Bay Area Grand Prix Riders/Trainers and Top Show Barns

[pcc93]

Hi All, I am a re-rider with some pretty hefty goals living in the Bay Area of California. I competed through the 1.30m as a junior and took some time off then recently got back into riding when I moved up here in the last year. I spent my junior career on the other side of the country, so I am unfamiliar with the scene here. I am looking for someone to get me and my new horse to the Grand Prix level. This is likely a goal that will take 2-3 years minimum- I understand that and am prepared to pay for training and showing to achieve this goal. I am concerned the trainer I have right now may not have the experience or program to get us there, even though I love them, so I want to do some recon and was wondering if you have any recommendations for top level show barns that do A/AA level shows and have experience bringing amateurs and juniors up through the Grand Prix level? I would prefer East or North Bay, not super interested, nor is it convenient to get to South Bay for me. If I can provide any further details, please let me know. Thank you in advance.

Also, I know there are threads out there on Bay Area H/J trainers, but I was unable to find a thread with someone that was looking for the same thing as I am, but if I missed it, my apologies.

[Demerara_Stables]

I’m unfamiliar with North and East Bay trainers, but the only ones I’d recommend on the peninsula (I know most of them) are Rachel and Jeff Fields that own Sandhaven Farm. They are located at Portola Farms, which doesn’t have the most horse friendly facilities, but they are both great trainers, excellent horsemen, and routinely take amateurs and juniors through the levels to GP.

[JazCreekInc]

Hi there- you should check out Patrick Seaton (patrickseatonstables.com) based out of my farm Jaz Creek (jazcreek.com) in Petaluma. He competes at the Grand Prix level himself and has brought along many horses and riders to the National and FEI Grand Prix level as well. We are conveniently located to Sonoma Horse Park but offer very horse friendly facilities with a focus on quality care!

[erinmeri]

I would second Sandhaven. Also, Willow Tree.

[BergEquestrian]

Hi there,
My name is Simonne Berg and I own and operate Berg Equestrian Enterprises at my stables in Santa Rosa, might be a tad further than you like but very worth the drive. We have a few stalls open for training. I have a record from the ponies all the way through the 5* FEI classes and competed at last years World Cup Finals. I absolutely love teaching and helping riders meet their goals.
Our facility has:
12x16 stalls with runs
Eurosizer
Treadmill
Covered arena
Irrigated grass pastures
Sand turnouts
Haygain steamers
BEMER therapy
Custom program for each rider and horse
Please reach out with any questions we would be happy to answer them and give you a facility tour

Sales | Berg Equestrian Enterprises LLC

[horsegurl]

Patrick Seaton, Sandhaven (I don’t find that facility terrible for horse accomodations, but not very big turnouts), are mostly jumpers, and Estancia is in Cotati and has alot of jumpers with some hunters and eq.

[Demerara_Stables]

@horsegurl

I don’t find that facility terrible for horse accomodations, but not very big turnouts

It’s not terrible but it’s pretty bad. Most “turnouts” are the size of large stalls and there is no grass in any of them. Additionally, hay is not allowed to be fed except in the “turnouts,” which your horse is lucky to be in for an hour a day. They have a massive field that god forbid they turn into larger paddocks. At $1300 a month (2020 prices) for a stall and hay pellets, it should be better.

It’s appalling that people keep 6 figure horses there and act like it’s a nice place. We (the California horse community) need to stop acting like this is acceptable.

/rant (not directed at you @horsegurl, just really bothered by “top tier” bay area facilities in general)

[ti89]

Kilham Farm might fit your needs. It’s in Nicasio, Marin County. I rode there as a re-rider until I moved out of the area. Great teaching, mostly jumper-focused program although they do some hunters, and have brought a lot of students up the levels, including to the grand prix level. It’s run by Elizabeth Kilham and her daughter Holly Charlebois.

[greysfordays]

I think you might really like Shady Lane Farm in Alamo with Matt and Lindsay Archer. The facility is on the small side, but I think it’s a really friendly environment, with great training and very good horse care.

I appreciate that any time I see one of their riders at the show, they are appropriately mounted and riding in the right division. To me, that’s one good indication of a good program.

[Demerara_Stables]

I have a friend there and she’s said good things about Shady Lane as well.

[GraceLikeRain]

@Demerara_Stables

Additionally, hay is not allowed to be fed except in the “turnouts,” which your horse is lucky to be in for an hour a day

In addition to hay in the stalls or are you saying horses only get access to hay for a hour a day?

[Demerara_Stables]

@GraceLikeRain

In addition to hay in the stalls or are you saying horses only get access to hay for a hour a day?

The horses only get access to hay when they are in paddocks. To be clear, some horses get out for an hour a day or less, some get out overnight (there aren’t enough paddocks for every horse to go out overnight). Individual trainers have to coordinate and decide how much time each horse gets out, but the turnouts are very limited and obviously in high demand. The majority of horses get fewer than 2 hours a day, meaning they are in their stalls without any forage for at least 20 hours a day (presuming 2 hours a day to get groomed/ridden/cleaned up, where they obviously also don’t have food).

[BrownDerby]

I’ve never seen, or heard, of this model in my lifetime of boarding in CA.

[Demerara_Stables]

There are other facilities that don’t allow hay in stalls but this is the biggest one that I know of. Apparently (I heard this from a boarder, not from the owner directly) it has something to do with the place where they send the manure not accepting it if there’s hay in it (for instance if the horse doesn’t eat it all in the stall and grinds it into the manure/shavings). You can imagine how the horses are there…

ETA Rancho Viejo, also in Portola Valley, is the same. They feed cubes twice daily

[BrownDerby]

Yikes, I’ve seen the alfalfa they make cubes out of in California. Not fit for goats.

We were limited to straw only for bedding at one place I boarded. The used bedding (straw/manure) was picked up by a mushroom farm near Santa Cruz.

[Demerara_Stables]

Ya, I take mine (hay and all! ) to a farmer 20 min down the road for him to compost and use on veggies. It all just sounds like a BS excuse to me.

[BrownDerby]

Sorry to keep going OT but it could possibly be no hay allowed if such barns are near a state park. For horse camping, for ex., only pellets or cubes are permitted. You start your horse on them about a week before you camp.

[Demerara_Stables]

Not near a park but both properties owned by Stanford, if that makes a difference.

Still, no excuse for creating and maintaining an environment that breeds ulcers. 🤷

[Rnichols]

Same. I’ve been in California my entire life, been riding since I was 7 at multiple different facilities (boarding and also trailering in places to ride / working at different places etc) and have NEVER seen or heard of a barn not allowing hay in a stall.

Turn out here is hard - I think it’s mostly due to land being so scarce, at least where I live and in the Bay Area. Yes I’m sure there’s people who freak out about turn out in general, but (in addition to that) there simply isn’t a lot of space anymore

[Demerara_Stables]

I know we’re going down the rabbit hole here far away from the OP, but I am sick of hearing this excuse from people (g). The people that own these horses are billionaires with a capital B and if they wanted their horses to be turned out, they would find a way to pay for the land to make it happen. I understand that not every middle class person’s horse can be on a 5 acre field, but there is no reason for six figure horses to be locked in boxes 20 hours a day with no hay. No excuse at all.