Conference noted::equitation

    Hi Mary --
    
    I'm located in Colorado Springs and bought my first horse shortly after
    moving out here 15 months ago.  I'm sure there are other more
    experienced noters from Colo Spgs who can add to what I have to say.
    
    Board prices vary greatly.  I have a friend paying about $170 a month
    for full care with turnout, but no indoor arena.  I pay $200 a month
    and that includes an indoor arena.  Some people around here keep their
    horses in pasture all the time and are able to find a place that will
    do that for $100 to $150 a month.
    
    There are lots of places to ride out here.  If you have a trailer or
    access to one, you can go just about anywhere and ride.  The place I
    board is located NorthEast of Colo Spgs, and has miles and miles of
    trails.  Lots of people board in the Black Forest, which is also
    NorthEast of the Springs, and ride on the trails there.
    
    A big plus out here is the weather.  Since winter started, we've had
    many nice weekends where we were able to go trail riding without having
    to dress in layers and layers of clothing.  Even when it's cold here
    (and that's not as often as back East), the sun warms up things alot
    during the day, so the horses can enjoy sunny days outside.
    
    I hope this helps some.  Let us know if you need more info on anything
    specific.
    
    --Laura

    I relocated to the Seattle area from So. Cal. last March.  I moved
    from San Juan Capistrano which is about 70 miles north of San Diego.
     The board in So. Cal. is pretty expensive depending on the location
    and the quality of the boarding facility.  For a box stall it ranges 
    from a low of $240 to $400.  Less for pipe corrals. It is not a given
    that the facility will have a covered arena, but some of the bigger
    ones do (you don't need one except to get out of sun, or when there
    is a rare rainstorm).  Good trails are rare, because of the rapid
    development going on, the trails are disappearing.  The farther
    from the city centers, the more likely you are to have respectab
    le trails.  Also pasture turnouts are unheard of.  The best I ever
    found was paying extra to have your horse turned out into a arena
    for an hour.
    
    Now Seattle is another story.  I was thrilled to find out that most
    of the stables included "real" pasture turnout with the board. 
    Most of stable also have a covered arena, you really need one because
    of all the rain.  The boards really vary, $150 -$300 for a box stall.
    I pay $240 a month, this includes, 7 days of pasture turnout, daily graining
    and medicating( if needed), and covered arena.  Its a safe, quiet
    and friendly environment.  You can board for a lot less if you keep
    your horse outside.
    
    So. Cal. was so frustrating for me, a financially struggling horse
    women, because I was faced with constantly rising prices and vanishing
    resources (i.e. trails, facilities).  San Diego should be a better
    quality than Orange County, but not for long, it too is experiencing
    fast growth and developer's greed.
    
    So much for my opinion....
    
    Linda Witt
                                  

    Thank you to everybody for your replies.  At this point, if anything
    happens it will be in Seattle!
    
    Mary

    I'll be going to San Diego next Tuesday for some business.  Does anyone
    know of any places to trail ride (Western) that are not too far from
    the Digital office?
    
    Thanks,
    
    Gita

Hi, funny you should ask about San Diego at this time.  My husband and I are 
going to San Diego 8/12 & 8/13, for vacation.  Something we have both always 
wanted to do was ride a horse along the beach.  

Sunday, at B Dalton Bookstore, he noticed a book called Saddleback Vacations 
in California.  I quickly scanned the San Diego area.  It listed two stables.  
I only wrote down one.  Sandi's Rentals.  (619) 424-3124. They charge $15.00 
an hour, with a two hour paid rental, the third hour is free.  I did call and 
speak with them.  Young girls answered the phone, they told me that they will 
send a guide out with you to start.  If you want the guide to stay, maybe 
because you don't want to accidentally end up in Mexico, they will stay.  But 
if you feel OK about the horses and the area, the guide will leave.  The horses 
know the way back to the stables. 

The book said that for quality of horses the other stable was better, but the 
ride to the ocean is 45 minutes and along a winding mountain road. It also 
stated that because you were very close to the Mexico border, the border patrol 
frequently comes flying around the turns on the road in their jeeps.  They said 
the easily frighten by heights people, and people who really want to ride only 
along the ocean, should try Sandi's Rentals, but if the mountain bluffs 
above the ocean are OK then the other stable (the name escapes me) is better.

The directions given in the book are:  Take the Coronado exit from Interstate 5.
Head towards the ocean, Past the Stop sign the road becomes Hollister. 
Go 1 1/2 miles, look for sign on the right.  Sandis Rentals, 2060 Hollister.

