Sycamore Trails Stables

Sycamore Trails was definitely my home away from home the 2~3 years I rode here.
Large, family-​friendly equestrian boarding facility in San Juan Capistrano, off Junipero Serra Rd right off the 5 freeway. They are located next to Shea Therapeutic Riding School and Rancho Sierra Vista Equestrian Center. This has been the best facility I’ve ever had the privilege of riding at! Might I also add that they are very dog-​friendly? ;) They have definitely set the standard high for stables — I always end up comparing other riding facilities to here, and none have come close! However, I do hear that RSVEC next door is also a nice facility.
Sycamore Trails offers 7 arenas (3 covered), 8 separate barns with box/​pipe stalls, 4 round pens, 3 hot-​walkers, and multiple wash racks & sunning pens. Also, a farrier (or two) are on-​site most days as well. Their arenas are spacious and have good footing & lighting (for riding in the dark). They also have friendly, helpful, stable grooms, an area for storing trailers, easy access to the SJC trails, and occasionally host shows (mainly hunter/​jumper) on the weekends. Their front office sells small tack, supplies, and snacks, and the gentlemen there have always been nothing but friendly.
This stable caters to riders and trainers of all ages and disciplines. They have lots of young, little riders, and it’s an excellent place to start or continue your riding career. Everyone is friendly & welcoming, and the barns are pretty gossip/​drama-​free ;)
I absolutely LOVED riding here & would recommend this facility to all!

I have been taking riding classes at Sycamore stables (from 2 different instructures) for more than 2 years now… I am super happy with the stables themselves… The location is right off the 5 highway. The stables are clean and well maintained.
I am sure that they charge the horse owners alot of money to upkeep with the maintenance but as a rider I think it is worth it.:-)
The only thing that I don’t appreciate as a rider is that sometimes there are huge trucks that bring food and such to the stables and some of the horses get scared and agitated… So they react to the noise of the trucks and that can be scary…
I have no idea how the stable managers can go around it so the big trucks don’t come too close of the horses… But besides that I think this place is just awesome!

My daughters have trained here for years and years. Lovely facility. Wonderful trainers. Very well maintained arenas. Miles and miles of beautiful and easily accessible trails.
All of which I highly recommend.
Didn’t give them a 5 because there are smokers on site. Simply my opinion that smoking and stables don’t go together. Also, bunkhouse and area around bunkhouse is pretty bad. Bunkhouse has some pretty funky wiring, too:(
Would I go anywhere else? Absolutely not.

A really nice place to board your horse. The riding rings are numerous and well-​maintained. Lots of great trainers if you ride English. Great area for trail riding, miles and miles of trails!
Great trainers there if you ride English. I highly recommend Cherylin Von Aldenbruck.

I board my horse here and highly recommend it. They provide ample shavings and have been very accommodating when my horse needed his hay intake increased. I have boarded at other facilities in the past and this one surpasses them all in quality of care.

A decent facility marred by very poor management. Dave is not particularly helpful or responsive to the needs of boarders. There is a reason there are so many empty stalls… This is sad because the owner, Mr. Hansen is a very nice man who does care about the business. After a year of substandard service, we moved our horse to another facility.

My family and I have had horses at Sycamore for over 15 years. I am pretty sure as long as we own horses and live in OC, we will be at Sycamore. Sycamore has definitely become our home away from home.
The facilities are very well maintained and there are plenty of arenas. They keep the grounds very clean and the arena footing great. 3 arenas are covered for those rare rainy Southern California days but they definitely come in handy. All arenas have lights so you can ride at any hour. Sycamore is open ²⁴⁄₇ which I love. I work late hours sometimes so I don’t have to worry about not getting down to the barn to get out my horse in enough time. I also prefer being there in the evening as there are less people and it’s a lot quieter. Sycamore can be pretty crowded on week days after the time kids get out of school until 6pm and Saturday/​Sunday mornings and afternoons. It’s when all the kids are taking their lessons. It’s like riding your horse in the rush hour traffic.
All the guys that work at the barn are wonderful and very friendly. Metche and Roberto are my favorites. I have known them for years and know I can ask them to help me with anything. I’ve gone running for them some nights when I see a horse who has cast or a water pipe that broke in a stall and they have always been happy to help. Sycamore has also been really fast on any special requests you may need made to your stall like mats put in or wire, etc. Never any complaints!
They hold hunter/​jumper and dressage shows on a regular basis and there are lots of trails to ride on if you want to get away from the barn setting with your horse.

My second home! The facilities are well maintained, and all the guys that work for the barn are nice and friendly. Stalls are bedded deep, as they should be, and feed is ample but they don’t serve timothy, which my boy needs :(. The most crowded time to ride is Saturday between 9 and 1, so avoid the barn during that time unless you’re simply there to socialize.

I used to ride my horse here and go up into the hills. this is a great place if you have a horse.

The nicest family owns this facility. Nestled along San Juan Creek, near the Mission (you can hear the bells chime every 15 minutes from the Mission church while you ride) and surrounded by 100 year old Oaks and Sycamores, this place is my idea of heaven. Children are welcome and so are your dogs. The arenas are well groomed and covered for winter riding or summer heat. The trails are wonderful. Ride ‘up the hill’ for a spectacular ocean/​valley veiw. Horse shows come to you and the place is just classy. Damn I miss my horse.