Wonderful facility - we have been with Hillary for 8 years she really cares for the animals. We have two geldings there that are happy and healthy. Three rings to ride in and a huge wilderness to ride in for those who will cross the creek. Disregard the negative reviews. I knew both the people who posted and they were bullies. I recommend this facility highly! Jill Lander read more

I have a 30 year old paint gelding who has been at Briarcliff for almost 5 years. We were at our previous barn in Castro Valley for over 20 years. I would like to say that Briarcliff is the premiere boarding facility in Santa Cruz county. It has been my experience that the horses are well fed and cared for, the property is beautifully maintained and we are able to have our preferred Shoer and any Vet we choose. The owner is on the property 24/7/365 and always has her eye on the horses, making sure they stay healthy and happy. If you truly care about your horse and the care it will receive, Briarcliff is your only choice in Santa Cruz county. read more

My horse... my world... my peace of mind and my horses mental health is content at Briarcliff Farm. Hilary is a Godsend from above. My horse was in distress when I moved her from Briarcliff Farm... she lost over 100 lbs in a few months after I moved her. Within hours of calling Hillary and her graciously accepting me and my big baby back to paradise.. my prayers were answered. Any horse mom would appreciate the kindness and generosity that Hilary offered me bringing my girl back home. Hilary did not questioned me as to why I needed a safe place for my girl... no questioned asked! Hilary was compassionate not only for me... but for the love of my life. She was in distress and I was beside myself with her crazy state of mind! Within an hour of being trailered back to Briarcliff Farm she went from crazy to calm and content Within minutes. Today, I witnessed an old guy back from Steinbeck after a few weeks of intestinal issues and accesses... Hilary has nurtured him back to health... the sweetest, kindness, big guy I've ever encountered. Love... kindness... and attention they deserve... is what she does and is the key to success. This is what Hilary brings to our big babies we love. This is the place, the environment they deserve. I've never been around such sweet loving horses in my life. Happiest place on earth for our big babies! Thank you Hilary I can never repay you for my girls happiness. read more

Briarcliff Farm - Horse Boarding Near Me - Soquel, California

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The drunk people are upset again. This owner of the ranch came to me. She did not have money to buy feed for the horses she had boarded there. Horses in her care. I paid 4600.00 in advance for 4monthes board. On 2 horses so she could get feed. 6 weeks in on this agreement she throws me out. Me and my horses landed just fine. But if you do not have the money to buy feed. You should not be in that business. She refused my horse water. First all other horses had water filled not mine .ok I filled it when I got there. Then the hose was gone. Ok. I have a hose. Then she took the hole water system out of barn. She stole my golf cart and my money. Not to mention the elder abuse. Stay away. Horse house of horrors. read more

Hillary is psychooooo! I visited this place years ago but this whack job yelled at me from across the ranch because I was lunging a horse in uggs (my choice) and she had a problem with it. Also she told me that rope halters were not allowed and were abusive to horses (lol) she is insane. read more

The owner of this facility is totally unethical in how she deals with clients. She makes agreements and then arbitrarily backs out and lies about the agreements even when it is stated in writing and signed by her. I will be seeing her in court. Don't trust her. read more

This is a long review, so if you would like to avoid all the detail, here is the punch line: beautiful setting; well-maintained facility; good resident trainers; famously abusive, unpredictable owner who takes your notice to leave as a personal rejection, retaliates by demanding that you vacate her property immediately and threatens to stop feeding your horse if you do not. In two cases I know of, she actually followed through on the threat. The lengthy version of this synopsis follows: First, the good news. The setting is bucolic and beautiful, and the facility is well maintained. The owner keeps a constant watchful eye on the entire premises, while chugging around in her golf cart. I'm told she even makes observations of riders and horses from her home via binoculars. As a result she notices anything wrong with a horse (more good news) as well as anything amiss with the facility's immaculate appearance, including a few stray blades of hay in the wrong place. Now the downside. When I planned to move my mare to Briarcliff in order to follow Vikki Fehr, my trainer, virtually every friend familiar with the owner's reputation warned me against it. And, of course, there were the multiple scathing on line reviews. However, with over 30 years' experience as a mental health professional, manager of several mental illness treatment programs, and 13 years' experience teaching graduate courses in human communication, I felt confident. Certain that I would be able to manage dealings with the famously unstable, unpredictable, abusive (name calls and swears at boarders) and divisive (badmouths boarders and trainers) owner, I moved my mare in, and it went tolerably well for two years. During that time, I avoided disagreements, accepted made-up-on-the-spot rules, overlooked attempts to report on other boarders, and tolerated temper tantrums. But I finally drew the line when she second guessed the vet's specific feeding instructions when my mare developed laminitis. She not only said the vet's directions were "just something he read in a book", she also reported the horrible death of another mare with the same problem, and assured me that no matter what I did for treatment, my mare would die anyway. When I gave 30 days' notice to move my mare to another facility, the drama, abuse and threats I had been warned about began, presumably to hasten my departure in order to avoid further expense. Because I was afraid for the health of my mare, as soon as arrangements could be finalized, I did in fact relocate her. Under no circumstances do I recommend boarding at this facility, unless you intend to retire your horse and have no further contact with the owner, or perhaps if you plan to take lessons from either Vikki or Edie, the two excellent on-site trainers. read more

