Nancy Chamberlain was ideally suited to be one of Galway Downs’ first Guest Relations volunteers during this year’s Eventing Championships.
“I really enjoyed meeting the spectators who knew nothing about eventing,” she reports. She was in the same boat when she walked the Olympic cross-country course at Fairbanks Ranch in Del Mar in 1984. “I remember thinking that horses could not possibly jump those obstacles. And then they did. I was mesmerized!”
Nancy may not have known about eventing then, but she always knew about horses. She grew up in South Pasadena and her family was familiar with horses as farm work animals. “The concept of riding a horse for fun was difficult for my father to grasp,” she remembers.
By 7, Nancy started weekly riding lessons and, by 10, she’d saved enough money to buy her first horse. She worked off his $45 monthly board by tacking up the rental string trail horses, and riding drag, then escort, on the customers’ outings. An English drill team, parades and a few competitions added to trail riding as the base of her early equestrian activities.
Throughout college and most of her adult life, Nancy kept and enjoyed at least one horse.
Rides Of Her Life
Horses weren’t her only ride, however. She raced cars on dirt and pavement tracks in the late 60s and 70s and competed in the Pikes Peak Hill Climb in Colorado. “It was an interesting time for a woman in racing, because we were usually relegated to ‘Powder Puff’ races,” Nancy explains. “But I wanted to race with the guys and enjoyed showing them that women could run with the best of them.”
Eventually, horses won out over horse-powered vehicles. She and her husband, Jim, moved to San Diego County’s Fallbrook, which opened new doors to the horsey lifestyle. The ability to keep horses at home was the initial motivation, and the friends made of “wonderful horse people” became unexpected icing on the cake throughout their lives.
Nancy’s husband built paddocks and an arena at their Fallbrook property. “Our home became sort of a summer camp for my step-kids and nieces and nephews.” Avocado groves and open spaces offered endless trail routes. Joining the Fallbrook Riders Field put Nancy and her family squarely in the hub of equestrian events and activities. That included Pony Club, where Nancy continues to be a leader.
“When my daughter was old enough, we joined Fallbrook Pony Club and I quickly took on a leadership role,” she shares. “She and I started volunteering at Galway some time in the 1990s. I was organizing combined tests at Fallbrook Riders and (Robert Kellerhouse’s mother) Anne Kellerhouse was immensely helpful in educating me about that process. My daughter rode lower-level eventing on her Pony Club horse and represented Southern California at Pony Club Championships in Kentucky and elsewhere.”
Nancy gave up her last horse in 2016, after cancer treatments. She had retired from her nursing career and she and Jim wanted to travel without the complication of horses at home.
Volunteering at Galway Downs events helps her stay connected to horses. “I do miss riding and being nickered at when I walk out my door,” she notes. “But watching the beautiful horses and outstanding riders at Galway does seem to make me feel connected.” Many of those outstanding riders are Pony Clubbers Nancy has seen blossom over several years. “That gives me pleasure as well!”
She typically volunteers at three or four Galway Downs events every year, almost always including the May Horse Trials. “My family will tell you that I’ve been at Galway for every Mothers Day they can remember!”
Pony Club Power
Nancy continues to be deeply involved in Pony Club, as Vice Regional Supervisor for Southern California and as an officer with Fallbrook Pony Club. She appreciates Galway Downs’ and Robert Kellerhouse’s embrace of Pony Club programs.
At the Eventing Championships, for example, members displayed their Research Fair projects based on literature reviews or their own original research related to horse health and care. “They were judged individually, in age categories, and some will take their projects to the National Pony Club Convention in January.”
Plans for 2025 Pony Club/Galway Downs partnerships are in the works, Nancy reports.
The Eventing Championships gave her the perfect chance to blend her passions for Pony Club and the sport of eventing. “I was able to take some of the Pony Club members and their parents out on cross-country to show them the most fun part of the sport. Many of them had only experienced dressage or show jumping, and they were very, very excited to try eventing.”
She’s active on the board of the Fallbrook Riders, too. This past year, the association started the North County Dressage Schooling Show Circuit with three other venues, and Nancy keeps records for those shows.
Nancy’s earliest memories revolve around being a horse-crazy kid. Although she grew up in Pasadena, her parents said her first complete sentence went something like “Can we move out West so I can have a horse?”
“I guess I was pretty disappointed to learn that we already lived out West and that it didn’t look a bit like the cowboys in the Western movies,” she reflects. Happily for everyone involved, she found her way to horses and now enjoys introducing others to the joys they bring to life.
