Owner Spotlights: DIHP Roadrunners
Owner Spotlight
If ever there was a group of people who collectively share a huge passion for equestrian sport, a desire to see the sport thrive in California and a willingness to bring the skills and resources to achieve their goals, it is the owners of the Desert International Horse Park (DIHP) and the MLSJ Roadrunners.
Four families – the Meadows, Harveys, Smiths, and Hankins – have been hard at work on both projects for the last four years. The group has transformed DIHP in Thermal, CA, into an international equestrian destination, and participation in the League was a natural extension of their efforts to build the sport and work with other like-minded people with a shared passion for horse sport. Not surprisingly, given the group’s bias for action, they raised their hand to sponsor and own a team, as well as host the last two weeks of the League schedule, including the finale. In 2023, the group made the commitment to create a $1 Million Grand Prix during the penultimate week of the League.
All four families bring deep experience as participants in sport as well as in business and have made significant investments to support both DIHP and the League. The Meadows have two daughters who compete in hunter and jumper disciplines, and they own a premier barn complex in San Juan Capistrano with their friends and partners the Smiths. The Smiths can be found at both ends of hunter rings, with a star pony rider and a top amateur-
owner rider. When not at a horse show, the Meadows family is one of the largest private electrical contractors in the country and the Smiths run a highly successful craft business. The Harveys have a huge passion for the jumpers at the highest level as participants and owners. Among their many successful ventures, they have been instrumental in the ongoing success of the Menlo Charity Horse Show. The Hankins abandoned successful careers in the art world and hospitality to take on DIHP full time. As well, they are huge participants and owners in the hunter discipline, and more recently reining.
