4th Annual Blue Star Ranch Motorcycle Poker Ride
Saturday, September 18, 2027 · Canyon Country, California
About this event
A poker run for veterans usually ends with a cheque to a hospital or a housing programme. This one pays for horses. Blue Star Ranch, founded by Nancy Pitchford-Zhe and her husband John Zhe, gives free equine-assisted therapy to veterans with PTSD, and it is explicit about why: it is trying to bring down the suicide and divorce rates among them.
Riders stage at the Mint Canyon Moose Lodge on Sierra Highway and head out into high desert - Barrel Springs Road, the Angeles Forest, Acton and Agua Dulce - seventy-odd miles of exposed canyon sweepers that get hot. Out at ten in the morning, with lunch, a bike show, live music and a silent auction at the finish.
John Zhe explains the therapy better than any brochure. You cannot shout at a thousand-pound horse. You have to be patient, and you have to be calm.
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