SEVEN OAKS in Portola Valley

 

 

 

 

Seven Oaks-PV and Rancho Viejo are about 2 minutes away from the Alpine exit off of the 280 freeway, on the same road as the Portola Valley Training Center, and about 5 minutes away from the southeast corner of the Stanford University campus. This barn is a hour's drive from San Francisco, 30 minutes from San Jose, and under 15 minutes from Woodside, Palo Alto, Los Altos, Menlo Park and Sunnyale. The facility is private, not public, so please don’t just “drop by.” We prefer that you call to arrange an appointment to see the place.

 

FACILITIES

Rancho Viejo is a very friendly, low-key place with excellent amenities for horse and rider. We have several arenas, mostly lighted, as well as a covered arena and a round pen. We feed a 60-40 alfalfa-oat cube twice a day, stalls are cleaned every day, we have automatic waterers, and we bed in shavings. There are a lot of stall-paddock combinations, so feel free to ask about availability. We also have several large & small turnouts that you are welcome to use so long as you remain on the property.

 

TRAINING

Rancho Viejo is a private facility with a few training barns: dressage, hunter-jumpers, general horsemanship and western/rodeo. If you board at Rancho Viejo and you would like lessons, you must train with one of the on-site trainers. The dressage barn, Seven Oaks Farm, has staff on site 7 days a week, and has several well-trained dressage school horses as well as horses in training. If you are interested in dressage, please see the "Programs" page on this website for Seven Oaks information. If you are interested in any of these training programs, feel free to call or email us and we'll get you in touch with the trainer that best suits your needs.

 

RULES

Rancho Viejo has a lot of rules, most of them organized around common-sense & courtesy. There are a few rules, however, that some people find unusual. First of all, there are no outside trainers allowed. If you board at Rancho Viejo, you cannot take lessons from anyone except one of the Rancho Viejo trainers--you cannot even have your best friend or your mother give you a lesson or coach you, paid or unpaid. This rule has to do with insurance & liability. Second, minors may not be unattended--there must be an adult who is responsible for the minor on the property at all times. This adult can be a trainer, if the trainer agrees. Third, dogs must be on a leash at all times, well-behaved, and far away from arenas and horses. Finally, you have to clean up after yourself & your horse: you must sweep up the cross-tie area after every use and you must pick up your horse's manure anywhere in the common areas (cross-ties, parking lot, wash racks), before you go off to ride & before you put your horse away. Again, our rules are designed for the maximum safety and enjoyment of you and your horse and of everyone else and her/his horse.

 

STALL AVAILABILITY

Rancho Viejo usually has a few stalls available. If you are a good match for us, and vice-versa, we can usually get you in right away. If you have more than 2 horses, it may take a little bit longer, but we’ll do our best to work something out.

 

DIRECTIONS BELOW: PLEASE DO NOT COME TO EITHER BARN WITHOUT AN APPOINTMENT. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE PRIVACY OF EVERYONE AT SEVEN OAKS AND AT RANCHO VIEJO.

 

Here are directions to our farm:

HOW TO GET TO SEVEN OAKS IN PORTOLA VALLEY (at Rancho Viejo)

DRIVE VERY SLOWLY ON ANSEL LANE—NO MORE THAN 10 MILES/HOUR !—Ansel Lane is a private road and is the only access to Seven Oaks in Portola Valley.  The owners of the road have the right to deny anyone access for any reason:  drive slowly, be polite to anyone who asks you to stop and to anyone who asks you to slow down or otherwise modify your driving.

From the north:
Take highway 280 south
Exit at Alpine Road (1 exit past Sand Hill)
Turn left off of the off-ramp on to Alpine and go under the freeway overpass
Go straight at the first intersection (stop-signs, no street lights)
Go past the Webb Ranch fruit stand (immediately on your left)
About 100 yards past the fruit stand will be a left-turn lane (no stop-signs or signal lights)
Turn left there on to Ansel Lane
-- directions continue below --

From the south:
Take highway 280 north
Exit at Alpine Road (1 exit past Page Mill)
Turn right off of the off-ramp on to Alpine
Go past the Webb Ranch fruit stand (immediately on your left)
About 100 yards past the fruit stand will be a left-turn lane (no stop-signs or signal lights)
Turn left there on to Ansel Lane
-- directions continue below --

From Palo Alto & Stanford areas:
Take Sand Hill road west until you reach Alpine Road/Santa Cruz Ave/Alameda de las Pulgas (just past the Stanford campus).
Note:  Alpine Road – Santa Cruz Ave – Alameda de las Pulgas  are all THE SAME road.
Go left on Alpine Road / Santa Cruz / Alameda de las Pulgas
Take the first right turn you come to, which will be Ansel Lane (there won’t be any stop-signs or signal lights – if you reach the Webb Ranch fruit stand, you’ve gone too far).
-- directions continue below --

DIRECTIONS (continued) AFTER PASSING THE FRUIT STAND:

NOTE:  If you turn left on to Ansel Lane, the left turn that you make will be almost a U-turn, as Ansel parallels
Alpine  (if you make a 90-degree left turn, you will end up at the back entrance to the Stanford Linear  Accelerator)             

NOTE:  If you turn right on to Ansel Lane, you will then immediately turn left, so that you are going parallel to Alpine Lane.

DRIVE VERY SLOWLY ON ANSEL LANE—NO MORE THAN 10 MILES/HOUR !—Ansel Lane is a private road and is the only access to Seven Oaks in Portola Valley.  The owners of the road have the right to deny anyone access for any reason:  drive slowly, be polite to anyone who asks you to stop and to anyone who asks you to slow down or otherwise modify your driving.

As soon as you are on Ansel Lane, you will see arenas and barns and horses – that is the Portola Valley Training Center.  Don’t go there--stay on Ansel Lane, past all of the barns, the covered arena, the race-track and the line of parked horse-trailers.  You will then go under the freeway overpass.
After that, Ansel Lane jogs right and then jogs left.
After that, you will come to a second set of arenas, barns and horses.  Park anywhere that you see other cars (if you park in the wrong place, someone will let you know) and ask for Pamela, Carrie, Mary, Caitlin or Sonia
IF YOU GET LOST: Ask someone how to get to the Portola Valley Training Center – once there, ask how to get to Rancho Viejo. Also, try calling Pamela’s cell phone:  415-860-2886

 

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