http://www.flickr.com/photos/picturesofsharon/sets/
So far the farms in the Bay Area of California are very different then KY (or MI, WI, MN). There is not much pasture around here. Mostly because of hills and maybe the price of land. Further East you find large pastures but that is an hour drive away.
I’ve concentrated on the area directly to the North and South of SF. North I have to cross over the Golden Gate bridge which costs $5. *Most* farms have access to trails either by the ocean or an open space preserve. I may check out a few farms over in East Bay but I prefer the West because it’s closer to the Ocean and more temperate.
Marin (to the North)
MeadowBrook Farm is very nice with decent size “pasture” paddocks. Indoor/Outdoor arenas. No access to trails and board is fairly price, 600+ is what I heard, haven’t called yet. Would be a good place to start if I can’t find a decent place by trails. 30 min from my house. Lots of kids who show.
Dickson Ranch is a trail riding stable. Looks run down. No pasture only stalls with paddocks/runs. Indoor/Outdoor arenas. Great trail access! Dogs allowed on most trails. $360 includes feed & paddock cleaning. Ruled out due to no pasture. Lots of kids and relaxed people. 30 min from my house.
Creekside Ranch is very nice with paddock size pastures. Other stalls only have “runs”. Some horses only know this kind of life and have a hard time adjusting to “pasture”. Hard to imagine! Indoor/Outdoor arenas. Great trail access! $340 includes feed & paddock cleaning. People seem a lot more uptight from my brief visit… More of an older women show barn… Best Candidate so far in Marin and 30 min from my house.
Half Moon Bay -Peninsula (to the South along the coast)
Moss Beach Ranch looks run down but it was very clean. Seems to have large pastures…I will revisit and walk into the pastures more (up the hill really). Can access trails to open space or beach, bonus. Only outdoor arena. Not sure about dogs on open space. 35 min from house. Only downside, there was an outbreak of EHV-1 (neurogenic form of herpes) at two farms in area. Third farm was under quarantine for precaution and it is right next Moss Beach Ranch. However it looks nice too… Anyway, the outbreak appears to be over and these things happen even to the nicest best kept farms. Moss Beach is a serious contender because it’s pastures seem to be the biggest!
Will visit more “Half Moon Bay” farms soon…
EHV-1 outbreak
http://www.smcmsar.org/ehv1.html
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