Ashton Lockwood Wins
The Santa Ynez Valley can claim another fine young rider,
as Ashton Lockwood, 15, of Solvang came away with some of the top honors for
the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Association’s 2007 season.
Their Awards Banquet recently was held at the Cliff
Restaurant in Shell Beach.
Ashton won the first place awards for Novice Youth Reining
18-years-old and younger and for Youth Cutting. He was presented with sterling
silver buckles in each category.
His Quarter Horse was Par for Miss Priss,
or, as she is affectionately known in the barn, “Gracie.”
This win is especially noteworthy, as Ashton has only been
riding for a few years.
He learned his riding skills at Bella Cavalli
Farms, which is owned by his parents, former Santa Barbarians Jeff and Joanne
Lockwood.
Both of the Lockwoods are riders
and devoted to horses. Jeff started riding at the age of eight, when his father
bought him a horse.
Their fifty-acre farm is located on Hwy 246, just East of
Monty and Pat Roberts’ Flag is Up Farm, and can be identified by passersby by
the new plantings of wine grape root stock in the in-field of their training
track.
Bella Cavalli
is home to several local trainers of various riding disciplines. Their website
is bellacavallifarms.com.