I've been taking lessons at CRA for about a year now as an adult beginner and I look forward to my…read morelessons every week. I love arriving at the barn and seeing all the beautiful horses. The owner and staff are all lovely as well. My favorite thing about CRA is the amount of progress I feel I've made after each lesson. The instructors are all very knowledgable and always provide helpful feedback that has helped me with my equestrian journey. Definitely give this place a visit! Plus, they've got the cutest pony, Merlin! (see attached photo)

I am so happy to have found California Riding Academy in Pacifica. The barn is super convenient…read morefor me to get to from San Francisco - I can easily take a weekday morning lesson before my PM shift at the hospital. The horses are incredibly well cared for. The barn and arena are very nice. My instructor Sierra is very helpful and patient. I was finally getting strong enough to really properly post the trot when the Covid19 lock down hit. I cannot wait to get back to the barn and to the horses. I highly recommend California Riding Academy.

Great experience with Diane !! We really recommend her ! All of our 3 kids really liked her and the…read moreway she teaches . The horses were very quiet and the little one was so cute , she also has more animals on property which made it even more fun!

Diane does great work. Had a mini horse with curled hooves. A disaster. Diane made them look normal…read moreand brought great relief to the horse. I was astonished she was able to get the hooves in such great shape. Diane works to make the horse comfortable and doesn't push and lose her patience.

Rancho Gavilan is a beautiful, quiet, well maintained boarding stable in Gilroy, CA. The footing is…read moreexcellent and includes a covered arena with mirrors, a dressage court, jumping arena, box stalls and pipe stalls, pastures, turn out, a hacking path, and access to trails that wind through rolling hills with oak trees. The trainers available are second to none and include Jason Canton, a USDF Gold Medal CLS 5 Star Rated International Grand Prix dressage rider. Jason brings his expertise of 28 years of training over 25 horses to the FEI level of Grand Prix dressage and many riders trained to achieve their USDF medals. Very few facilities can boast this level of quality care. Highly recommend Rancho Gavilan.

I have had Katie Hoefs Martin as my and my daughter's trainer for nearly 6 years. She is a gifted…read morerider and trainer, with extensive experience in bringing riders and horses along, from totally green to PSG. She has guided us in choosing appropriate horses, and appropriate goals for our training. The atmosphere in Katie's program is very professional, yet very relaxed. Unlike other trainers I evaluated before choosing Katie, she considers riding client's horses part of the job, and her calm, even manner of dealing with training issues is appreciated by client and horse alike. I had worked with several other trainers prior to Katie, so this stood out to me as particularly valuable in a training program. After a thorough interview process, Katie moved her program to Gilroy Gaits, and we have been really happy there and so have our horses. Katie has two veterinarians in her program, and they trust her with the care and training of their horses. She has provided excellent care for all of my horses (3) through a variety of ailments. At Gilroy Gaits, we have an on-site vet clinic, so horses who require care are very closely monitored and the vet works very closely with Katie. She brought my young horse back after OCD surgery, and I went on to enjoy a full show season. Over 5-6 years, with three horses, we've had several occasions to require support from Katie in caring for them, and nothing has ever occurred to suggest that she is anything but competent at following a vet's instructions, including knowing when to involve the vet at any point in a health issue. I find these review forums useful, but occasional they are abused to settle personal vendettas. As the horse involved in a previous review is MY horse, I feel compelled to set the record straight: The accusation in another review that Katie was prosecuted for drugging a horse is completely inaccurate. I was disciplined for not filing the correct paperwork, not for drugging a horse. As my trainer, Katie was subject to fines as well. If you have any doubts about that, read the link. And then interpret the rest of the remarks in the other review with that intentional misrepresentation in mind.

As an adult rider, I am deeply committed to Dressage. It is my passion and I have had some great…read moretrainers, clinicians and horses. In fact my gelding Sebastian is currently being ridden by a member of the US Para Equestrian Team with many championships under her belt. I take the sport of dressage seriously, although I am happily an amature rider. That said, I was thrilled to be introduced to Katie Hoefs Martin at Gilroy Gaits. Her teaching style is kind and supportive, but as challenging as I want it to be. Her vocabulary to help me get what I want to get out of any movements is broad, giving me plenty of ideas of how to achieve what I want to achieve. Most important to me is her approach to the horses which is with love and respect, born from years of experience which can't be learned without hours in the saddle. Katie's style is the same as my longest and most favorite trainer, and I expect to be with her for some time.