5 stars for the impressive facility and surroundings ! 5 stars for the owner (Hilary) for her excellent care of the horses as well as being professional, caring, and helpful. 5 stars for the employees who really cares for the horses and their well being! Kudos to Hilary for training them well. Highly recommend this place! read more

You couldn't be in a more finer place than Briarcliff Farms. The ranch owner Mrs. Hillary cares about each and every horse. Everyone is friendly and helpful. The arenas are beautiful with excellent footing. They are very well groomed. Its very clean. There are lots of trails to ride off into the mountains. The climate for this area is perfect, You can go riding at night in a well lighted ring. Lots of jumps to create or make your own optical course. Once you arrive its hard to leave. My horse Ginny is a Thoroughbred and has never looked so good as she does now..Oh yes I must also comment of the wonderful Shoer and Veterinary services that are available onsite once a week of more, The entrance is gated. I am very happy to be at such a beautiful ranch. I know that when I leave, my horse is safe. read more

I do not usually believe in putting down businesses, and have never before used yelp. However, after my disturbing experience at BriarCliff I felt it important that I share my experience to hopefully keep other horse owners from having a similar one. I agree with Brianna G who wishes you could have left less than one star. As this review is lengthy, here are the key points: -Owner is unstable. -Horses colic frequently. -Primary method of feed is pellets, cubes, alfalfa. -Appearance of facility appears to take precedence over care of horses. -Easy to be deceived by gorgeous and scenic location. I have boarded my horses at barns in CA, WY, and MT (I moved around for college), so I am pretty go-with-the flow and easy to please when it comes to boarding. My main requirements are fairly basic: quality hay, ample space, good footing, safe and peaceful environment. At BriarCliff, the owner acts extremely friendly tells you what you want to hear to get you onsite. However, once you move to the facility, she acts like you have misunderstood where your horse will be boarded, and you are placed in something else. She only feeds pellets and cubes primarily because "it works the horses jaw" and is less messy. The footing is ok, but tends to clump when it rains, and when it rains everything is pretty much closed except for a disheveled round pen that you must walk down a steep muddy hill to get to...for a facility specializing in "older, retired horses," this is not a good turnout option, especially when the turn outs on site are dry and safe. She was willing to accommodate my goats and seemed very nice and promising, so I moved there. However, after careful consideration I decided another ranch would be a better fit for me. I had not yet signed a contract, and had already paid full board. Upon advisement from other previous boarders that when a boarder leaves the owner does weird things (such as moving your horses around and moving tack trunks out in the rain), I felt it best to wait to tell the owner we would be moving on the day we moved. As I had never signed the contract, I was not obligated to stay, and I had only been there 1 week but paid for 1 month of board, so she would not be losing any money from us. I thanked her profusely for her accommodation and time, saying I had a last minute job opportunity that I needed to move for immediately. Instead of being disappointed but kind, she was extremely rude and mean, saying that she kicked someone out to let "you people" have better stalls (after she had previously told us the horses she moved were a sale horse she put in another pen and a student's horse who wanted to move to a stall down below). She was rude and walked away with a simple "let me know when you get your stuff out of here." She kept her workers (very friendly crew) busy so they could not help my mom and I load my goats/move a few heavy grain bins (with my previous arm injury, some things I require assistance with if they are heavy). Her manner was extremely unprofessional. She wants things pristine and seems to be more obsessed with appearance than of care for the horses (everyone I met as boarders said their horse had coliced during its stay at BriarCliff). She runs around in her golf cart "checking on the horses" but seems to be looking for things that are not in perfect order. You cannot walk on the grass, and must pay extra for grass hay as cubes, pellets, and alfalfa are fed. Most pens have very large step downs which is hard for older horses (such as mine). I hope this review helps other horse owners in their search for a quality boarding facility in the Santa Cruz Country. read more

