New Seabiscuit Blog
Hello Biscuit Fans out there! Welcome to the new Seabiscuit Heritage Foundation (SHF) Blog and News portion of our website!
We are excited to announce the launch of our official Blog. As I learned form 32 years in the Marine Corps and two combat tours in Iraq, “None of us are as smart as all of us” (attributed to WWII General George Patton). This Blog will be a Team effort, and we humbly ask and solicit all of you out there to share your stories, thoughts and reflections.
As many of you know, here at Ridgewood Ranch in Willits, California, we have an incredibly talented and dedicated SHF team that have been working hard over the years to bring you the highest quality history, information, and tours of this amazing acreage. My special THANKS to Jacqueline Cooper, our president, and Tracy Livingston, our Ranch Manager. I also want to thank the actual owners and outstanding stewards of this property: The Golden Rule Church, who since 1961 have worked hard at preserving its unique heritage.
When my Great Grandfather, Charles Stewart Howard, passed away in 1950, our family was counseled by lawyers out of San Francisco that Ridgewood Ranch must be sold for tax purposes. This was a sad ultimatum that our family was presented with. The Welch Company purchased it, and harvested much of the original timber. Fortunately, some of the wives within this family company insisted that the ancient Redwood Grove occupying the lower terrain of the Walker Valley southwest of the headquarters buildings, be preserved. I believe it was no accident that Golden Rule Church was meant to acquire Ridgewood Ranch in 1962, as they believed in good stewardship. They have treasured the land over these many decades, and worked hard to do what was best for its history, and heritage, not just commercial value and bottom line profits.
So if you love Seabiscuit, and what he represented, please think of this as your Blog. Make sure you come back regularly, and please, share our blog and posts with your family, friends, colleagues and any other horse-loving enthusiasts.
As my Great Grandmother, Marcela Zabala Howard, always said: “Vaya Con Dios” …
Michael Coleman Howard, Colonel, US Marines (Ret)
Seabiscuit Heritage Foundation Historian