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Publication Date: Friday, February 28, 2003

Horse Heaven

When Linda Nehse discovered Rancho El Charro in 1998, she and her friend Jean Lilienthal hoped to lease about 10 acres of the expansive horse ranch on El Charro Road. The two women were looking for a place to keep their horses with quality care and to provide board for some others; they were picturing a small-scale operation and an easy business to maintain.

The pastoral setting was ideal, with plenty of space to graze and paths to ride. It had a peaceful, relaxed rural feel despite the Interstate 580 traffic visible in the distance to the north and gravel operations to the south.

So they were stunned when owner Doug Jamieson, who had been losing money on the ranch for some years and was considering shutting it down, said he wanted to lease the entire 128 acres.

Historically Rancho El Charro, as it was called, was primarily a thoroughbred breeding facility. It also boarded horses that were recovering from injuries, resting between races or shows, or retired.

"That was so much more than what we thought we would be able to handle," recalls Lilienthal. "It's a big operation." But the two decided to take it on, and they set about learning the ropes of managing a large ranch.

Four-and-a-half years later, Air Dance Farm, as they renamed the ranch, has won high praise as a quality place to board horses, and their enthusiasm for the work hasn't waned.

"It's an amazing business to run," says Lilienthal, laughing with delight. "Obviously we both love horses and so that makes being here a wonderful experience, no matter what."

"We say it's a labor of love, not of finances!" Nehse adds.

Since taking over, Lilienthal and Nehse have added improvements consistent with its new equestrian riding focus - three new arenas, including one indoors and another geared to hunter/jumper riding, wash racks, additional lighting, a pole barn and another round pen - as well as doing basic upkeep to the old facility. They also pay special attention to keeping the arena "footing," a special soft turf that protects horses' legs from injury, in excellent condition.

"I really love it out there," says Martha Gregory, an accomplished trainer, who has worked at Air Dance for nearly two years, commuting from her San Jose home. "Everything that a horse person could need is there." Gregory has been training horses and their riders in dressage, a style sometimes described as ballet on horseback, for 17 years. She has also earned United States Dressage Federation silver and bronze medals.

"The management is 'horse people,'" she explains. "At so many of the places, they don't actively ride, and so are not as receptive to the needs of horse people."

"Air Dance may not look as fancy, but the horses are really well cared for," she continues. "They're fat and sleek and sassy."

Moreover, in this era of sky-high Bay Area land prices, the amount of open space and pastureland at Air Dance is unusual. Rarer still, the pastures are irrigated - providing green grass for grazing year-round and making the place a veritable "horse heaven," as Gregory puts it.

Hunter/jumper style trainer Colin Daly says all the space makes it easier to work.

"At smaller facilities, you feel very restricted and it affects the way you ride," he says. "Because we have so much space it gives us an opportunity to relax and get into working with the horse."

Another plus of the facility is the presence of ranch foreman Jesse Grajeda, who has worked at the ranch since 1961 and now lives there with his family. A quiet, patient and unassuming man, Grajeda has a special knack with horses, and owners will often come to him when their steeds balk at getting into a horse trailer or get spooked.

"He's the closest thing we've ever come across to a 'horse whisperer,'" says Nehse. "He can take the most excited horse and calm him down. He amazes me."

"One vet told us that if he got a phone call in the middle of the night and it was something Jesse couldn't handle, he had better get his fanny over here because it was a real emergency," she adds.

When asked what aspects of working with horses he likes best, Grajeda seems stumped. Finally, he smiles and says, "I guess I like everything about horses."

Helping mares give birth, called "foaling out," is part of Grajeda's job description and he's a practiced hand at it. Gregory recalls the birth of a new foal earlier this month and Grajeda's uncanny ability to predict the precise time of delivery eight hours prior to the event.

Jamieson comments that Grajeda seems to always be able to tell when horses can get along and which ones he could put in a pasture together.

"It was almost a scary sixth sense," he says. "He'd just meet them and he'd know."