I am so incredibly thankful for Hillary, the owner of Briarcliff Farm. I feel so at ease and relaxed in this beautiful environment. My Freesian horse loves it here and I feel safe. I cannot say enough wonderful things about Briarcliff. The arenas are always in good shape with sprinklers and lights. We have access to lots of trails. Hilary is very accommodating to every horse's specific needs. The people that board their horses are very friendly and we have social gatherings to get to know each other more. The setting of the farm is so beautiful and peaceful. read more

We loved our time here. Beautiful setting, spotless facilities. Hilary is the owner. She never stops moving in terms of managing the staff, spending time with the horses and generally keeping everything in tip top condition. A special bonus that we liked is a cross country course down by the creek and wonderful trails in the adjacent forrest. We moved our horses to be closer to home, but highly recommend this farm located several miles from Soquel and Capitola. read more

If I could give a "0 star" to this boarding farm, I would! If you care about the true well-being of your horse, look elsewhere! The beautiful layout and the way the grounds are kept is appealing to your eye, but if you board here you will regret it!! They only feed alfalfa cubes, a sweet feed blend, and alfalfa. The owner will promise you the moon when you are considering boarding there, but then afterwards they do whatever is convenient for them while you are not there. Horses keep weight on well because of the high energy content of the food, but they also colic frequently. It is not ideal to have high calorie but less ruff age for horses...She will tell you everything you may question is "vet-approved" but they cannot speak against her because they have regular income attending to the regular vet calls there. They also promise they can include "free turnout"...it doesn't happen on a regular basis, if ever. They criticize rope halter use, when that should be a personal preference for horse/owner. The dust is OUT OF CONTROL here in the summer and the horses' nostrils are caked with it and often get a dry cough. The owner is very manipulative and initially talks nicely to your face, but then will say something completely opposite to someone else about you. She has a long history of doing things that are dishonest. (you can lookup "red-tags" regarding briar cliff farm and read between the lines) She "fires" any workers that cross her path and tells boarders to get off her property if she gets any sense you may not agree with the way she does things. Hopefully this helps prevent others from unnecessary stress and anxiety. read more

I love this barn. I have been to multiple stables and this is one of the best places. The horses are treated wonderfully. It all about horse and rider happiness. Beautiful footing, breath taking arenas. The horses' health is a top priority. The owner is very knowledgeable. The employees are awesome and are always willing to help. They know when there is something wrong with a horse and run and get the owner as soon as its discovered. I don't know anywhere else that has a staff like that. There are horses that have lived their whole lives on the property, who come there to retire. Every horse is treated kindly and with respect. The stalls are cleaned daily. Fresh shavings weekly. Grass pastures are watered every day when needed. Its a great place. I'd recommend it without hesitation. You want to know your horses are in good, confident, experienced hands, this is the place. read more

I truly wish I could have given less than one star for Briarcliff. The women that run this "stable" are rude and crazy. They think rope halters make horses bleed, it's dangerous to work with a horse in a round pen that is saddled, and you should wear a helmet while working on the ground in the round pen. Basic horsemanship knowledge is completely lacking from this barn and the women that run it. The purpose of saddling while doing round pen work, is to see how the horse will react under saddle. Rope halters don't make horses bleed and are not abusive, they have small knots for pressure points so your horse learns to be respectful on the ground. Again, basic horsemanship knowledge. read more

This is a very special place. The property is gorgeous and very welcoming. The arenas are nice and there is a cross country course and trails, all right there! The trainer, Vikki Fehr, is a kind and amazing woman. She has helped me gain so much confidence in the saddle! I have been at several barns in the area over the past few years and this one is my favorite. read more

We currently board and have for the last six years. We love the way the place is cared for -- green lawns, well cared for arena and great staff. The owner can be picky, but we like her attention to detail -- that's why we trust our horses to her care. read more

I had the pleasure of boarding my horse at Briarcliff Farms when I moved to Santa Cruz in October 2015. I have since sold my mare but the experience I had while at Briarcliff Farms was nothing short of stellar! The feeding schedule was consistent and quality of feed was always clean. Hillary the owner never stops moving and is both attentive to the horses and also her employees who feed, clean and blanket. My mare was always fat and happy. The property itself is emaculate. The arena footing is well kept and safe. There is a round pen, dressage arena and large fenced arena on the upper part of the property. Below near the creek there is a quarter mile trail that winds through the trees and another large well maintained arena that is great for schooling. I always felt welcomed and can't safe enough great things about Hillary who truly is a horsewoman through and through. If you are looking for a quiet, and safe facility to board this is the place for you. read more