The Wildling Art Museum held a very special Vivan los Californios Barbecue at the historic Rancho San Julian on April 27.

According to their website, www.ranchosanjulian.com, Rancho San Julian is the last of the “great” land grant ranches remaining in the family of the original grantees. Originally a Royal Rancho granted by the King of Spain in 1816, today, the ranch is still a working cattle ranch of 13,000 acres and has been placed in “agricultural preserve” status, serving as a wildlife refuge for many animals.

Ramon Becerra, www.rbhorses.com, entertained guests with his equestrian performance. Becerra has been involved with horses all of his life. He came to the U. S. touring with Casa Domecq of Mexico. His first experience was performing at Madison Square Garden, and he has been performing ever since. After their tour of the U. S., Becerra went to the Kingdom of the Dancing Stallions in Buena Park, CA, where he was under the instruction of Edith Evans, an incredible horsewoman as well as mentor to Ramon. It was at the Kingdom where he met John and Bo Derek and after a few years of persuasion, Becerra finally came to the Santa Ynez Valley to train horses for the Dereks. More than 20 years since he moved to Santa Ynez, Becerra is still performing for the camera and live shows; and still calls the Valley home.

What makes Becerra’s horsemanship so unique is his love for many disciplines, from reining to classical dressage. He often combines movements from various styles into one act to create something challenging and entertaining. This is why he prefers to call his style of riding and training “artistic equitation”; it is his goal to bring out the best in the individual horse, but also create something beautiful to behold.

In addition to the beautiful surroundings and the performance by Ramon Becerra, guests could come early and participate in a 1:00 nature walk with Juliano Fabio. Later, they enjoyed a wonderful feast catered by New West under the trees, music performed by Luis Moreno, and had an opportunity to bid on an original painting by Whitney Abbott of a location on Rancho San Julian especially created for the Wildling Art Museum’s benefit. For a nominal fee, guests could take a tour of the historic family home and see how the house grew from its original adobe structure to accommodate the growing family.

Sponsors of the Wildling Art Museum received two bbq tickets, a VIP Family Home tour, reserved front-row seating for the performance, and a photo with Ramon Becerra, signed later after developing.