The Heart of a Horse
“No hour of life is lost that is spent in the saddle.” —Winston Churchill
It’s a cool, crisp autumn morning in Pasadena, the kind of quintessential California day a marketing whiz could bottle up and sell as a panacea for anything that ails you. I’m at Hahamongna Watershed Park strolling amongst the willow, oak and sycamore trees with Laurel Lange Richardson, president of the Rose Bowl Riders (RBR) – the all-volunteer equestrian club that dates back to the 1940s.
“The Rose Bowl Riders really started out as just a social group, which is still a large component of the club. That was around 1944,” says Lange Richardson. “A gathering of friends would all get together and horseback ride the trails and have breakfast down at the Rose Bowl.”
If the tableau of friends moseying through the woods on horseback before tucking into a picnic meal isn’t enough to make you long for the days of Joel McCrea and Barbra Stanwyck, then maybe the latest cutting-edge research on human heart rate variability and a horse’s ability to improve it, will have you seeking the warm and wise company of horses and the people who love them.
“Studies have shown that horse’s and human’s heart rates will synch up when they spend time together,” explains RBR Director Cisco Miralles, a graduate of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s animal science program who works in equine-assisted therapy at RBR and at his 80-acre ranch in Acton. “We’re seeing how helpful this is for people with anxiety, PTSD and addiction issues. How healing it can be to work with a horse.”
“I think it’s really worth highlighting that this land we’re standing on, what is essentially called the Pasadena Equestrian Center, encompasses a number of different types of riding,” says Lange Richardson. “We have Ride On — the specialty facility that focuses on therapeutic riding, but we also have RBR, which is primarily for hunter jumpers. Of course, if you’re a western rider, you have our beautiful trails available to you. And for kids, there’s the Tom Sawyer camp.”
RBR, which is run by volunteers, also emphasizes the importance of building relationships with the horses and the community, with members often involved in grooming and caring for the animals and helping each other and the club when needed. In a country with a loneliness epidemic raging and mental health issues rampant, the gentle, folksy ways of bygone days can act as a salve and a bridge to connection.
Miralles says that connection is something RBR focuses on. “I have clients who ride in Brentwood, for example,” he says. “The kids go up and get on the horse straightaway and go right to the arena. When they get off the horse, it’s taken from them and led away. They don't have a relationship. One of the things the trainers really try to do here is get the kids involved with the grooming. That’s something that's crucial in the sense of getting hands-on experience, which is not too common now.”
That grooming and taking responsibility is a major part of RBR’s appeal, Lange Richardson says. “When I was leasing horses here, I would buy them conditioning spray for their fur, and I would get them their fly mask. I wanted them to be getting the best possible care, and I was really invested in them. I remember having this absolutely little girl fantasy moment when I got to the stables one morning when it was cold, and my horse was all curled up in his bedding. I went in, and I just pet his face and his head. He woke up and recognized me and was really happy to be there with me, and I just thought that was the most magical thing in the world.”
Lange Richardson discovered RBR in 2018 when she was looking for a way to be outdoors and physically active, even though she hadn’t been horseback riding since she was a child. “I loved the horses, but I was really captivated by the community aspect here,” she says. “I think it’s unique. It’s a mix of really passionate people. You have people who are trailering their horses from their backyard and going on the trails, and you have folks who are flying in horses from Germany to do jumping. Everyone is very passionate about their horses and horsemanship. And that feeling is contagious.”
Whether it’s the soothing beat of a gorgeous horse’s heart, the friendly wave of a fellow volunteer, or the gentle rustling of eucalyptus leaves as you meander through the trails, there is something healing for everyone in this little corner of Eden. Rose Bowl Riders await.
