Briarcliff Farm - Soquel, California

Laura C. M.

This is the most gorgeous, well located facility in mid county. However, if you move your horse there, you have to pay attention to how the owner will put your horse’s health in danger. She is tricky. If she senses you disagree with any of her assessments, then she steals your things. She stole my horse blankets with my horses’ names embroidered on them, then they are suddenly seen being used to cover holes in the roof of a barn or on a shelf in her room of stolen blankets in the southwest barn. She would never admit to these stolen things, in fact she will call the sheriff to report that in fact she was the one being stolen from. The sheriff’s office no longer reacts to her because of how often she has made false accusations.

Things she does to put horses in peril: She will overfeed to the point of founder yet not care when the vet recommends restricting diet, she will leave such fungus/bacteria infested chronically deep mud footing in the stalls throughout winter that a horse will develop white line disease, she will leave horses in stalls with no turnout until they are overweight and weak muscled, preferring to just lay down all day.

She will also change her fee structure if she believes she can get away with it. She changes her agreements with her staff frequently and then they leave frequently. There was some talk of a class action suit against her at one point. She bullies her workers, bullies clients to tears and is a hazard to the health of the horses at her barn. Take a look at the mini ponies out there if they are still alive to measure how she keeps her personal horses. If you desperately need a spot and are willing to take on the stress of her, there is the loveliest access to Soquel creek to explore.

I am a very patient, forgiving community minded person and I lasted two years.

Kevin P.

We highly recommend it. The grounds are meticulously maintained. The horses get turn out and blanketing services. There are beautiful trails to ride on near the Soquel Creek. We highly recommend this place!

Kaitlyn C.

I have been around Briarcliff for over a year now, and my mare is boarded here, and I have no plans to leave. The facility is beautiful and well maintained. The horses are very well taken care of, you will never find an Ill-treated horse on the property. The owner works tirelessly to ensure that the property and horses on it get the best care possible and her rules are fair and in place for the safety of everyone on the property. The other boarders at the barn are great as well. I could go into lengthy discussion about how amazing the facility and the owner are, but I’ll keep it short. If you want a great place to keep your horse where they will be well cared for for as long as you are there, choose Briarcliff.

Kerry V. D. H.

This is a lovely place ,
(A) if all you do is arena riding; and
(B) your horse can eat what the barn feeds; which I thought was
marvelous with 5 meals per day; and
(C) you can do your own medicating.

The property is spotless, fences are maintained, and there are many options for paddock/stall sizes. Grass turnout is available from some paddocks, and blanketing is available.

mary P.

This is a long review, so if you would like to avoid all the detail, here is the punch line: beautiful setting; well-maintained facility; good resident trainers; famously abusive, unpredictable owner who takes your notice to leave as a personal rejection, retaliates by demanding that you vacate her property immediately and threatens to stop feeding your horse if you do not. In two cases I know of, she actually followed through on her threat.

The lengthy version of this synopsis follows:

First, the good news. The setting is bucolic and beautiful, and the facility is well maintained—the owner keeps a constant watchful eye on the entire premises, while chugging around in her golf cart. I’m told she even makes observations of riders and horses from her home via binoculars. As a result she notices anything wrong with a horse (more good news) as well as anything amiss with the facility’s immaculate appearance, including a few stray blades of hay in the wrong place.

Now the downside. When I planned to move my mare to Briarcliff in order to follow Vikki Fehr, my trainer, virtually every friend familiar with the owner’s reputation warned me against it. And, of course, there were the multiple scathing on line reviews. However, with over 30 years’ experience as a mental health professional, manager of several mental illness treatment programs, and 13 years’ experience teaching graduate courses in human communication, I felt confident.

Certain that I would be able to manage dealings with the famously unstable, unpredictable, abusive (name calls and swears at boarders) and divisive (badmouths boarders and trainers) owner, I moved my mare in, and it went tolerably well for two years. During that time, I avoided disagreements, accepted made-up-on-the-spot rules, overlooked attempts to report on other boarders, and tolerated temper tantrums. But I finally drew the line when she second guessed the vet’s specific feeding instructions when my mare developed laminitis. She not only said the vet’s directions were “just something he read in a book”, she also reported the horrible death of another mare with the same problem, and assured me that no matter what I did for treatment, my mare would die anyway.

When I gave 30 days’ notice to move my mare to another facility, the drama, abuse and threats I had been warned about began, presumably to hasten my departure in order to avoid further expense. Because I was afraid for the health of my mare, as soon as arrangements could be finalized, I did in fact relocate her.

Under no circumstances do I recommend boarding at this facility, unless you intend to retire your horse and have no further contact with the owner, or perhaps if you plan to take lessons from either Vikki or Edie, the two excellent on-site trainers.

Jamie K.

I visited Briarcliff and was very impressed. All the horses looked fantastic! Healthy and happy. The facilities were impeccably maintained and the entire place was so clean. I was well received by everyone.

Maupin M.

Spare yourself this unprofessional stable owner.

Enoc M.