Just 40 minutes North of San Francisco, in the city of Petaluma, we have built an equestrian training facility, specifically designed for the optimum training and health of our horses.
We have over 2 miles of trails on our property, designed to have various levels of uphill and downhill slopes so that our horses are not always conditioning and training only in the ring. This gives them variety, and is less stressful on their joints and keeps them happier. Each trail sits on a DG base with edging and local silica sand footing specially mixed with geotextile material imported from Germany. We groom the trail regularly.
We have built a grass derby field on our property that occupies about 2 acres. This field has a bank, a Grob, a ditch and table top. This allows us to school before we compete at shows that are held on grass and have natural obstacles.
Each of our stalls has an automatic fly spray system, automatic waterer with flow meter so we can monitor gallon intake, fan, and mister system for hot weather. Our shavings are completely dust free to protect respiratory health.
Our horses are handled 3-5 times per day, every day, by a resident staff of 3 who are with the horses at home and at shows. The horses are groomed, walked, saddled, ridden, put in the walker and paddocks so they are always active. When competing at the highest level we consider the horse’s well-being to be the most important component to success.
We have modified our European style walker so our horses walk on an 80 foot circle instead of a 60 foot circle. walking in a larger circle makes them less stressed and works the entire length of their body. The walker has a special DG base and contains specially imported footing from Germany so that the horses are comfortable while the use it. The horses walk 2 hours per day to keep them in optimum condition.
We have 3 acres of green pastures, which are specially engineered and created to be green all year so that our horses can rest and relax in between hard workouts and shows. Horses react best when they can relax outside, and put their heads down and graze.
Our home arena is international in size at 320 feet by 220 feet. The footing contains specially imported fabric from Germany and the sand is 99% silica to ensure that there is no further breakdown of the silica which causes dust that is potentially dangerous to horses and humans. Our arena is watered twice per day and is dragged after every 3 horses, whether they jump or not. All our jumps are imported from Europe and have the same quality and variation of jumps being used at top shows worldwide.