Jan Davis grew up in Orange County. He spent countless hours in the farm fields tending to row crops with his father and brother. His youth was also filled with hunting adventures throughout the west as he would load up with his dad, brother, and a truckload of hound dogs and hit the road. As a young man, Jan spent time working on the Irvine Ranch and it was there that he developed a love for the ranching lifestyle.

In 1965, his family moved their ranching operation to the Central Coast, and Jan pursued his dream of becoming a cowboy. They established their home ranch in Atascadero, and bought a cattle ranch in Cayucos. He quickly developed relationships and was soon learning the ropes from the greats such as Gene Rambo, Elden Tucker, Ernest Brown, and John Bermudas among others.

In 1972, Jan was appointed to the San Luis Obispo County Cattleman’s board of directors. Over the years he has served as president, state director and created a fun-filled playday for members and their families. Cattleman’s Day has been going on for 38 years and is still a favorite event filled with team penning, roping events, and a variety of competitions for kids. In addition, he was honored in 1995 as SLO County Cattleman of the Year.

In 1973 he became part-owner and operator of the Templeton Livestock Market. Over the years, he developed many relationships with cattlemen and ranchers in the tri-county area. He has helped to gather many ranches, loaded countless cattle trucks and been a fixture at many local calf brandings. Along with his brother, Gary Davis and business partner, Duane Baxley, they held several ranch horse sales and created the renowned Tri-Counties Select Bull Sale.

From 1995-2003, Jan served as a director on the California Mid-State Fair Board. During this time, he served two terms as president. He was responsible for creating many new equestrian events including the highly anticipated Match Team Roping and the Cattleman’s Day Stock Dog show. Jan has been very involved in the Junior Livestock auction over the years and helped to develop the specialized Beef Heifer program. He also created the two-ring sale format that is being used so successfully today.

Jan has been an avid competitor in the arena in many team penning and roping events. One of his most rewarding wins was years ago winning the Amateur Stock Horse Class at Fiesta two years in a row on Lucky Chex, who also carried his wife, Patti, and his daughters to many titles. In 1986, he became a member of the Rancheros Visitadores and is currently serving as a director on the board. He is most proud of his accomplishment of being a 3-time winner of the acclaimed “One Man, One Horse” competition. However, he credits much of his success in the arena to his wife. She always has a great horse for him to ride and herself is a former Non-Pro Snaffle Bit Futurity Champion and winner of the Kay Dent All-Around title at the Fiesta Stock Horse Show.

Through it all, Jan is most proud of his family and their successes from team roping and barrel racing to reined cow horse. Life has certainly changed over the past two years with the addition of two beautiful grandchildren and one more on the way.

He would like to thank the committee for the honor of being selected as this year’s Old Spanish Days Stock Horse Show & Rodeo Honorary Vaquero.