Simi Valley Days Serves Up a Slice of Real Life : Image: The festival takes place not far from Saturday’s white supremacist rally. But its relaxed pleasures are what the town is all about, residents say.

The horse show held Sunday as part of the annual Simi Valley Days festival was less than 10 miles from the site of the highly publicized white supremacist rally and rowdy counterdemonstration that unfolded Saturday.

But it could have been a million miles away.

Not a demonstrator or police officer was in sight during either the horse show or the tour of the Santa Susana Train Depot, in contrast to the 225 officers and Ventura County sheriff’s deputies who protected white supremacist Richard Barrett from 300 protesters.

The equine whinnying and snorting replaced the loud chanting and the whirring of sheriff’s helicopters heard Saturday.

And neither of Sunday’s events made the nightly news.

The horse show ran through the weekend, and on Saturday, the 120 children and adults who participated were undisturbed by the rally and counter-protest going on across town.

But Cindy Pandolfi, co-chairwoman of the horse show, worried that the newscasts of Saturday’s disturbance would discourage parents from letting their children participate in the show Sunday.

“I got calls after I got home yesterday about the so-called riots here in Simi,” Pandolfi said. “It was very distressing having to reassure these mothers.”

Despite such concerns, more than 100 equestrians came from all over Southern California for the show. Most of the hundreds of spectators who drifted in and out of the grounds during the day had family or friends in the show.

“Horsing events are not high-spectator sports,” said Mary Fisher, the show’s other co-chairwoman. “To most people, it’s kind of like watching paint dry.”

“That’s one good thing about a horse show,” said Tony O’Doherty of Thousand Oaks, whose 17-year-old daughter, Gillian, competed. “It’s unbelievably slow. If you’re suffering from high blood pressure, it’s the place to go.”

The pace was about the same a few miles east at the 89-year-old Santa Susana Train Depot.

More than 400 residents showed up to tour the historic depot at Katherine and Santa Susana Pass roads that is usually closed to the public. The Rancho Simi Foundation, which runs the depot, is raising funds to restore the building.

About half of the visitors lingered after their tour, sitting on the old wooden train platform or standing on an overhead bridge nearby, staring down at the tracks.

They were waiting to catch a glimpse of a vintage steam engine expected to chug through Ventura County on its way to Los Angeles. The train finally rolled through about 4:55 p.m.

The lazy pace of the horse show and depot tour give a truer picture of life in Simi Valley than any of the hyped-up protests and counter-protests that have plagued the city since April 29, residents said.

On that date, a jury at the East County Courthouse acquitted the four Los Angeles Police Department officers accused of beating motorist Rodney G. King.

But what is really remarkable about Simi Valley, said Pandolfi, is that “it’s over 100,000 people and it’s still got a small-town feel.”

But resident David Mann, 42, admitted that Simi Valley had problems with its reputation even before the King verdict.

Until he moved to the city several years ago, Mann said, he thought “the only thing that was in Simi Valley was snakes, lizards and farmers.”

But Simi Valley Days shows people what the place is really about, he said, “probably what we wish every city could be about: open air, sunshine and a little bit of everything for everybody.”

Mann added that he was proud of those who joined the counterdemonstration Saturday against white supremacist Richard Barrett. Four Simi Valley residents were arrested in the protest and at least two remained in custody Sunday night. Joseph W. Jordan, 20, and Frederick D. Thomas, 18, were being held at Ventura County Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.

The other two arrested Saturday were 17-year-old boys, whose names were withheld because of their age.

Simi Valley Days will continue this week with a carnival that starts Wednesday and a parade, a rodeo and other events next weekend.