Avila exercises his big, brown "baby" by kicking up dust in the oval ring, making sharp turns and reining him in to a quick stop.

This is Avila's way to relax. Raising horses is in his blood.

"I was born into it," Avila says. "It's in our family."

Three generations of the Avila family are showing horses at the 1999 Summer Classic Horse Show and Great Northwest Futurities at the Jackson County Exposition Park. They brought 15 horses with them.

Avila's son, B.J., and father, Don, also compete with their horses. The family lives in Yamhill.

They will remain in Southern Oregon through next week's horse show, scheduled for July 7-10 at the Expo park.

Don says "it feels good" that both his son and grandson inherited his love of horses.

"Each one of us gets better than the last," he says, smiling, as B.J. looks on. Don was born and raised on a ranch, and he introduced Bob to riding at age 5.

B.J. says he's loved horses all his life.

Some of B.J.'s schoolmates think horse-showing is "dumb," but he doesn't want to shake it. "It's something not everyone can do," he says.

He's on the road, traveling and competing at horse shows a quarter to half of the year. He makes friends on the road.

As B.J. strolls through the maze of trailers and stalls at the Expo park, he waves to people shading themselves under canopies and gives high-fives to cowboy-hat-clad boys.

"All your friends are here," he says.

So far, B.J. garnered the youth breakaway roping trophy and awards in heading and heeling -- all competitions that involve chasing and roping cattle.

Bob also enjoys meeting new people on the road. He travels to horse shows all over the world; he's on the road about 200 days each year.

"After a while, the competition gets in your blood," Bob says. "It's fun."

In the horse-showing business, being family isn't always the most convenient thing. Sometimes grandfather, father and son have to compete against each other.

They were all pitted against each other in a cattle-roping contest Friday morning.

"My son won it, and I was second," Don says. "It's kind of a challenge" raising horses, he says.

As Bob brushes Ziggy and adjusts his saddle, he says taking care of horses is the hardest part about participating in horse shows.