We will try to go there on 8/13, (Friday the 13th). Please call me, maybe we
will see you there.

Linda  DTN: 535-4038   Vacation 8/9 - 8/13.

    FWIW (and I'm *not* sure of the exact proximity to the stables), some
    of the beaches near the San Diego/Mexican border are less than
    pleasing.  Tijuana (the town at the Mexican side of the border) has not
    the environmental laws that we in the U.S. do and the TJ (local San
    Diego slang for Tijuana) River empties into the ocean on the U.S. side
    of the border.  I have read (early July, San Diego Union-Tribune) that
    some of the stuff getting dumped into the ocean/onto the shore from TJ
    is pretty gross.  It really messed up the beach something awful.  
    
    I have not seen this personally, nor do I know exactly WHERE the sewage
    and other stuff ends up relative to the stables.  I do know it was near
    the border and most likely, near where the TJ River empties into the
    ocean.  I just put this here and as a possible caveat.  It sounds like
    the stables *may* be near the southern beaches.
    
    (another note:  Although I've visited San Diego quite recently, and
    used to live there for years, I do not live there now--I live in
    CT--and am not able to provide any more follow up on this.  Again, the
    paper I read it in was in early July (between July 2-15) in the San
    Diego Union-Tribune, Local section (the SD U-T is San Diego's
    newspaper.)  

    thanks for the warning.  If these folks care about their horses, I
    would hope that they'd keep them away from an area where they could
    possibly get sick.
    
    An interesting thing happened today when I was talking with the
    customer in San Diego.  I asked if she was familiar with the Coronado
    exit off the highway and she said yes.  Then I said I would like to go
    horseback riding if at all possible.  She told me that her friend's
    daughter works at this stable and she'd call and get more info for me.
    Small world, no?
    
    Gita
    

    Well - I went to ride at Sandi's Rentals.  It was quite an experience.
    
    When I called the woman asked how I ride and I said Western.  She
    wanted to know if I was an aggressive or passive rider and then
    explained that their horses really require someone who is aggressive.
    
    I showed up around 5:40 p.m.  The place was quite large and had a good
    number of horses.  I introduced myself and said I wanted to ride for
    only an hour and would like to have a guide, at least part of the time.
    
    She brought out Midnight, a fairly nice looking mare.  We got
    acquainted and I thought this would be okay.  Of course, the woman is
    now telling me that these horses are not "really neck reined trained"
    and really like to be kicked.  My alarms started going off about then.
    I got on Midnight and tried to get her to walk to the road.  No way! I
    kicked, kicked again, kicked some more...Nothing.   Now - I don't like
    having to really kick a horse to make her/him move.
    
    So - I turned her around and she walked out the other entrance.  My
    guide was the most adorable 9 year old boy named E.J. - He rode
    bareback on a beautiful QH gelding, Taco.
    
    Anyway - we start to head out to the trail and if Taco hadn't been
    behind Midnight, I probably wouldn't have gotten across the street. 
    This mare did NOT want to go.  Anyway - EJ and I finally crossed the
    road and started heading out to the trail.  
    
    Halfway down this load road we passed another ranch - sister to Sandi's
    Rentals.  They advertise 24 hour a day riding....Anyway a girl comes
    trotting over to us and she and EJ are friends.  We continue and then
    the girl turns around and starts to trot away.  
    
    Midnight took that as a signal and took off on me.  I should have
    relaxed and enjoyed the ride, but I couldn't get this horse to slow
    down.  I was sitting way back, pulling on the reins as hard as I could,
    but she didn't slow down until we'd reached the other horse and rider.
    Then I had to yank her head around, EJ flanked her from the back and we
    started off again.   We had a battle of the wills for another 5-10
    minutes until she realized that I wasn't going to let her get her way.
    
    Once we got into the open space she was much more willing to go where
    we wanted.  At that point E.J., who'd been giving me a running
    commentary on the country, Mexico, illegal immigrants, etc asked if he
    could leave.  I asked if he'd minded staying as I was certain that
    Midnight was just waiting for another chance to take off.  He agreed
    and we had a pleasant ride from that point on.
    
    He gave me a tour of the place when we returned and explained in detail
    how they had just gelded two of the horses.  
    
    I guess I have mixed feelings about this place.  I don't really enjoy
    having to fight a horse so much.  Maybe if I were a more experienced
    rider, it would have been different.  
    
    I'm wondering if the other noter and her husband also rode at
    Sandi's...If so - can you post your experiences?
    
