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ed States in the last three decades, you’ve most likely heard his voice. As an announcer, Matt Hinton has been the vocal backdrop for count- less classes, divisions, stakes and classic victories. He’s educated us with specifications, sires, dams, rider and horse biographies, entertained us with wind speed, temperature, and species of birds flying over the show grounds, welcomed us in the morning and wished us well when the show finished for the day. But if you believe Matt Hinton is “just” an announcer you have a one- dimensional picture of a very multi-dimensional man.
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Born and raised in La Jolla, CA, Matt is the child of Sam Hinton and Leslie Forster, and he is jus- tifiably proud of his family. Sam Hinton, Matt's father, was a world- renowned folk musician but Matt describes him as a naturalist, a teacher and a musician. Sam grad- uated from UCLA with a degree in zoology and for nearly 20 years was the Director at the University of California Aquarium-Museum at the Scripps Institute of Oceanog- raphy. In 1944, Sam Hinton went to work for the University of Cali- fornia Division of War Research in San Diego. Among his duties, he was responsible for making military films that over 20 years later his son, Matt, would see while in Coast Guard sonar school. Leslie, his mother, was a cerami-
cist, weaver and classically trained musician specializing in the viola. She met Sam while they were both singing in the UCLA choir and the friendship turned to a permanent
status quickly. His only sister, Le- anne, is a pianist and retired pro- fessor of Linguistics specializing in Native American languages. While working at the UC San Di-
ego library in the mid 1970's, Matt had the opportunity to take one free extension class as part of the job. He figured an English horse- back riding class sounded like fun and his journey through the eques- trian world began. The coaching was offered at La Jolla Farms, run at the time by Richard Keller. While spending time at the barn
County near the ocean he loves. He discovered the area while helping a friend move there and though he didn’t return himself for some time he found it drawing him back. “It’s like Southern California was in the 50’s,” he says, “quiet streets with surfer’s cottages in back alleys, not crowded.” A diver and a surfer all his life,
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f you have attended horse shows anywhere in the western Unit-
he found he could also work at weekend horse shows and started by working back gate. He was tiring of library work, and soon he decid- ed to explore what the horse world might have to offer. Continuing to work back gates for a few years, he found he had an interest in an- nouncing and from that point, he never looked back. Since the early 80’s, Matt has made his home in Humboldt
and living near the water, Matt en- deavors to be on the water at ev- ery opportunity. Often found on his ocean kayak, he calmly tells the story of being “the only horse show announcer to survive a Great White attack”. In 1990, about 150 meters off Trinidad Head and Beach (where another man had been attacked just ten days before), Matt’s kayak was struck from be- low, just behind the rider’s cockpit. It tipped over and Matt ended up underwater. He recalls, “When I was underwater I looked to my left and saw the shark….I still had my paddle in my hands and aimed
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