I moved my horse to Blue Banner after a discouraging boarding experience at another local facility…read more Initially I. was wary and cautious, but to my great relief, Blue Banner's family welcomed me and my horse immediately! Everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) is friendly, kind, generous, and helpful! The facility is clean and well maintained. There are trees throughout to offer ample summer shade and a lovely mini trail course to allow for an amazing "out of the arena" experience! All the amenities are here...a covered and open arena, round pen, many turn outs, comfortable stalls and paddocks, run-ins that come with mats (!), hot water wash racks, a full indoor tacking / washing barn for those cold/wet days, two club house spaces, a large picnic area with kids playground, cows adjacent to the property provide great training opportunities, and a family friendly environment. I've found my home...and a haven for me and my horse. Thank you Scott, Karla and Blue Banner!

For my daughters bday, they did a wonderful job of last minute accommodation! No doubt about the…read morefantastic service when it comes to making a great impression there BUT the instructor didn't seem to pleased to be very sociable. I mentioned it was my daughters bday many times. Not much conversation to my daughter to make her feel very welcome. For example, "hows your bday going so far? Or, Glad we were able to squeeze you in today to make a dream come true, or thanks for choosing is hope to see you back have a nice rest of your bday" Nope. Still gave her a nice tip though, even if her vibe was not happy to have us there ‍

I am soooo disappointed in this place!!…read more After reviewing different places for my 10 yr old daughter's horseback riding lessons (including TGIF Farms, Garrods, Chapparal...) I decided to go w/ Cevalo even though they are far off in the hills. We came to visit on a Thurs and met Diane, the trainer. She had a cask on her arm from some injury (non-horseback related, she said). That was fine with us. We enrolled for her beginners class that very evening. We came back at 4:30PM. She sends my daughter off with one of her students to have her watch how to tack and saddle the horses. I love the thought of that, so that my daughter can learn the responsibility of caring for them as well as riding them. When we came back on the training ground, I see my daughter was led around by first, some other girl's mom, and then later...one of the student's dad as Diane just shouts out instructions. Who is supposed to help train my daughter around here??? I guess that was fine but it just so happens the horse my daughter trains on, Wyatt, does not like to be rushed by other horses. Some time during the training, as Diane trains the other more advanced students to jump...one girl and her horse ran straight at my daughter. That scared Wyatt and knocked my daughter right onto the ground. That freaked me out!!! I knew my lil girl was pretty shaken but she played it off well cause she knew if she showed hurt, I would've probably stopped her lessons. Anyways, we came again the following Thur. Diane was already out in the training field. I walked out there to see what we needed to do. She told me to have my daughter watch how to tack the horses again. So we did. It wasn't really any formal instructions. We felt kind of neglected in a way. Afterwards, we went back to the fields. It was already 15mins in. Some other girl from previous lesson was still riding Wyatt. I told my daughter to go stand by Diane until given instructions on what to do. I watched my daughter being totally neglected by Diane until she walks back to the fence. I wasn't too happy so got out of my car and walked up to the fence myself. Then Diane saw me and called out to my daughter to mount on the horse.....The previous girl on the horse was being led by her own mother. So when my daughter got on, she looked totally confused as to who will lead her. Diane was going to have her on the horse by herself!!! So of course I volunteered to do it. It's my own child for god's sake. I can't have her fall again like last week. And like I predicted, another girl drove her horse straight at Wyatt again!! This time when he buckled, I pulled down on his lead rope to keep him from knocking off my daughter. Fortunately my daughter didn't fall (she was really scared though) but the other girl fell hard off her horse. I felt bad for her. But I've had enough. This was only our 2nd lesson and I'm not even impressed. So unless you don't mind your child falling off horses and learning by themselves, go ahead. But with the $ I'm paying, I expected better quality of training. Money is not the issue when talking about my child's safety. I've paid 1 month of training and am still skipping the last 2 training. We've enrolled at Garrods...let's see how they do.

