Boarding at Allison Acres

Welcome to Allison Acres ~ Galt, CA ~ (209) 748-2658

Horse Boarding at Allison Acres

Galt is in the Central Valley, north of Lodi and south of Sacramento. We are located about 4 miles off highway 99. We are about 30 minutes from downtown Sacramento. We are a friendly, family-oriented place, but we also don't mind just leaving you alone so you can ride! The horses here are very well cared for. We also live here, so somebody will always be around in case anything needs attention.

The barn manager and owner, Cindi Long, is ARIA certified in stable management. Click here to see the certificate.

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Horse Related Links

Allison Acres
13512 Alta Mesa Rd.
Galt, CA 95632
Yahoo Map

Pay for anything here(horses for sale, boarding, lessons, whatever!) using
a credit card thru Pay Pal!

Boarders: want to bring a friend to ride your horse? Print and have them fill out and sign this release of liability form. Thanks!

Facilities/Services included:

feed three times per day, whatever mix of Stable Mix, alfalfa hay, grass hay and oat hay is appropriate for the horse or group
supplement feeding for individually boarded horses: you provide, we feed
late night check
80' x 120' covered, lighted arena
120' round arena
60' round pen
indoor wash rack
tack rooms/sheds
pasture to ride in
1000' dirt/gravel path for riding
trail obstacles
owners live on site!
fly spray system in barn

Boarding types and costs:

Individual board:

Stall: $350 per month, includes limited turn out

Stall with paddock: $350 per month

Outside pens, 12 x 24: $260 per month

Group board:

Outside group board: $250 per month. Group horses are not allowed to have hind shoes.

Additional services (for a fee):

hold for vet/farrier
deworm
vaccinate
groundwork program (see below)
exercise program (see below)
hauling to events: cattle sorting, barrel racing, trail rides
lessons

Click here for frequently asked questions

We offer a "maintenance of groundwork" program for boarded horses. We will maintain the groundwork your horse currently has and expand on it as appropriate. We use mainly resistance-free and Parelli-type methods with the basic philosophy being that a properly prepared horse can go through the entire training process without getting overly upset and without having to resort to resistance behaviors. This program will include things such as:

standing patiently tied
grooming
yielding in all directions while in hand
lunging
round penning
saddling
bridling
giving to pressure

For this program your horse must come to us catchable and relatively gentle about being handled. This program will consist of 45 to 60 minutes five days per week (we end at a good point, not by the clock!) and costs an extra $250 per month. It includes enough exercise for the horse in the form of in-hand work, lunging, round penning, liberty work or turn out that if he's not getting ridden you won't have to worry that he's not getting enough movement.

We can also take more difficult cases in which the horse is hard to catch and hasn't been handled much and doesn't have much trust. The cost for this type of horse will be $300 per month in addition to board.

Exercise riding:

We now offer exercise riding for your at least green broke horse for $15 per ride, with a minimum of two rides per week. These rides are done by good, experienced teenage and young adult riders.

Here are some pictures of our facility.

Outdoor roads:

Here is inside the covered arena:

Here is the 120' round arena:

Some pasture:

Yes, it does get very muddy in the winter. Most of our horses have ever had a problem due to the mud or wet conditions, but there have been a couple cases of rain rot and mud fever. Stalls are an option for winter - first come, first served.

Here are Allison and two of our boarders on an outing to Lake Camanche:

Frequently asked questions:

1. Can I bring on an outside trainer to work my horse or give me a lesson?

Of course! Your trainer can't come here and use this facility to give lessons to his clients who don't board here, but as my boarder, you are entitled to use your time with your horse as you see fit. I suppose there might be a rare case of a trainer who I think is really abusive where I might have to, I don't know, ban her from my place... But I can't imagine that actually happening.

2. Can I ride in the arena during lessons?

Of course! The more the merrier! Please don't ever feel like you need to move or go home or wait or anything like that, when lessons are going on. Feel free to ride with us, even copy what we are doing if you want!

3. Can I park my trailer on your site?

Yes, for $30 per month we have space for a couple more trailers.

4. Can I bring my kids when I come to ride?

Please do! If they are capable of keeping themselves pretty safe while you do your thing, then bring them along if you want. My son would love some kids to play with. We have ride-on toys and bikes and a swing set and a basketball hoop usually a pea gravel pile with trucks. Please understand however that their safety is your responsibility. You need to decide if this environment is a place where they can be safe. You know how some kids would wind up underneath the hind feet of the craziest horse here? That might not be the kid to bring... :-) In addition to the normal ranch type dangers, there are also quite a few wasps around in the spring and summer. I never get stung and my kids have only been stung once in our 8 years of being here, but some lesson kid's younger siblings have been stung, usually by reaching out and touching a wasp nest without knowing what it is. They don't tend to aggressively attack people... It is just something to be aware of. Also don't forget about mosquitoes and your kids (and yourself, and your horse!) And sunburn! You might be able to arrange babysitting on-site with my working student or my daughter or even me, depending on my schedule. Let's talk about your needs!

5. Do I have to use a certain farrier or vet?

Of course not! Use whomever you wish. For emergencies I often find that the vet I use (Bradshaw Vet in Elk Grove) is able to get out here the quickest, and we often share ranch calls with boarders when we have routine things to get done, so we don't have to pay so high a ranch call fee. But it's your decision.

6. What if my horse needs to get hauled to UC Davis in an emergency?

I try to be as available as I can be to haul a horse to UC Davis for emergencies. In the event I can't do it myself, there are two other drivers here capable of hauling to Davis for you. Once should only drive and not touch your horse! One can drive and handle horses. Of course this service involves a fee to cover gas and my time (that's the biggie, because often when one arrives at UC Davis, one sticks around for quite some time while the Powers That Be decide what to do about the horse. And these things always seem to happen in the middle of the night.) But if you don't have your own truck and trailer, you can rest assured that we'll do all we can do to get your horse the care you want him to have.

7. Can I bring my dog?

Please don't. My dogs will bark, my cats will be afraid, and I have a lot of lesson kids here whose safety is my responsibility, and it's impossible for me to guarantee their safety around somebody else's dog. Thank you.

8. What do you do to minimize the risk of colic?

Colic is one of the main killers of horses. Except in cases of horses who have some underlying problem that predisposes them to colic, colic is almost always a management issue. Main causes are changing feed too rapidly, being put on grass without a breaking-in period, not drinking enough water, and accumulations of sand in the gut. To try to minimize risk, I am very careful about the diet of new horses. I also don't just suddenly put a horse on grass. I try to monitor their water intake as much as possible (easier on individually boarded horses) and when there is a change of temperature, typically a colder day after some warmer days, I encourage them to drink more by adding salt to their feed. I also offer a sand-clear program whereby a sand-clear product is given at least a couple times per year, up to one week out of every month (for an additional fee.) I also know all the early warning signs of colic so I can alert you as soon as possible. I have "living wills" for my boarded horses, in which you let me know what sort of care you'd want in the event of a colic: medical management on farm only; medical management at UC Davis if indicated; surgery if it's one of the easier colics to resolve surgically; surgery no matter what; treatment based on a budget amount; when to euthanize. In this way I can help you get what you want for your horse, especially if I can't get a hold of you as it's happening.