By Dan Gordon
Of all the places in the world — and he’s been a place or two — there was just something about Athens that endeared itself to horse riding enthusiast John Farquharson.
Farquharson, a California resident, is the proud owner of a still-unnamed 18-acre ranch located at 4301 County Road 3923 off State Highway 19. The land was purchased by Farquharson (pronounced “Farkarson”) last October, and he intends to breed and train horses to compete in what he calls the heart of rodeo country.
A resident of Menifee, Calif., and a horse riding enthusiast, Farquharson said he decided to set up an operation in Athens to get closer to the action in the rodeo industry.
“Your area is the hub, the center of the rodeo business,” he said in a Wednesday telephone interview. “In California, rodeo just isn’t what it used to be.
“I’m probably going to work as a sleeping partner. I’m not sure what you’d call it,” he said. “But I do plan to visit the ranch fairly often.”
Farquharson, 48, was born, raised and lived half his life in Dublin, Ireland. His decision to come to America was made on the spur-of-the-moment 24 years ago.
“I was sitting in a pub one day, and I was unemployed,” Farquharson said. “America sounded like a good idea. There was no major plan.”
Farquharson spent eight years in New Jersey before moving to California, where he got into the construction equipment business. He currently owns Shamrock Lift Rentals in Lake Elsinore, Calif., but he says cowboys and horses were always one of his great passions.
“I used to look at a lot of cowboy movies when I was a kid,” he said, citing John Wayne’s “True Grit” as one of his favorites. “We’ve always owned at least a couple of acres of land (in California). We usually owned about five or six horses.”
He began riding about 10 years ago as a weekend pastime and a way to keep up with his daughter, Gillian. He said he enjoys cowboy action shooting, which combines barrel racing with shooting at balloons. He compared horseback riding to riding a fast roller coaster.
“I ride, but I’m not very good,” he said, laughing. “I sometimes come off a horse all sore and ask myself, ‘Why are you doing this?’”
But his daughter, he said, is another story. Gillian, 21, has been riding since the age of 4 and is a longtime rodeo participant. She recently moved to Athens from California to train on Farquharson’s new ranch.
“I think her goal right now is to be named Rookie of the Year,” Farquharson said. The Women’s Professional Rodeo Association Rookie of the Year competition will begin next January.
Gillian’s instructors in Athens are out-of-towners, too. Rodeo veteran Kristin Weaver of Mountain Center, Calif., trains horses and looks after the ranch with her fiancé, Jay Brown of Los Angeles.
“We got here an hour before the fireworks started on July 4,” Weaver said. “We met (Farquharson) through Gillian. She knew of me as a pro barrel racer.”
“Kristen really has been Gillian’s mentor,” Farquharson said. “The running and management of the ranch is all left to Kristen. I think those girls are quite well-able to run the facility.”
Weaver has gone through what she describes as intensive training since the age of 6. Much of her instruction came from Oklahoma resident Todd Crawford, a world-champion barrel racer.
Like Farquharson, Weaver said the move was a way to get better situated in rodeo country. While there are opportunities to ride and train horses in California, she said, it usually takes a back seat to other sports.
“So many of the events are based out of Texas and Oklahoma — kind of the center of the United States,” she said. “We lived up in the mountains, and had to do so much driving to get to all the events.”
Living in East Texas is a far cry from living in the mountains. In fact, Farquharson said the difference in terrain was one of his biggest reasons for buying land in Athens.
“Every inch of the land is usable by horses,” Farquharson said. “There were bigger properties for sale, but this land is totally flat.”
Farquharson got to work putting the ranch together earlier this year with the help of a two-man crew. They managed to assemble the corrals and fencing in less than a month. It was nonstop work, though — they labored 12 hours a day for nearly 30 days.
The ranch caters mostly to quarter horses. Aside from a couple of paints, the pastures are home to 13 quarter horses — a few from Athens, but most from out-of-state.
“Gillian owns five,” Weaver said. “I own four myself.” She added that some of the others came from as far away as Oregon.
The ranch also includes a barn, a 300-foot-by-100-foot square arena and a perimeter walking path. Weaver said the next big step for the ranch is to get the rest of their clients’ horses moved in.
“We’re also getting a round pin next week,” Weaver said. She added that the ranch might begin holding riding camps and similar events next summer.
When operating in full swing next year, Weaver and Brown will offer sales and breeding services. The ranch is currently offering horse training and lessons for riders of all ages.
“Visitors are welcome to come by anytime,” Weaver said. “We’re trying to get the best out of every horse and rider.”
For more information, contact Kristin Weaver at 909-240-2290 or at kristinjweaver@yahoo.com.
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e-mail dgordon@athensreview.com
