Terry and Linda Paine are lifelong horse people, but eventing was new to them when they purchased property across the street from Galway Downs in 1976.
“When Robert Kellerhouse arrived and moved the jumps down from Del Mar, there were not that many trees on their property,” Linda recalls. “Terry and I watched Burt Wood build the cross-country fences by the headlights of his truck. We didn’t know much about eventing and we went over to see what was going on.”
What was going on was the beginning of Galway Downs’ evolution into an international equestrian venue. “To me, it’s amazing how fast it’s evolved.”
The Temecula area’s growth is equally amazing. “When we moved here, there was only one grocery store with eggs, milk and butter,” Linda remembers. “If you had kids in school, then you pretty much knew everybody in the area.” The Paines’ kids, Ron and Amanda, were in school, so they did know everybody back in the day.
Alongside raising their family, the Paines’ equestrian endeavors went through their own evolution.
KingsWay Farm
They bought the property now home to KingsWay Farm to continue breeding, raising and starting racehorses. Terry brought his Cal Poly Agricultural Business degree and experience from managing two Quarter Horse racing farms in the Antelope Valley area. He and Linda met at Cal Poly, where Linda studied animal science.
Galway Downs was busy as the off-site training facility for Santa Anita and Hollywood Park racetracks when the Paines moved to Temecula. “The racing industry was pretty good when we found our place and Galway’s track and training center was running like mad.”
They initially purchased 200 acres and sold some to end up with 55 acres bordered by Los Caballos and Los Corralitos roads. Terry and Linda travelled to young horse sales in Kentucky frequently, buying 2-year-olds to bring home and train. That business model worked until changes to tax laws in the mid-1980s triggered a steep decline for the racing industry.
Into Eventing We Go!
By then, the Paines had come to appreciate the sport of eventing and the people and horses pursuing it. They got involved in early eventing efforts at Galway Downs and decided to redirect their breeding and training toward the Olympic discipline.
KingsWay began to establish itself as a training and boarding facility for sport horses, many of them eventers. Horses enjoy huge arenas, ample pasture space and access to miles of conditioning and pleasure trails. As the longtime home base for Tamie Smith’s Next Level Eventing, KingsWay adorned its entrance with a “Home of 2023 Defender Kentucky 5* Champion” after the Tokyo Olympic alternate’s historic victory at the fabled 5* competition.
A Very Special Mare
The mare Gin & Juice put the Paines on the international eventing community’s radar. “She was our big entrance into eventing,” Linda explains. “Ginny” became the Paines as the result of an unpaid board bill. Ginny’s dam, Qtrapastree, had been bred to the Thoroughbred Audio and was in foal with Ginny while boarded at KingsWay. The sire and mare’s owners skipped town and Linda and Terry decided to keep the baby and see what she could do.
“She just always seemed special,” Linda reflects in an understatement. In a 10-year partnership with rider Hawley Bennett-Awad, Ginny represented Canada at the World Equestrian Games in 2010 and 2014. Sara Mittleider took over the ride later in Ginny’s competitive career.
Qtrapastree also produced Stag Party, an Advanced contender, and Cheers, the 2015 Future Event Horse Champion and a CCI3* champion, with the sire Blauer Vogle.
In addition to Ginny, the Qtrapastree – Audio match produced successful full siblings in Five O’clock Somewhere, a 4* horse and Pan Am Games team silver medalist; and Happy Hour, a 2* contender.
Ginny carried on her dam’s breeding successes. Ginny’s Make Mine A Double competed at 3* and Party Favor is now coming along with Galway Downs-based professional Katy Robinson.
After a recent severe colic, the Paines had to say farewell to Ginny. She was 26 and had delivered a lot of joy to the eventing world. They have one of her embryos that would likely be their last shot at a homebred star.
“Once you have a mare like that, you always want to produce more of them,” Linda shares. “It’s not that easy and it’s hard to predict in advance what they’ll do. You have to look at their brain, plus their physical ability. If their brain isn’t right for the sport, it doesn’t matter how athletic they are.”
The Santa Fe Hunt
The Paines are synonymous with another Southern California equestrian lifestyle legacy, the Santa Fe Hunt. Established in San Diego in 1969 as a “paper chase,” the Hunt reorganized and incorporated in 1984 and expanded into Riverside County. As Master Huntsman, Terry oversees the Hunt’s pack of English hounds.
The Santa Fe Hunt is a distinctly down-to-earth organization. Members represent a cross-section of equestrian experience, professions and geography. Opportunities for riders of all levels reflect the Hunt’s welcoming approach. Even non-jumping riders in western saddles can participate in most weekly hunts staged in Anza and Garner Valley.
Hunting season runs November through April and year-round activities include clinics, parties, camping trips and a range of social events.
Serving The Sport
Terry continues to ride and hunt regularly. After riding many nice horses at the Novice level. Linda hung up her irons after two hip replacements and a knee replacement. “If you’re going to ride, you’re going to fall, so I decided to stop.”
Volunteering and serving as a licensed FEI steward keeps Linda in the thick of the competition scene. “I’d been doing a lot of different things as a volunteer at shows, and some friends suggested I should really get a license for some of the things I was doing,” Linda explains. “It was fun, kept me busy and I met a lot of nice people.”
When eventing competitions got started at Galway Downs, officials were hosted in extra rooms in the Paines’ lovely home atop the hill overlooking their property and Galway Downs.
“That might have made the process of getting my license easier, because I had become familiar with so many officials already.”
Linda stewards at Galway, The Horse Park at Woodside and Twin Rivers Ranch in Paso Robles.
Horses At Home
The Paines are hands-on managers of KingsWay as a boarding, training and clinic facility. “Terry is down there almost all day, running errands, watering and working the arenas, setting jumps and puttering around,” Linda says. “I like mowing the grass and dragging the pastures. It’s mindless work and it makes everything look nice!”
The business side of owning a boarding stable is a constant battle to maintain high standards amid the ever-rising costs of hay, bedding, insurance, water and other necessities.
These realities underpin another reality – the dwindling number of places to keep and enjoy horses as development permeates formerly rural regions. Proximity and shared equestrian experiences give the Paines a unique perspective on the past, present and future of Galway Downs.
“Southern California needs horse properties that are available for various equestrian activities,” Linda asserts. “I think (owner) Ken Smith, Robert Kellerhouse and (hunter/jumper organizer) Ali Nilforushan have really stepped it up these last few years.”
Like all of Galway Downs’ supporters, Linda was “heartbroken” to hear in early April that Galway was not ultimately selected to host 2028 Olympic equestrian competition. Significant investments toward that once-likely possibility continue to benefit the West Coast equestrian community, and she’s confident the venue’s pursuit of world-class status will continue.
Watching young horses learn through the various stages of their education is a favorite pastime for Linda. “It’s incredible how fast they learn some things.” There’s always plenty of horses to watch with professionals Tamie Smith, Kaylawna Smith-Cook and Megan Sykes based at KingsWay.
Being around young people is good, too, Linda adds. “It helps us stay young and active physically and mentally.”
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