Excellent school. Diana helps her students with riding lessons and also wrapped within each lesson…read moreseems to be lessons in life too. She works the students hard, but is also compassionate and encouraging. The students learn a good work ethic, as they must participate in the cleaning of stalls, feeding and care of the horses. The stables is a little way out, near Uvas Canyon, but it's a beautiful spot to sit and watch the riders, and nature all around you. Not much there by way of comforts, barn, Porta-Potty, and a few old plastic chairs, but for the students riding, who cares.

FHS and trainer Stephanie Walker are the best. She has created an exceptional environment where the…read morehorses' comfort and happiness are always the priority. She helps all levels of riders realize their full potential in a very unintimidating way. I would highly recommend this barn for boarding, leasing, training, and lessons.

Stephanie Walker at Free Heart Stables is a true horseman. She understands the equine holistically…read moreand teaches her clients from where the horse is at physically and mentally, and always for the good of the horse. My daughter entered into the horse world via typical horseback lesson experience. She received excellent instruction in rider form at a top riding school but she became bored with just jumping on a horse for the purpose of getting through the transitions and jumps while looking good. She craved a deeper bond with her equine partners. So, being a brand new horse person myself, and only to support my daughter from afar, I found Stephanie in a Google search. I figured some horseback lessons that simulated actual horse ownership would cure the bug. I also decided that since this experience would be more than just tacking up the horse and riding, I decided to take lessons too so I could supervise my daughter from the ground. When my daughter first started riding, I wouldn't even pet the horses, and I was the least likely candidate to be a horse owner, that's how resistant I was to this whole horse fever she caught. I thought for sure these true "horsemanship" lessons would end this nonsense. Well, Stephanie didn't cure the horse bug. She made it worse, it was contagious, and I caught it. She stirred a new passion in my daughter and I that opened up a whole new world where horses are now more than a hobby, we have a new lifestyle. Fast forward to today, we are the humble owners of a beautiful, dramatic, and sensitive thoroughbred gelding and Stephanie is our trainer. Forget thinking that this is your typical trainer situation where the expert does the hard work of training your horse and you come out only to ride and experience the fruit of that labor. Stephanie is teaching US how to train our horse. Her lessons involve us in every part of the equine from the how the horse thinks to how the horse moves - on good days and bad days. Some of our best lessons, even when we first started, have been in (and continue to be in) imperfect conditions where we were making mistakes and Stephanie patiently taught us what was going on with the horse mentally, how we created the situation, and how to correct it. She will not do it for you, and she will make you take it slow to do things right. You can do things fast, or you can do them right. Thankfully, she has the patience and calm demeanor of a saint with kids and nervous, newbie, somewhat resistant, older adults. Stephanie just has something special to offer people that is vitally lacking in our fast paced, over tech'd, and over-achieving culture. The character qualities that are being instilled in my daughter (and myself) through this journey is not something the fanciest training barn or most expensive private school could ever teach. It is hard work that teaches you how to slow down, be present, and be teachable. Though the word has lost its meaning, Stephanie is a true natural horseman and she will teach you how to understand and communicate with the horse from the moment you make contact. If you want a truly fulfilling equine partnership that is unlike anything offered at training and lesson barns, contact Stephanie. Your horse will thank you.

Best place to board your horses! Billy Martin and Linda Maki are absolutely the best at training…read moreand keeping this place looking amazing!! Always running into friendly people here!!!! I wouldn't trust my horses anywhere else!!! They care!

I would give this place 0 stars if I could…read more Boarded my horses here for years and always paid on time and when I arrived to pick them up to relocate bars Linda Maki refused to let me take them and gave me a bill for $2187.00 and said it was for miscellaneous charges. (No details were provided on the bill) Once the matter was resolved and I was allowed to see my horses again there was obvious abuse to my animals. She's is a monstrous woman and I will do everything I can to keep others from making the same mistake I did. DO NOT USE THIS BARN!!!!!