Over 20 years ago, Paula Gaughan was entranced by the cuttings held at the Tropicana Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas .The cuttings, put together by George Stout, a cutting horse lover as well as a hotel consultant, were held on a dirt-filled tennis court attached to the hotel. The stalls were portable and located on a lot next to the hotel, and the awards were presented by scantily dressed show girls.

At that time, Paula and her husband, Michael, owned the Coast Casinos, a group of hotels and casinos in Las Vegas. Paula had loved horses since she had been a young girl in Southern California. She had developed a passion for horses that would never fade and that she would one day pass to her daughter, Katie.

When her children had all reached school age, Paula started looking for a new way to spend her daytime hours.She heard about a new equine sport called “cutting, ”tried it and immediately fell in love with it. Although the Tropicana cuttings ended in 1987, the event was Paula’s first major cutting competition.

But since that time, Paula has not only graduated to become a money-earning rider, but also a leading owner and breeder of cutting horses. She also began producing cutting events in 1989, which she later moved to her Rocking K Ranch (with the “K”standing for Katie), that she and Michael had purchased in 1986 and was located east of Las Vegas.

The 270-foot x 125-oot equestran facility incudes 4,400 seats and 1,200 stalls located indoors in a climate-controlled venue.

But it was her dream to produce a cutting in an equestrian center that was attached to a hotel and casino. It was something that had never been done. Paula’s dream came true in February, when the South Coast Winter Championships and MillionHeir Classic were held at the newly finished, $600 million South Coast Hotel and Casino, located on 60 acres in the southern part of Las Vegas. The area is one of the fastest-growing segments of the valley and is surrounded by three of the area’s most upscale master-planned communities.


Michael and Paula Gaughan (right) shown with Wes Adams of the MillionHeir program.

The Coast properties have since merged with Boyd Gaming in a $1.3 billion merger between two of Nevada’s most prominent and well-respected pioneering families. Michael remains the chief executive officer of Coast Casinos. At the time of the merger, the South Coast was under construction.

The equestrian facility includes 4, 400 seats and a spacious 270-foot by 125-foot event floor. There are 1,200 stalls located indoors in a climate-controlled venue, with the stall area including complete vet facilities, a farrier center, feed store, 25 wash bays and show offices. There also is 150, 000 square feet of attached meeting, banquet, convention or exhibit-hall space. A hospitality bar sits above the arena. Cattle pens are large enough to house 2, 000 head of cattle.

Entrants were surprised to be greeted at the stalls by bellboys who helped unload their trailers, put their tack and supplies in tack stalls and carry their suitcases and clothes to the rooms. It was the same when they left, with bellboys helping to load their trailers. Two practice pens were setup under roof, with one having a 275 foot by 100 foot climate-controlled warmup arena just outside the entry gate into the main arena. Piers are already set for a permanent enclosed practice pen to replace the one that was under a tent during the current event.


Entrants were surprised to be greeted at the stalls by bell boys who helped unload their trailers, put their tack and supplies in tack stalls and carry their suitcases and clothes to the rooms.	The stall area includes complete vet facilities, a farrier center, feed store, 25 wash bays and show offices.

There were 42-inch plasma, flat-screen television screens on the walls of every room with hotel guests able to watch the cutting, hear the commentary and see the scores from the comfort of their room.	The entrance to the exhibit hall includes a list of upcoming events. There are 150, 000 square feet of attached meeting, banquet, convention or exhibit-hall space.

Trainers, owners and spectators were delighted with the 42-inch plasma, flat-screen television screens on the walls of their rooms, where they could watch the cutting, hear the commentary and see the scores from the comfort of their hotel room.

The 25-story hotel included 650 oversized rooms and suites, with a second tower set to open during the second quarter of the year, bringing the total room count to 1,350. Another tower is also planned in the future.

Evenings were spent at seven dining options, including a steak house, Italian restaurant, oyster bar, Mexican food, 24-hour café, a garden buffet with five different cuisines and a New York bagelry and deli restaurant. There is also an 80,000-square foot casino, 16 movie theaters and a bowling alley.

While the Coast properties have historically catered to the locals, Paula’s dream of an equestrian center was “outside the box.” However, following the merger, the plans were still on “go” and this first horse event held at the facility proved that Paula’s dream has become a successful and profitable addition to the hotel and casino.


A travel bus on display in the exhibit hall during the cutting.

Even though the hotel and equestrian center was built in record time (during the southcoast October 2005 event, the hotel was a shell and the arena was not even recognizable), the equestrian facilities were completed only days before the start of the South Coast event.

“We took our horses to the equestrian center a few days before the event was to start, just to see how it would actually be for the cutters when they arrived, ” said Paula.

When the first horse was unloaded in the cement entrance to the stalls, it slipped to the ground. There was an awful realization that the cement had been finished smooth and slippery, rather than rough as had been planned.

The only thing that could be done at that late date was to haul dirt into the entrance to the stalls.

“The dirt kept the horses from falling, ” said Paula. But what they hadn’t thought about was that the four inches of dirt would put the big horse trailers close to the top of the entrance door.

They held their collective breath until the trailers arrived and were relieved when none were too high to get through the doorway.

Another problem they saw was that when the panels were put up to narrow the arena for the cutting, the bottom rail of the panels were two feet off the ground – enough room for a cow to crawl through. The problem was headed off before the cutting started by putting more dirt under the fences.

Paula credits her experienced and seasoned help with the event’s success, including show manager and announcer Tom Holt and secretaries Kathryn Webb and Coleen Holt. With dates filling up fast, Paula was asked what the rental price for the facilities would be for horse events. She said that it depended on the event and how many horses and people attending filled rooms in the hotel and rented stalls.

In other words, for a huge cutting event, that brought a lot of horses to fill the stalls and owners and riders to fill the rooms (and casino), there would be no charge. Even though it was hosting its first event, the equestrian facility already had close to a dozen weeks of equine events scheduled.

Reach Glory Ann Kurtz at (940) 433-5232 or e-mail at glory. kurtz@cowboypublishing.com.

April 15, 2006 • QUARTER HORSE NEWS