Lay-up Facility in Southern California?

[Peggy]

Coming 5 y.o. with ongoing lameness issues that haven’t resolved needs to get turned out for a minimum of six months, starting any time after his teeth get done next Monday.

Vet would like him to start in about a 24x24 paddock and move up from there somewhat gradually, but doesn’t want him even eventually to end up “on acres and acres.”

He doesn’t need to be hand walked, wrapped, hosed, or any of that. Just be out to move around on his own. He may need to stay shod (fronts only) so feet would have to get checked.

I don’t want a situation where I need to micromanage and/or be out there constantly, but that means he doesn’t need to be all that close to me (Torrance). It would be nice if he was close enough to the shoer (Hemet) so he could do him, but the shoer has a pretty large range.

He’s not bad or evil, but he’s four and never really got started super well under saddle and consequently has wild child moments. So, I can’t just put him in some nice person’s backyard. He needs to be with people that know what they’re doing in case they do need to get him out or handle him.

In an idea world this will cost little enough that I can do something besides weekly lessons while I wait. I’ve pretty much given up any hope of being able to lease something and show, but it would be nice to either show a bit on the barn lesson horse or feed or partial feed lease something.

I’ve looked around a bit on the web, but most places don’t have prices. Thus I don’t really know what’s realistic.

[laskiblue]

Sent you a PM.

[Fuego1]

I also sent a PM.

[atlatl]

I know a couple of people who have done lay-ups and retirements in Temecula. I’ll try to get some names of places.

[Sarabeth]

http://freewayfarmsinc.com/layup.html - note - I don’t know anything about them, I’ve just kept the link for a long ‘Just in case’

[Abby_Kogler]

Hi, you may be getting loaded with PMs but if not, I can attest to the care at Sue Briles barn on Burma Ridge in Fallbrook. She did track layups for a while, knows her stuff, is very reasonable, has some grass turnouts and an equicisor. She took every good care of my horses while I was recovering from an injury. Its a wonderful small quiet barn with good amenities.

[Peggy]

No, not inundated, but getting helpful responses. Thanks everyone!

I do like the idea of a place that’s used to track layups, since Skipper can pull young TB shenanigans. My online searching pulled up one place that I remember visiting when looking at horses to buy, they have the pens of various sizes, they do track layups, and my trainer used to work for them. So I’m letting her make the phone call. It has the advantage of being a known known where I’d be willing to send him without visiting first. I’m in the throes of teaching a semester of OChem in six weeks and won’t have time for a Temecula/Hemet field trip until the middle of the month.

[TullyMars]

Peacefield Farm in Temecula is wonderful. They do a thorough job and are used to race horses and other performance type horses. Love the care.

[UlysMom]

We used to use Farrell Jones in Hemet for our TB layups. It’s been about 10 years since I’ve been out there, but I liked the facility and how the staff handled our horses. I don’t know if Jenny Craig’s place is still open, but I had heard good things about them.

Good luck.

[SarahSC]

Would Santa Ynez be too far? I can recommend a layup place that offers small individual pens and daily grass turnout in small pastures (like maybe 1 acre in size). Or in your case they would probably hand walk instead. They have a few retired Grand Prix horses there and specialize in retired/lay ups for show type horses. Their shoer does the horses at Alamo Pintada vet hospital so he would probably have no trouble doing the special shoeing your guy needs.
I have my horse there on “vacation” and I’m happy and my mare is too! It takes me 2 hours from Beverly Hills to get out there for an occasional visit. Please PM if you want more info on the place. I know this is a hard decision and I did a TON of research and in person visits to places before choosing this one. I’m happy to help if the distance isn’t too far for you to consider.

[Peggy]

Santa Ynez isn’t much further than Temecula and it would be oddly convenient as my other horse is at a retirement place just north of Paso Robles (yes, I will be paying to board out two horses, neither of which I can ride). But, the idea is to get him out in a relatively large area 24/7 as opposed to a smaller area and then walking him (which we have been doing now), or alternating between a larger and a smaller area. Someone gave me the name of a person in Santa Ynez whose place sounds very similar.

I ran across Peacefield Farms while browsing around. It looks lovely but might be a bit out of my budget. But, I’ll call and ask, since part of what I’m trying to do is get an idea of what various places cost.

[TullyMars]

How about Roloff Ranch? Vets work with Bonnie frequently on rehab. She is In Temecula. Maybe a better price point.

[Peggy]

Thanks everyone! I found a place in Temecula. Not fancy, but a decent price point. It’s the one I mentioned in post #7. He gets his teeth done Monday and his feet done later next week and then he can go off and be a horse.

So now I’ll have one horse in Temecula and the other near Paso Robles. How convenient! I should probably go on some winery tours or something.

[hey101]

If things don’t work out shoot me a PM. I’m just down the road from Temecula in Bonsall. I have my own place and it could exactly accommodate what you are looking for- unlimited turnout (either private or with a small group), a very quiet and private facility. I’m also very experienced with young OTTB’s! I’m not interested in the typical boarding scenario where people are coming to ride every day, but a lay-up would work out great.

[Lbayley]

Peggy, what lay up facility did you use and were you happy with the care?

[Peggy]

@Lbayley

Peggy, what lay up facility did you use and were you happy with the care?

Skipper started at Hunter Hill Farm in Hemet and I was happy, but it got sold right after Skipper moved there. The manager/trainer stayed and life was good. But by the following March the new owners were too weird, and the manager, who by then had started the horse back under saddle, moved to another facility. That was NexStar Ranch in Temecula, which does a mix of TB breeding/training and has a resident HJ trainer. So I would no longer recommend the first place, but would recommend NexStar.