My daughter is entering UC San Diego this fall as a freshman. She is showing at third level, junior and I will be sending her horse to her by next spring. Any recommendations for trainers/barns in the La Jolla area? Any imput is appreciated, pro/con about these barns/trainers.
I went to USD. I lived in La Jolla right down the street from UCSD.
Laurie Falvo Doyle is a fabulous trainer. If you Google, you can find her number. I’m pretty sure she’s still in the San Diego area.
I will leave specific recommendations to others, but your daughter should expect a bit of a drive to get to her horse.
I was born in 1964 and grew up in Pacific Beach just south of La Jolla, and remember a few people having horses in their yards. My first lessons were at La Jolla Farms right across the street from UCSD. The stable that used to be there closed probably 20+ years ago and the grounds are now covered with very expensive houses 
I moved on to Sorrento Valley Farms (also now closed) as a teen, and then a place in Carmel Valley (stayed open until about 10 years ago and now is covered with office buildings, though the original farmhouse is still there.)
Time marches on, I guess… but congratulations to your daughter; it’s a very good school and it’s in a beautiful area.
What college is your daughter going to attend? If it’s Revelle, she won’t have time to ride… er she’ll just have to be really good at time management. Great school! Hope she has a great time there!!!
You might want to plan on holding off on the horse entirely the first year. I’m a grad student at UCSD & the undergrads really do get slammed the first year - a lot of adjustment going on, and adjusting to the quarter system on a collegiate level does take some work (and a lot of freshmen are pretty terrible at managing their academic time with everything else going on at campus - ask me how I know this :uhoh:). As everyone has said, it’s going to be a hike from school to any areas with barns (they are NOT in La Jolla) - traffic can be atrocious depending on where you’re heading, especially going north where a lot of the horsey areas are.
Here’s the CDS San Diego site.
UC San Diego and she is well aware of her time demands in her freshman year. The horse isn’t going there until spring next year.
UC San Diego has several different “schools” – that’s what Mukluk was referring to. 
I’m in Texas but grew up in San Diego and visit family still there. You’re daughter is going to have to go North and probably inland. I don’t know about any specific trainers (other than Hap Hansen in Encinitas, and he’s H/J), but the biggest equestrian facility is the Del Mar Horse Park, about 20-30 minutes North of La Jolla. Here’s their website:
http://www.blenheimequisports.com/delmar-horsepark.asp
Sorry about that, dumb answer to your question. I went to college in the stone age. Her college is Roosevelt
Del Mar is one farm she is especially interested in.
UCSD has an equestrian team.
http://recadmin.ucsd.edu/sports/teams/equestrian/index.php
Looks like they are based out of Del Mar, which is not that far from the school.
Personally, I would join the equestrian team rather than try to find a new trainer who may expect more of a time commitment than is possible of a student at UCSD. It IS a very demanding school like the other poster said.
Great way to make friends at a big university…
p.s. “what school?” is kind of a clubby thing at UCSD - only people who know UCSD will know to ask you which school… and you had better know… 
[QUOTE=FAW;3131281]
UC San Diego and she is well aware of her time demands in her freshman year. The horse isn’t going there until spring next year.[/QUOTE]
No reason to be snarky - I’ve found that plenty of people ‘think’ they know what their time demands are going to be, then can’t manage to get everything flowing smoothly. Be it the greek system or extracurricular service organizations, we get a lot of ‘But I just HAVE to do X’ from students expecting us to cut them slack. I went to a horsey school as an undergrad and many people brought their horse their second year, after they had really settled in. It’s hardly an unreasonable suggestion.
But hey, what do I know? I’m only responsible for silly things like undergraduate grades. :winkgrin:
I don’t think she meant to be snarky.
There are lots of barns in the Del Mar area. I desperately miss San Diego (although my horses, who now have an 8 acre pasture, probably do not!).
I think this is a fabulous resource:
I wish we had more things like that website (and I also miss The Horsetrader) in Texas!
Practically the whole Olympic team seems to be down there. You’ve got Steffen Peters, Sue Blinks, Guenter Seidel. Unless your horse will get Laurie Falvo back on the Grand Prix circuit, I’m sure she would relegate your daughter and your to her assistant. I’m afraid I can’t vouch for her.
I live in La Jolla just a few minutes from UCSD. My husband and I take walks several times a week through the campus. My daughters do hunter/jumper and we keep our horses at Seabreeze which is right off the 56 freeway in Carmel Valley. It is about a 15 minute drive from UCSD. There is a dressage trainer there also. If you look up Seabreeze Farms Equestrian Center you can get the main number and someone can put you in touch with the dressage trainer. The facility is very nice and the horses get wonderful care here. It is an easier drive than going to Horsepark in Del Mar during rush hour from La Jolla. We were at Horsepark for 5 years and there are also a couple of dressage trainers there.
