The Paso Robles Horse Park's fall series is already underway this week, a week earlier than many calendars still say. The park moved its last three 2026 shows forward and now marks each one "New Date!" on its official show schedule. The Paso Park Fall Classic runs October 21 to 25. The Oak Tree Classic follows October 28 to November 1, and the Turkey Trot & Jump Pathway & Rated Dressage closes the season November 5 to 8.

Under the new dates, the park's final show day falls on Sunday, November 8. That is also the first scheduled day of the California Reined Cow Horse Association's Fall Classic at the Hearst Equestrian Center on the Paso Robles Event Center grounds. For the next month, Paso's horse calendar works like a relay. English jumping on Hughes Parkway carries the first leg. Western cow horse, roping and high school rodeo off Riverside Avenue take the second.

The older dates are still in circulation

The change is easy to miss because some of the park's own pages haven't caught up. Its Daily Show Schedule page still lists October 28 to November 1, November 4 to 8 and November 12 to 15, and Travel Paso's event listing shows the same older windows. The current schedule page and the prize lists page carry the revised dates. Go by those.

The difference matters most on Saturday nights. Plan around the old dates and you would turn up on Hughes Parkway a week after each grand prix.

Leg one: Saturday-night show jumping on Hughes Parkway

The Horse Park sits at 3801 Hughes Parkway in the city's technology corridor near the municipal airport. It is run by the nonprofit Paso Robles Horse Park Foundation. The Tribune reported in July that the property covers 70 acres, with 480 stalls and five arenas. The park says admission to its events is free and open to the public.

The two Classic weeks are the park's top-level shows of the fall. The Classic series prize list carries USEF Channel I National Hunter and Jumper 4 ratings. In the same Tribune story, Amanda Diefenderfer, CEO and show manager of the Paso Robles Horse Park Foundation, described the national shows this way:

"At the national shows, you're truly watching Olympic-level riders."

Each Classic runs Wednesday through Sunday and features a $40,000 National Standard Grand Prix on Saturday evening. On this year's calendar, that puts the grand prix on October 24 and again on October 31, which is Halloween.

What each week adds

The two Classics share a format, and their supporting classes differ. Both weeks also include a $10,000 1.40m Open Welcome Speed Stake and a $10,000 1.30m Mini Prix.

• Fall Classic, October 21 to 25: a $30,000 Paso Park Jumper Team Challenge, a $7,500 USHJA National Hunter Derby and a $5,000 Jr/Amateur Hunter Derby.
• Oak Tree Classic, October 28 to November 1: a $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby and a $7,500 USHJA National Hunter Derby.

The prize list names classes and prize money without assigning the derbies, speed stakes or mini prix to specific days. To catch one of them, check the daily results and schedule on the park's HorseSpot page during show week.

Around the grand prix

The prize list advertises a Saturday Feature Class Watch Party at each Classic. It also lists a Paso Park Foundation Dinner during the Saturday evening grand prix, with tickets at $150 a seat and a menu of steak and fish, an oyster bar and an open cocktail bar. The Ringside Tent serves breakfast and lunch from a locally sourced caterer, but the park describes it as open to exhibitors, and it closes Saturday afternoon for the dinner. General spectators should plan their own food.

If a Saturday doesn't work, the Classics stream on ClipMyHorse.TV. The Tribune reported that the park's livestreams reach viewers as far away as New Zealand.

The last Horse Park weekend shifts toward younger riders

Turkey Trot & Jump is a different kind of show. Its Pathway prize list carries a USEF Regional I Hunter and Jumper 1 rating and designates it a USHJA Outreach show. The Tribune piece describes the park's tiers as entry level, which is "typically for locals," then regional and national. In practice, this weekend is more likely to feature riders from local barns than Olympic veterans.

It also brings the year-end medal finals. The 2'6" Paso Park Medal Finals and the 2' Lindsay Ashburn Memorial Green Rider Medal Finals take place at Turkey Trot, along with a Finalist Party. The prize list gives the show window but no specific day for the finals.

Rated dressage runs alongside on November 7 and 8, with USEF Level 2 status and USDF and CDS approvals listed. It is part of the triple-rated two-day dressage the park added at select Pathway shows for 2026. The Horse Park's season ends with that Sunday dressage on November 8.

Leg two: cow horse and rodeo off Riverside Avenue

The Event Center's fall calendar overlaps the Horse Park's final weeks before it takes over.

Halloween weekend shares space. SLO Cattlemen's Play Day is at the Hearst Equestrian Center on October 31, the same day as the Oak Tree grand prix. On November 1, the Event Center lists Cattle Women's Roping, which the SLO County Cattlewomen calendar calls SLOCCW Pioneer Day Roping. On those two days, both ends of town have horses in the arena.

The CRCHA Fall Classic takes the relay on November 8. The California Reined Cow Horse Association's Fall Classic Snaffle Bit Futurity, Derby & Horse Show runs November 8 to 15. The showbill lists $90,000 in added money for the Open Futurity and $30,000 for the Open Derby. The association's schedule is marked tentative, and it runs in a set order:

For anyone coming from the jumper ring, Saturday, November 14 is the one to circle. Futurity cow work is the last phase on the tentative schedule, and it lands on a Saturday, as the grand prix nights on Hughes Parkway do.

High school rodeo follows. The CHSRA District 7 Mid State Classic is set for November 20 to 22. The Event Center calendar shows the booking as November 19 to 22. The California Reined Cow Horse Association is also on the Event Center calendar for January 12 to 17, 2027.

The Horse Park is the only venue in this lineup that advertises free admission. The Event Center calendar doesn't list spectator terms for these dates, so check with each organizer before heading to Riverside Avenue.

The full relay on one calendar

If you keep horses in Paso Robles, Templeton or Atascadero and these shows have you thinking about your own setup, from arena footing to turnout and barn layout, Hertha Wolff-Arend speaks that language. Request a personalized country-home consultation, and we can talk through what your horses need from your next property.