Fahnestock Ranch

Mike Fahnestock and his staff have been more than helpful in helping me buy my horse. There are many sizes and breeds of horses at his family ranch and he helped me find the horse that is a perfect fit for my riding ability. Most of all he is friendly and honest. I am able to board my horse there and am learning many new horse training techniques. The trail rides are a fun way to get to know my horse Boonie too! Fahnestock Ranch is a great place to buy, board and find a wonderful horse to enjoy life with.

I adopted my BLM Burro from Fahnestock Ranch after Mike broke and trained her. You would never know she was a wild burro less than 30 days ago! He has a great attitude always positive and I love the way he trains. I continue to have him come out and help me improve my riding and handling skills WELL WORTH IT! Just recently Mike brought my burro and one of his ponies to my nieces birthday party it was wonderful! The kids and parents loved it! He was great with the kids and the interns were super sweet. This organization is great and I am very lucky to have found them!

Very disappointed, horrible experience !!, I had an appointment at 10am we arrived at 9:45, no one there to greet us, we began calling, calls were unanswered, honked the horn to try to get someone’s attention, finally at 10: 30 we saw someone they were ignoring us, so we began to call to the people we saw, hello, hello, and began honking the horn again, finally a woman came to the gate, unaware that we had an appointment, we walked up to the barn, the horses were not ready, when they were finally ready the cinch was so loose the saddle slid down a lot, then only gone for 15 minutes into the ride and Mike was way out in front began cantering without checking to see if we were ready and one of our riders horse also began to canter without her asking and she fell off, we had to end our ride, we were not offered any refund at all, they said that they would give us a discount on a return ride. WHAT? Come back?? I would never come back to get mistreated like that. I wish we would have left at 10: 15, before we even got acknowledged.

My happy place! I started volunteering at Fahnestock Ranch about 6 months ago and enjoy every minute there, it’s heaven! The ranch is beautiful, well maintained and surrounded by lots of wonderful trails. Mike (the trainer) is so knowledgeable, patient and kind. He rehabilitates horses using natural horsemanship techniques. I highly recommend Fahnestock Ranch for training, boarding, trail riding, lessons. Excellent ranch to learn everything about horses in a safe and calm environment. I’ve been riding for 20+ years and still learn something new every time.

EXTREMELY UNHAPPY AND DISAPPOINTED! My family and I are experienced riders and we have been looking for a new place to go trail riding near the High Desert. We arrived five minutes early for our appointment, yet we pulled up to a locked gate. We tried to call multiple times so that we could be let in, but no one answered. After thirty minutes of waiting, honking the horn, and trying to get anyone’s attention, we were finally able to flag someone down to let us onto the property. Even though it took thirty minutes for us to be let in, they were still not finished saddling up our horses and so we had to wait longer. No one apologized or acknowledged the fact that we had already been waiting for so long. When we were finally able to mount the horses, my husband’s horse’s saddle nearly fell off as he was trying to get up onto it; it was way too loose! Even when riding he noticed the saddle was STILL much too loose, even though we brought it to the attention of our guide. He did not seemed concerned and instead tried to blame it on my husband’s position in the saddle. My daughter also noticed her saddle was much too big for her frame. When beginning to canter, my daughter’s saddle was so loose that she fell off the horse! This happened about only 30 minutes into our ride. We had to all stop to make sure my daughter was okay, and she was too injured to continue the ride. We decided to head back so that my daughter could get medical attention. However, one of the guides was unsure about how to even get us back to the stable! We eventually walked our horses back to the stable, and by this time, it had only been one hour since our ride began. We paid for a two hour trail ride, so we were hoping to be able to reschedule or at least get some of our money back. THEY DID NOTHING TO ACCOMODATE US. They kept our money for the full two hour ride and said if we wanted to come back and ride a different time that we would have to pay. Overall, the ranch seemed VERY unorganized, unprofessional, and without proper equipment. Save your money and go someplace else!

It’s a horse-​lovers dream! I volunteer at the Ranch several days a week. Here the horses come first surrounded by a great sense of community. The trainer, Mike Fahnestock, uses Natural Horsemanship to communicate with the horses and teaches people to do the same. He’ll even teach ground work — to horses and people! A soft spoken gentle man — the perfect temperament for animals and humans.
Trail riding is like page out of the old west with wide open spaces in the high desert landscape of the Sierra Pelona Mountains, where the three climates (coastal, mountain, desert) of Southern California merge. It’s not unusual to ride past dormant gold mines, see hawks soaring overhead or find a hitching post outside several of the businesses when riding thorough town.
The Ranch is clean and maintained and the animals are well taken care of. A great place to commune with equine.