LITTLE REATA STABLES
Est. 2023
ABOUT
Little Reata Stables was established in 2023 in the location of the Davis staple Happy Horse. There are three barns on the property named in memorium after beloved passed horses. Each barn contains a sign and photo of the horse.
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Jester's Barn: Jester was Michelle's beloved quarter horse. He was a funny man, earning his name. His barn has ten stalls.
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Nickloas' Barn: Nick was the pervious owners' sweet boy. There are six stalls in Nick's barn.
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Serena's Arena: Serena belonged to Michelle's best friend, Dorothy Tangren. As a child, Dorothy would ride Serena in this very arena. There are five boarding stalls, as well as three overnight/rehab stalls and it is connected to the indoor arena.
Michelle was born and raised in Davis. She is a Davis High School graduate (Go Blue Devils!) and grew up taking riding lessons at Happy Horse. She left Davis after graduation to attend the University of Washington and fly helicopters for the US Army. Michelle returned home to raise her children and be close to her mother.
As a lifelong horse owner and lover, Michelle is thrilled to walk the hallowed grounds of Happy Horse and rebrand it as Little Reata Stables.
Michelle J Bailey
Our Name
The word Reata is Spanish for lasso or lariat. However, the name of the stables has a little more history to it than that.
As a child, Michelle fell in love with the actor James Dean and voraciously watched all his movies. In the movie Giant, Rock Hudson's character, Bick Benedict owned over 1/2 million acres of cattle ranch in Texas. He marries the beautiful Leslie, played by Elizabeth Taylor and brings her from lush Virginia to dusty Texas. The name of the massive ranch was Reata. James Dean's character is a polarizing ranch hand. He is hated by Bick, but adored by Bick's sister Luz.
When Luz passes away, she bequeaths a small piece of the land to James Dean. He then names his small portion of beloved land Little Reata.
Michelle has dreamed for nearly 40 years of owning a ranch named Little Reata.
Jett
68 years later Jett Rink is back at Little Reata! James Dean played ranch hand Jett Rink in the 1968 film Giant. As referenced above, Little Reata was Jett's small plot of land. It seemed only fitting when this gorgeous red dun quarter horse joined our family that his name would be Jett.
