Tons of Fun

So you think you tip the scales on the high side after the holiday eating frenzy? When the Santa Barbara Zoo checks the weight of its two elephants Saturday, it will be with truck scales on loan from the California Highway Patrol.

This colossal weigh-in at 2 p.m. is actually an annual contest. Zoo-goers can guess the elephants’ weight and then watch the animals step on the scale, a feat they have been training for.

Visitors can also make a few other wild guesses. They can eyeball the giraffe and estimate its height. Zookeepers also will stretch out an Argentine boa and measure its length.

The idea behind the contest, called “How Big . . . How Long . . . How Tall,” is to give visitors an appreciation for the diversity of the animal kingdom, according to education curator Jennifer Taylor.

(The zoo is at 500 Ninos Drive, Santa Barbara. Regular admission is charged for this event: $6 for adults, $4 for children 2-12, and $4 for seniors 60 and older. For information, call 962-5339.)

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The Stagecoach Inn Museum is the stamping ground for horses these days. The museum’s new exhibit features horses through history, including pre-Ice Age tiny eohippus, wild horses on America’s range and current breeds.

The exhibit was put together by Corina Roberts, who corralled her 180 model horses into the display, along with saddles, tack and paintings and prints by Western artist Neil Boyle.

The 34-year-old Roberts has been collecting model horses and the accompanying miniature paraphernalia since childhood. At 15, she became involved in a national cause focused on the protection of wild horses. The exhibit touches on the Bureau of Land Management’s wild horse and burro adoption program, as well as another of Roberts’ interests, Ride On, a Chatsworth-based equestrian program for riders with disabilities.

The display includes a miniature beet picker and other horse-drawn farm equipment. They look like antique toys, but they’re actually models that agricultural salespeople took from farm to farm, hoping for a sale.

The exhibit, called Horses in Our History, will continue through Feb. 28. (The Stagecoach Inn Museum is at 51 S. Ventu Park Road, Newbury Park. For information, call 498-9441.)

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Families can get an up-close look at sea life Saturday at Gull Wings Children’s Museum in Oxnard. Island Packers, the outfit that offers sightseeing boat trips to the Channel Islands, will bring in a touch tank with sea stars and other marine critters for a hands-on session at 2 p.m.

On Sunday at 2 p.m., it’s story time at the museum, which is at 418 W. 4th St. These events are free with regular admission ($3.50; free for children under 2). For information, call 483-3005.