Lessons, instruction and schooling — find a yard to learn the ropes or bring a horse on.
Rising Tides Equestrian is a horse training business in the Bay Area of California. It provides training for both horse and rider, with a focus on correct and positive methods. The owner and head trainer, Kyana Sazegari, has taught riding professionally since 2010 and has eventing experience. The business is based on a yard in the Castro Valley area.
Kismet Farms is a full-service equestrian barn. It runs a horseback riding school for beginners to advanced riders, most of whom do not own horses. It also offers a competitive three-day eventing program for horse owners. Lessons and schooling rides are offered as part of its programs.
Horse and Rider Connection is a family-oriented barn based at Franklin Canyon Stables in Martinez, California, operating there since 2005. It offers riding instruction in Western, English and trail riding. The barn also provides horse training, leasing, horsemanship classes and horse camping trips. Horse boarding is available, with horses fed twice daily and stalls and runs cleaned seven days a week.
AF Training and Sales is a horse training business in Shingle Springs, California, run by owner and head trainer Angie Findeisen. The business develops horses and riders through individualized training, including colt starting and hunter/jumper development. It specializes in starting young horses and retraining off-the-track Thoroughbreds. The business also offers riding lessons and sells horses through consignment sales.
Dream Maker Farms is a small private hunter jumper program in Acampo, California. It offers full, half and rehab training for horses, along with individual and group riding lessons for junior and amateur riders. Horses can be leased from the farm, and clients can also be trained on their own horses. The facility has one barn, a mare motel, daily turnout options and two arenas.
Sadie Grove Farm is a farm in Wilton, California, run by a family together with a non-profit. It offers private riding lessons, including grooming and tack-up time, plus group lessons and lead-line lessons for young children. Lessons include ground work and horsemanship instruction alongside riding. The farm also runs camps and lists boarding among its services.
Project R.I.D.E. is a nonprofit providing adaptive recreational horseback riding for people with disabilities and special needs. It offers therapeutic riding, unmounted equine programs and classroom lessons. Its horses help riders improve balance, posture, flexibility and sensory awareness. The organization has offered these programs since 1979 in the Sacramento region.
Ranchotel Horse Center is a full-service equestrian center offering horse boarding, riding lessons and events for riders of all ages and levels. Boarders can choose a package deal that includes all services or individual services tailored to their horse's needs. Horses are housed in one of three barns and have access to indoor and outdoor arenas, a round pen, a trail course area and a wash rack, with turn outs subject to availability. The center also runs a tack store and seeks to host multiple horse shows and events throughout the year.
Steven Stratton Dressage and Eventing is based at La Jolla Equestrian Center in Pleasanton, California. It offers riding lessons for riders of all levels, using techniques based in classical dressage, from first lessons through upper-level competition. Riders can take lessons on their own horse or on the business's lesson horses. Steven Stratton has a background in three-day eventing and dressage, and an assistant instructor helps with the riding program.
Golden Hill Equestrian is a riding school in Walnut Creek, California, serving adults, teens and children. It offers one-hour private and semi-private riding lessons in Dressage or Hunter/Jumper, with schoolmaster horses available for riders who do not have their own. The farm also runs a goal-oriented training program and a Pony Pals program for young children.
Happy Trails Riding Academy is a riding school on a 3-acre ranch in Oakley, California. It offers English and Western riding lessons for riders from age 2 and up, at all levels. Lessons include grooming and tacking up, and specialty lessons in areas such as ranch riding, western pleasure, jumping and dressage. The academy also offers horse sponsorships and leasing, as well as trail rides.
Skye Valley Training is an equine training business in American Canyon, California. It offers instruction in dressage, eventing and hunter jumpers for riders of all levels, from beginners to competitors. The yard also helps clients purchase, lease, ride and compete horses. A limited number of school and lease horses are available.
Valley Brook Equestrian Center is an equestrian facility in Napa, California, focused on English hunter/jumper riding. It offers boarding, training, lessons, showing and horse sales. The facility has a grand prix-sized outdoor arena and a covered arena with footing for hunter/jumper work. The center hosts on-site schooling shows on the first Sunday of each month from April through October.
Black Diamond Equestrian is a full-service competition and sales barn. It offers riding lessons and training for riders from beginners to upper-level competitors. The barn also trains young horses and develops equine athletes up to the upper levels. It buys and sells horses and helps clients find a suitable horse or sell their current one.
First Chance Farm is a private dressage training facility in Wilton, California, run by Heidi Chote. It offers dressage training, clinics, coaching at shows and horse acquisition. Horses can be boarded in full training, which includes under saddle training, lessons and lungeing. Trailer-in lessons are also available.
Wiltown Riders is a non-profit organization that teaches children and youth to ride horses. Its programs combine horse riding lessons with education about Black cowboy history and outdoor learning. Children also learn to care for farm animals such as chickens and goats. The organization is a member of the Northern California Black Horseman's Association.
Fair Oaks Arabians is an Arabian horse breeding business in Lincoln, California. It offers stallion services at stud, along with boarding, training and tune-up for horses. It also provides riding lessons at all levels and helps clients find horses or select mares for breeding. The business was established in 1985 and works with horses in the show ring and on the endurance trail.
Saddle Up Sactown offers horseback riding lessons in Sacramento for all skill levels, from young children to adults. Private lessons are taught on the ranch's own horses, and group lessons are offered in English and Western styles. Western lessons focus on gymkhana and barrel racing, and the ranch runs a summer horse camp for children aged 6 to 14. The ranch also has a barrel racing team and offers boarding for horse owners.
The Pony Express is a community-based equine rescue organization that mentors kids using horses. Since 1982 it has offered pony rides, riding lessons and camps, including programs at Howarth Park. Its life skill and leadership program for youth ages 12 to 18 uses rescued horses as teachers, healers and agents of change. Its horse-assisted work aims to build self-awareness, confidence and leadership skills.
JL Dixon Stable is a horse training and riding business run by owner Jennifer Dixon. It offers riding lessons and customized training for amateur riders of every age and ability, with a focus on American Saddlebreds, Hackney Ponies and Morgan horses. The stable has a covered arena and an outdoor arena, and it prepares horses and riders for competition at local, regional and national shows. The stable does not board horses that are not in training and does not offer horse rentals.
Kristen Aggers Dressage is a Grand Prix dressage business led by competitive rider Kristen Aggers. It offers training, lessons and clinics for horses and riders of all ages and skill levels. Training programs are built around the rider's goals and the horse's abilities, with work from lower to upper dressage levels. The business also sells horses.
Ride Off Ranch is a private boarding and training facility for horses of all levels. It offers boarding in barn stalls with attached paddocks or outdoor paddocks, with access to a round pen and an all-weather arena. Lessons and training are offered, from children's lessons to retirement and rehab cases. The horses are cared for by an on-site owner/trainer and barn staff, and the facility also takes in rescue horses.
Mark West Stables is an equestrian facility in Santa Rosa, California, with a Hunter/Jumper focus. It offers riding lessons for children and adults at every level, from beginner to advanced, in private and group classes. The stable also trains horses and riders and offers summer day camps, horse leases and horse sales. Its school horses and ponies are selected for a range of learning experiences.
Fairwind Farm is an 87-acre equestrian boarding and training facility in Santa Rosa, California. It offers horse boarding and pasture boarding with daily turnouts, along with riding lessons and trail riding. The facility has barns with roomy stalls, indoor and outdoor arenas, and trails. Professional trainers, including a dressage trainer, work at the farm and host clinics and horse shows.
