Our Mission
Providing a unified voice concerning issues which enhance, affect, or threaten the equestrian lifestyles in Orange County
Updated: 16.03.2007
Board Member
Kristene McGovern
ECOC Board Member Since 2000
I have lived in Orange County since 1960. I was 12 years old and horse crazy. From my home in Orange I could walk and see horses in a pasture, such a change from my home in Los Angeles.
Stables were plentiful, and along the Santa Ana River there were almost more than I could keep track of. At one time the land owners welcomed the stables, since no one else wanted the land along the river, over time they began to build homes closer and closer to the river.
The stables began to close one by one as the land owners sold the land and leases were lost, more homes were built. They began to worry about the river flooding and in the late 1980’s they began to re-construct the river levees. At this time I was at one of the last stables along the river owned by Mr. Harris. ( He bought his place and so it stayed until his death.) Along with the levee reconstruction a new vision for the trail took place. A bike path went in on the east side of the river and the west side was to be the maintenance road and general multi- use of the trail, but it was to be paved. Not so good for the horses.
That started what became my involvement in the Santa Ana River. It started as a need for the trail to ride my horse and has become much more. This river can become a great linier park and its 200 miles of trails a welcome addition to us all.
From Stables to Trails
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