First I will tell you what gives me the authority to write a review on this, um..., 'facility'. I have rode horses since I was five years old on so many different horses I cannot even count them. Riding everywhere from the mom and pop laid-back Legacy Oaks to the very impressive, show oriented Macintosh Stables in Portola Valley Training Center and back again. So I like to imagine that I know a little bit more than your average 'equestrians' across the street who take their kids to a monthly ride at a place like Calero and calls that riding.
With my authority being est. I will move onto the actual review. My first experience of the horrors of Calero came from a horse that had been BLINDED from Calero's water. The owner of the horse later told that right before she had bought him that she went out to inspect the horse and found the water he was drinking to be tainted with mosquitos and moss and occasionally a dead vermin. I later found this to be true in the pasture troughs as well as the stall ones.
My next experience with Calero was 5 years ago when my family rescued a horse named Cheerio. The vet said that he had received minimal care due to the fact that he was not only 300 pounds underweight, but also had ringworm, rainrot, broken/missing teeth, and poor conformation due to ill-fitting saddles. We later confirmed this when we found that the reason for his diarrhea was because he was allergic to hay, something that even a person with the slightest of horse sense could have figured out if someone spent hours on him. Because of the weight issue we honestly did not expect him to make it a full year, but now 7 years later he is thriving. Showing what proper treatment can do to a horse.
My final experience with Calero confirmed that what I had seen on previous experiences was not unique but also gave me a chance to inspect the footing in the arena used by One Step Closer. In there I was forever removing stones to give the horses a path that would prevent stone bruises.
From my experience with Calero it is obvious that I cannot but help feel joy when I hear that Calero ranch will soon be closing?
Past all this, the trails really are the best I have ever been on.
Pros: Beautiful Trails
Cons: The Facilities
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