Big Bear’s Los Vaqueros de La Montañas Riding Club has a special event planned for August, as horse expert Paul Dietz–who has been mentored by Buck Brannaman, the “horse whisperer” who inspired the book by Nicholas Evans and the movie starring Robert Redford—will be teaching three days of horsemanship and cow working workshops on August 7, 8 and 9. Says Los Vaqueros’ Suzanne Hodges, “This is very special for Big Bear to have such a close connection to the ‘horse whisperer.’ Paul Dietz is a very close friend, and studied for four years traveling the country with Buck Brannaman. Big Bear is lucky to have Paul make one of his national stops here, and promoting communication between horse and rider is his expertise.” Dietz offers a money-back guarantee on workshops (offered at $275 for three days), and classes offered at Los Vaqueros Arena will remain small so that individual attention can be given to all riders. For those who would like to get a sneak peak of the horse whisperer techniques, a free horsemanship and riding equipment demonstration will be offered by Dietz on Thursday evening, August 6 at 6pm. Spectator seating during the three days of clinics will also be offered at $15 per day, pre-sale. Other horseback riding events offered by Los Vaqueros include the August 16 horse show and, on August 15, September 12 and October 3, the final gymkhanas in the Los Vaqueros Saddle Series, all of which are held at the Los Vaqueros Arena (located at the end of East Big Bear Boulevard in the Shay Meadow area) and free to spectators. For more information on the Paul Dietz horsemanship classes, or to sign-up, call or email Suzanne Hodges at 855-9963, suzanne@spywithin.com or Kathy Armsby at 963-9405, cardsbyranch@charter.net.