    They offered a 3-hour beach ride, but since I had travelled from Boston
    that day, I was afraid that I'd be too tired to last from 6-9 p.m.
    
    Gita

Yes, we did do our ride at Sandie's rentals.  I don't think we will use that 
stables again.  While out on our 3 HOUR ride to the ocean, we met several other 
people who came from other stables.  One stable was only 30 minutes from the 
ocean and the horses looked real nice.  The guide was real nice and helped us 
when we had problems.  Problems, you say??  I rode TACO.  My husband rode a 
horse called LITTLE-BIT.  

We realized we were going to have some fights on our hands right from the 
start.  Little-bit and Taco were not going to go anywhere unless they were 
forced to go.  We did just like Gita did and kicked and kicked and kicked.  
These horses are side-dead and kicking doesn't do a thing for them.  But they 
do follow another horse real well.  Our guide rode a small gray mare, that 
looked about 20 years old.  She was very thin and looked part mule (huge ears).
Our guide kept asking if he could leave.  I kept saying no, we don't know which 
way to go.  The trail went through a running river, a dry river bed, a bamboo 
lined trail, bushes and then open trail and then the beach.  I learned later 
that the guides are paid per trip out. 

We let the guide stay at the border checkpoint while we continued the short 
walk to the beach.   Taco was happy to lead, as long as Little-Bit didn't 
follow real close.  If Little-Bit got to close, Taco stopped, dropped his head 
and waited for Little-Bit to pass and then followed nose to tail.  We followed 
so close, that when Little-Bit had to stop for the potty break, I swear Taco 
got some on his nose.  I couldn't stop, start or steer this horse as long as 
Little-Bit was in front of him.  When we did manage to get the lead, Taco was 
OK.    Anyway, the walk from the checkpoint to the ocean was fun.  The horses 
had to cross a bridge.  No problem the guide said as we were leaving him, the 
horses have been across it several times.  What he didn't know, was that new 
wood had been added to the bridge and it looked different.  Taco was leading, 
and it took about 5 minutes of urging to convince him to cross.  Little-Bit 
followed along.  At the ocean, we had hoped that maybe we could get the horses 
to trot just a little bit.  But they wouldn't have anything to do with that.  
They walked calmly for a while and then decided it was time to head back.  OK, 
fine with us, we turned them around and headed back towards the bridge area but 
still staying in the water.  I guess Little-Bit liked the ocean on his legs.  

We figured that once we were ready to go it would be easy, just turn the horses 
for home and off we would be.  NOOOOOO,  They didn't want to leave the water.  
Little-bit kept backing into the water.  My husband got so frustrated with this 
horse.  They kept turning and bumping into one another.  Neither horse would go 
where we wanted them to go.  Finally he got Little-Bit out of the surf and got 
off.  He led the horse towards the bridge and quickly got on once we felt they 
would head home.  Then came the bridge.  We spent 10 minutes arguing about 
crossing the bridge.  Luckily, some riders from Beach Rentals came by, we let 
them cross and our horses just followed along.  

At the checkpoint, Taco wanted to go with the other horses. We still had a one 
hour ride back to the stables and it was in a different direction.  We waited 
for Jaime to mount his gray mare(his bareback pad cinch had broke-somewhere 
before the checkpoint-another rider with a trailer offered to return the broken 
gear to the stables-but now he had to ride completely bareback).  Because of 
this he wasn't to comfortable and didn't want to trot at all.  Taco was ready 
to go and led most of the way home.  At one point along the bamboo lined trail 
I turned several bends in the rode and got ahead for Jim when I heard loud 
crashing noises, like a horse had gone off the trail and was crashing around 
in the bushes.  My husband was yelling at his horse at the same time.  I guess 
Little-Bit got hungry and decided it was a good place to eat.  When Jim 
wouldn't let him eat, he started backing in the bushes and wouldn't go forward.
I would have loved to see that argument.  Some where along the trail home, 
Little-Bit got the lead and when Taco decided he was in a hurry to get home and 
tried to pass Little-Bit, Little-Bit kicked.  One kick got the bottom of my
boot and the stirrup (all I felt was a tap), the other kick got air.  I was 
luckly, Little-Bit wanted to get home first and made sure Taco was aware of 
that. 

I was surprised at how calm the horses were with the helicopters. I guess the 
border patrol keep a close look-out.  Jaime said at night, they use the spot 
lights and checkout the horses on trail.

Sorry for the lengthy message but all-in-all it was an experience.  I don't 
think we will use this stable again, but would like to try the ocean again.

linda