[QUOTE=oldschool;3132392]
Practically the whole Olympic team seems to be down there. You’ve got Steffen Peters, Sue Blinks, Guenter Seidel. Unless your horse will get Laurie Falvo back on the Grand Prix circuit, I’m sure she would relegate your daughter and your to her assistant. I’m afraid I can’t vouch for her.[/QUOTE]
I don’t know about this. I’ve only done clinics with her though. She seemed very nice. But you’re right about there being a lot of trainers in that area.
Your daughter will love it there.
Another trainer to consider is Nick Wagman. He’s based at a private farm in Rancho Santa Fe, and has amateur and young riders. His email is nickwagman@cox.net. Phone is 818-693-0954.
Closest horse area to La Jolla is Del Mar, 20 minutes north. Rancho Santa Fe is perhaps another 15 minutes up the road.
Have to say it’s interesting reading the posts from fellow La Jollans. I’ve lived in La Jolla all my life, and right now I’m in my condo just a mile from UCSD. I had no idea so many neigbors read the COTH BB !
But I gotta ask, if the horse isn’t coming for another year, why are we tripping over ourselves to find a place ?
I think the best resource for moving into the area is Riding magazine’s phone directory (go to ridingmagazine.com to find info re: obtaining a copy). When I moved to SD a couple years ago it was an invaluable resource.
Steffen & Shannon Peters are at Arroyo Del Mar in Rancho Santa Fe- there is a small covered arena there. Guenter Seidel and Sue Blinks are at Albert Court in Rancho Santa Fe- beautiful facility, very expensive of course, wonderful footing in the dressage arena, no covered arena. Most places in SD don’t have one, so this is not too unusual. Both of these places would be a much quicker commute from UCSD than the places further north, especially if she takes the back roads (ie anything other than the 5).
Del Mar Horsepark (aka “Showpark”) has a couple dressage trainers- Bettina Loy and Angela Paltram and maybe some others? Then in Olivenhain, which is the easternmost part of Encinitas, there is Rancho Los Amigos with Jürgen and Jennifer Hoffman, Wildflower Ranch (I don’t know who they have for dressage now), and Dove Hollow Dressage Center with Laurie Falvo Doyle and her assistant Allison Harding. Dove Hollow and Showpark have covered arenas. Whether or not these barns would be too far away depends on what time of day she would be traveling- if she is trying to go north on the 5 from 3-6 pm, the drive will be 2-3 times as long as at a non-rush hour time. There are also some places inland that I’m not familiar with.
Phone numbers/contact info for all of the above can be found in Riding Magazine’s directory or by googling. Good luck!
I am a UCSD grad as well and I am a San Diego native with a small training barn in Del Mar.
Don’t mean to beat a dead horse here but I gotta say UCSD is SO tough I highly recommend waiting until her sophomore year to even think about making this decision… Because she may very likely change her mind.
There are many amazing training barns within a half hour drive from the school. 20 minutes is not a realistic amount of time for getting to Carmel Valley or particularly Del Mar during rush hour. Summertime is almost worst because of the mass amount of tourists as well as the Fair and Racetrack season.
Not impossible, but if your daughter wants great grades she should seriously reconsider. I managed almost straight A’s but I was doing homework on Friday nights. I did ride just recreationally a few days a week but my social life suffered.
[QUOTE=Allioness;3143139]
I am a UCSD grad as well and I am a San Diego native with a small training barn in Del Mar.
Don’t mean to beat a dead horse here but I gotta say UCSD is SO tough I highly recommend waiting until her sophomore year to even think about making this decision… Because she may very likely change her mind.
There are many amazing training barns within a half hour drive from the school. 20 minutes is not a realistic amount of time for getting to Carmel Valley or particularly Del Mar during rush hour. Summertime is almost worst because of the mass amount of tourists as well as the Fair and Racetrack season.
Not impossible, but if your daughter wants great grades she should seriously reconsider. I managed almost straight A’s but I was doing homework on Friday nights. I did ride just recreationally a few days a week but my social life suffered.[/QUOTE]
I was at USD, not as tough as UCSD, but eventually I came to see the wisdom in my father’s ban on horses while I was at college. My school offered riding as an elective, so I did manage to ride once a week. I don’t think I could have kept my grades up and kept a horse though. But we don’t know the OP’s daughter. She could be one of those supremely organized multi-taskers that excels under stress.