With his long tenure at the ranch, Grajeda also knows where all the bones are buried - literally. Three famous stud horses, Khorassan II, Marco Polo II and Power Ruler, all lie underground on the site. They were among the many prized horses of Jamieson's grandfather, George Jamieson, who built the ranch after World War II to breed horses, and ran it until his death in 1971 at age 89. His son, George William (Bill) Jamieson operated the ranch until he retired in 1992 when Doug Jamieson took it over.

The elder Jamieson began his business career hauling sacks of coal for the Hall Warehouse Co. in Pleasanton and developed the area's gravel operations starting in the 1920s. He was a man of many interests, but perhaps his greatest passion was for horses.

"It was his life," said his grandson. "He'd spend a lot of time and a lot of money on it."

At its height, Jamieson said, the ranch had close to 300 horses. Grajeda recalls that "old Mr. Jamieson" would travel to Australia every year or so during the 1960s to purchase new stallions for his stud farm. In 1978, Thoroughbred Magazine described the ranch as "one of the foremost thoroughbred stud farms in Northern California."

Among the most prized stallions there, the aforementioned Marco Polo II commanded a stud fee of $1,000 in 1963, according to a 1964 article in "The Times," and Khorasson II a whopping $5,000. Both were sires of champions. Khorassan II was bred by His Highness the Aga Khan and Prince Aly Khan and, before Jamieson purchased him, was the leading stallion in New Zealand and Australia. Jamieson also raced many of his horses at the Alameda County Fairground track.

Grajeda says that Jamieson sold many of his horses in 1965 and began focussing more on boarding, although breeding remained part of the picture.

Today, the ranch is no longer centered on thoroughbreds. The many types of horses who now live there include thoroughbreds, quarter horses, Andalusians, Arabians, warmbloods, Friesians, Morgans, draft horses and even a miniature horse and miniature donkey, the latter two both owned by Lilienthal.

Air Dance also welcomes all styles of riding.

Christine Kaehuaea, who has boarded Gable, her 10-year-old sorrel Appendix (half thoroughbred, half quarter horse), at Air Dance for a year and a half, says she likes the openness of the place and the people who run it.

"It's a great facility to learn about horsemanship," she says, "and Gable just loves it here."

A novice at riding, Kaehuaea bought Gable, her first horse, three years ago. Before coming to Air Dance Farm, she boarded him at a couple of stables in Castro Valley. While checking out various facilities, she was surprised to discover that some places only accepted riders showing or in training in a particular style, especially the popular dressage. Although leaning toward Western herself, she is not yet ready to commit to any particular riding style.

Lilienthal and Nehse adopt a different attitude.

"We wanted a place where people could come and enjoy their horses and it didn't matter what style they rode," says Nehse. "To us it's as important for the child who learns to canter for the first time on a horse as it is for the person who rides their first Grand Prix test." Consequently owners who board at Air Dance engage in Western, dressage, hunter/jumper, trail and recreational riding.

Air Dance also has three well-recognized trainers at the facility full time. Elizabeth Britton-Hendrix, like Gregory, teaches dressage. At 29, she remains the youngest instructor certified by the United States Dressage Federation for the fourth and highest level in the sport.

"It was training developed for war horses to make them more nimble and aware of their riders before they went into battle," Britton-Hendrix explains. "Now it's more of a sport and an art, and it's also used to improve jumping and responsiveness to the rider."

Daly, the third full-time trainer, has a background in equitation, but now teaches hunter/jumpers and has some assistants that work with him. Daly is also working with the James Brady Therapeutic Riding Program in San Francisco, a nonprofit organization that helps handicapped children, on a series of five fund-raising horse shows this year to be held in Golden Gate Park and at Air Dance.

In addition, other trainers work part-time and still others come to Air Dance to lead one-day clinics for interested horse boarders. Additional services at the facility include shoeing, veterinary and dental care, and even horse chiropractic and massage therapy.

