
When I started to ride seriously as an adult, my Hanoverian/Thoroughbred cross Reilly and I trained with Sarah Sheehy, Terry Church and Siri Larssen, all in either Marin County or Sonoma county at the time. I have stayed in touch with them over the years and just received word of an updated website, Natural Sporthorse.com which links them all together and promotes Natural horsemanship, inspired by Tom Dorrance and others, for the disciplines of hunters, jumpers and dressage. The purpose is to develop a partnership with your horse based upon improving the rider’s balance and feel so as to allow the horse to develop their utmost potential in a sound, healthy and natural way. There are many practitioners of natural horsemanship in Sonoma county. Natural Sporthorse links to some of the best and has links to many other resources as well. Worth a visit!
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