Paint Horse Club celebrates 20 years in Ventura County

By Lori Porter porter@theacorn.com

The Greater Los Angeles Paint Horse Club (GLAPHC) is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Owners of one of the fastest-growing horse breeds in the world, several local members will be receiving awards in January.

Formed by a group of people in the area with a common interest and passion for this particular breed, GLAPHC promotes the ownership, showing and breeding of American Paint Horses in Ventura and Los Angeles County. There are currently 35 families registered as GLAPHC members.

Regional paint horse clubs are chartered by The American Paint Horse Association, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.

Although the name paint horse invokes images of a "horse of many colors," such as those featured in "The Wizard of Oz" movie, that’s not exactly what these multicolored horses are.

True paint horses featured in films and television shows include the lead horse in the movie "Hidalgo," a sorrel overo. The old television series "The Cisco Kid" featured Diablo, a black and white overo, and Little Joe on the series "Bonanza" rode Cochise, a bay tobiano.

The paint horse’s colorful coat pattern helps to identify the breed. However, more important to the identity are the strict bloodline requirements and the distinctive stock-horse body type.

For a horse to be registered as an official paint horse its sire and dam (mother and father) must be registered with the American Paint Horse Association, the American Quarter Horse Association or the Jockey Club (Thoroughbreds). The horse must also exhibit a minimum amount of white hair over unpigmented (pink) skin.

Each paint horse has a particular combination of white and any color of the equine spectrum such as black, bay, brown, chestnut, dun, grullo, sorrel, palomino, buckskin, grau or roan. Markings can be any shape or size and located anywhere on the horse’s body. There are three coat patterns specific to paint horses: overo, tobiano or tovero.

Paint horses are great family horses since they are quiet and gentle by nature and perfect for children. They are talented and perform well in horse events, often showing off in the ring, on the trail, in rodeos, jumping events, dressage and parades.

All paint horse clubs throughout the country stage horse shows several times a year. There are currently 12 clubs in California. GLAPHC is planning a five-day show at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in August and a show in Simi Valley to be held in June.

In addition, GLAPHC plans to hold new events such as trail rides and team penning, a competition that involves teams of three riders on horseback who round up a group of cattle with numbers painted on them. Each team goes after cattle with a particular number, and the team that gets all their numbered cattle in the pen first is the winner.

Every year regional paint horse clubs throughout the country present awards to members with the most winning points in their particular class. To win, members must participate in at least two shows sponsored by the club and score the highest number of points in their class.

GLAPHC allows its winning members to choose their own prizes, which include embroidered horse blankets, silver engraved belt buckles and personalized plaques. The awards ceremony will take place in January.

This year’s GLAPHC awards will be presented to Phil Bellows of Moorpark and his horse MilleniumXcelebration; Cheryl Braun of Thousand Oaks and her horse Outrageous Montana; Elysia Van Houten of Simi Valley, riding Pawnee Sho; Jackie Weatherman of Simi Valley, riding Real Sure to Impress; Taurie Banks of Fillmore, riding Tribal King; Kendall Klepic of Simi Valley with Split Perfume; and Mike Minter of Simi Valley with Sandy Imprint.

For more information on how to become a member of GLAPHC, contact Susan Fleczok at (805) 527-9655. GLAPHC meets once a month at Coco’s Restaurant in Simi Valley.