Nehse says their horses are treated more like pampered pets than work animals, but that she and Lilienthal still try to keep boarding fees "moderately affordable." Costs range from $300-$450 a month; the lowest rate is for pasture board, with a shelter to get out of the rain and wind, and the most expensive is for the larger-sized stalls in the so-called "stud barns." The regular stalls run $415 with paddocks, and $390 without them. Other costs, such as shoeing, dental and veterinary care are additional.

Daly estimates that having a horse boarded in the Bay Area and under full training costs owners roughly an average of $1,000 altogether, although there's a lot of variation. The full-time trainers at Air Dance charge between $450 and $600 a month for 16-18 lessons, typically for riders with new horses or preparing for a show. Of course, many riders train less often - once or twice a week at rates up to $60 a lesson.

Over the years, some East Bay ranches have closed or shrunk in size under the pressures of development, although many still remain. For Air Dance Farm, gravel, not housing, will affect its future.

Perhaps it was a desire to keep the ranch indefinitely that led George Jamieson to always insist that no gravel lay underneath it so there was no reason for the gravel operations to expand in that direction. But three years ago Doug Jamieson decided to drill and see.

"I discovered that it has the best gravel in our mines," Jamieson said. "It goes deeper and has a better sand-to-clay ratio." When mining does begin, the ranch will shrink dramatically in size, although Jamieson says he hopes to keep leasing the ranch to Air Dance "as long as we can."

"We'll dig that last," Jamieson said. "We probably won't go over there for 20 years."

Until that day comes, horses and their owners can enjoy the wide-open spaces and drink in the bucolic atmosphere at Air Dance Farm.

Other boarding facilities

Yarra Yarra Ranch, on Tassajara Road near Dublin may be the closest. It specializes in dressage, but does welcome riders of other styles as well. With 56 acres, it has recently been entirely rebuilt, and its many amenities cater to high-end boarders. Not far from it is LaJolla Equestrian Center, also on Tassajara Road, which is strictly dressage. Previously devoted to horse breeding, the 13-acre facility began boarding horses in 2000. Both stables declined to state boarding fees.

Slabaugh Rosa Farms, on Collier Canyon Road past Las Positas College in Livermore, offers a horse "cross country open area," something like a track or trail with 10 natural jumping features on its 100-acre ranch, as well as a "senior center" pasture for retired horses. Monthly boarding fees at the facility range from $200 for pasture (with shelter) to $425 for stall with paddocks.

For a complete listing of East Bay boarding facilities visit the Bay Area Equestrian Network at www.bayequest.com. -Stephanie Ericson

On the trail

Eventually a long distance trail, the Calaveras Ridge Trail, will connect Sunol northward to Trampas Regional Wilderness and then on to Briones Regional Park, said Jamie Perkins, EBRPD Resource Analyst. The agency's 1997 master plan also calls for extending the Iron Horse Trail from Shadow Cliffs Recreation Area to Del Valle Regional Park, which is already connected to Sunol/Ohlone by trail.

Within the city limits, equestrian trail options will increase in coming years. When the Happy Valley golf course opens, anticipated for the summer of 2004, it will be surrounded by an equestrian and hiking trail. As residential development in that area's hills proceeds, more trails will be added in the open space areas.

The Vineyard Corridor area is also slated for multi-use trails as is the Bernal property. Further down the road, trails along the Arroyo Mocho will likely be extended by the cities of Pleasanton and Livermore, to serve as a connector between EBRPD trails. Since it crosses El Charro Road, this would allow boarders at Air Dance to set directly from the property, without having to transport their horses by trailer. The El Charro area will likely be annexed by the city of Pleasanton in the future. However, there are no immediate plans by the city to develop the necessary undercrossing at El Charro Road and a north-south bridge.

"Right now it would be a dead end and won't get you anywhere, so there are no plans to do anything until something else happens in that area," said Parks and Community Services Director Jim Wolfe. -Stephanie Ericson