Ranchos Visitadores – Several hundred ranchers and horses came through Solvang yesterday (May 4, 2013) for their annual visit. The ranchers wore pink shirts (“not too tough to wear pink”) for a Breast Cancer Cure fundraiser, and one Mule went the extra mile by wearing pink all over.
Rancheros Visitadores: {from Solvangusa.com)
Said to be the largest riding group of its kind in the world. The Rancheros stop at the Old Mission Santa Inés {in the Santa Ynez Valley} for the blessing of their horses by the padres. Hundreds of riders make the annual pilgrimage.
Hundreds of riders on horseback and in wagons — all wearing pink — arrived in Solvang when the Rancheros Visitadores made their 83rd trip to Mission Santa Ines for the blessing of the riders.
The blessing drew a large crowd, creating a colorful parade ground that fills the open land between Mission Drive and the mission buildings.
Wearing pink is part of the “Tough Enough to Wear Pink” national campaign started in 2004 by entrepreneur Terry Wheatley, a breast cancer survivor, and Karl Stressman, then an employee of Wrangler and now commissioner of the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association (PCRA).
Last year, the Rancheros raised $65,000 and they expect to raise $80,000 in 2013. A check presentation to the Cancer Center of Santa Barbara with Sansum Clinic is planned at the blessing.
Rancheros General Manager John Balch expects 800 to 850 horseback riders and 25 covered wagons, carriages and coaches this year.
The Rancheros Visitadores, or the “Visiting Ranchers,” is a men’s social club founded in 1930 to commemorate traditional rides that once were made from ranch to ranch. Members come from many states and several foreign countries.
Each year after the Kentucky Derby broadcast, the Rancheros ride on horseback, in carriages and wagons from Jackson Camp to the mission for the blessing and then move on to Janeway Camp, property they own near Lake Cachuma.
