Horse Shows and Show Barns in Silicon Valley / Bay Area?

[MovingWest]

HI,

I will be relocating to the Bay Area, close to San Jose/Mountain View. I am focused on jumpers, from young horses to Grand Prix, and have always shown in the East Coast - Wellington, Saugerties, Atlanta, etc, and know very little about West Coast jumping.

I am looking for a show barn to bring my horses, a place with riders and trainers that travel to the bigger shows?

Can someone tell me who are the Grand Prix riders in the SFO - Bay Area, where do they keep their horses, where do they show?

Is there an area where most people with horses live? I am also looking for a home and thought about a small horse farm? What about Equestrian Communities, places with shared stables perhaps?

Any orientation you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[bojolove]

Woodside/Portola Valley is a big horse area with lots of great trainers and barns. More expensive board-wise than the South Bay area (San Jose/Gilroy) and not as much land, turnout, etc. Check out Bay Area Equestrian Network under the “Trainers” in the boarding directory for lots of options.

[MovingWest]

Great! Than you! Will check out the website, and will start to visit places.

[LuLuT]

Colin and Toni McIntosh based at Portola Valley Training Center are a great choice. They are incredibly knowledgeable horse people and run an extremely professional, well organized program. On top of that, they are wonderful people who make the barn a really fun place to be. They are more focused on jumpers, with a big show barn attending all of the main NorCal shows as well as bigger shows down south. Toni competes at the Grand Prix level. You should definitely pay them a visit. Send me a PM if you want to hear more about their program.

[PreppyPonies]

I believe Harley Brown also moved up the Portola Valley recently so that’s another one to look at.

[wanderlust]

Duncan McFarlane and Helen McNaught are in the East bay at Shiloh West in Castro Valley. http://www.outwoodsfarm.com/

Buddy Brown is at Stanford. http://www.derbyhillfarm.com/home.html

Guy Thomas/Willow Tree Farm are based at the Horse Park in Woodside. http://wt2win.com/TheTeam.aspx

Peter Breakwell is at Portola Valley Training Center. http://breakwellstables.com/team/peter.html

Rachel Fields is at Portola Farms in Portola Valley. http://www.sandhavenfarm.com/index.html

All of these trainers have ridden or are riding successfully at the FEI GP level. They each have their own style and personality, but all work well with young horses and I don’t think you could go wrong with any of them. Lucky for you to have such amazing choices in such a small geographic area!

[MovingWest]

Fantastic trainer options for sure! Thank you!

What about horse farms, where is the best area to look for a small horse farm?

[JazCreekInc]

As a Real Estate broker and farm owner in the North Bay I would highly recommend checking out Sonoma County for a farm. You will not find “Equestrian Communities” out here with shared arenas or barns, but you can buy a very nice smaller property in this area and trailer to trainers near by. In the North Bay there are a few upper level jumper trainers as well, and 7 AA rated shows at Sonoma Horse Park that draw the biggest names on the coast.

If you need any help I would be happy to answer questions, my contact info is in my tagline.

[Perfect_Pony]

[QUOTE=JazCreekInc.;6938821]
As a Real Estate broker and farm owner in the North Bay I would highly recommend checking out Sonoma County for a farm. You will not find “Equestrian Communities” out here with shared arenas or barns, but you can buy a very nice smaller property in this area and trailer to trainers near by. In the North Bay there are a few upper level jumper trainers as well, and 7 AA rated shows at Sonoma Horse Park that draw the biggest names on the coast.

If you need any help I would be happy to answer questions, my contact info is in my tagline.[/QUOTE]

That would be a hell of a commute to San Jose!! :eek:

Most of the private horse farms in the south bay are in the Morgan Hill/Gilroy area (5+ acres). There are some smaller places in the hill of Los Gatos (a couple ares and hilly), and some mini-farms in Woodside (1 acre properties with small stables).

Morgan Hill/Gilroy you can find things for around a million, same with Los Gatos. Woodside is a VERY upscale “horsey” community with riding trails through the community. One acre horse properties are in the millions.

Over the hill in the Half Moon Bay area you can find places as well, again would be a total nightmare from there to San Jose.

Sonoma is fantastic for those independently wealthy enough to afford close to a million or more and not work. Some people from there occasionally find a job, or do the very long commute into San Francisco.

[sp56]

Wanderlust has great trainer options. They’re all at different facilities as well so you can get a look at places in the area.

Saratoga, Los Gatos, Portola Valley, and Woodside have areas with private farms. I’d recommend staying away from Skyline (top of the hill in Woodside) because the weather is pretty bad there.

Welcome!