Mega Arte Riding Academy

My wife took me away for a surprise birthday weekend. For one of my gifts she booked an hour of horseback riding. She went based on the recommendation of the front desk at our hotel.
Before we left on the guided trail ride, Meg went over some basics in the arena. The trail ride was fun and I had a wonderful time. I wish I would have gone on a longer ride. I had great experience. Meg was very helpful and professional and will be back the next time I’m in the area.

I started riding here about 9 years ago and have never been to a stable as wonderful as this. The owner is a great friend now and takes great care of the horses she has and loves them very much. I would recommend her to anyone in the area.

We had our daughters 4^th birthday party at Mega Arte and it was a spectacular time for all. The 12 kiddos we invited got a great riding experience. Not just small pony circles, but in a large walking ring, with «obstacles». She even got my daughter to trot!
what we loved most about this place is that it is not your typical hoity-​toity riding academy. The ranch is very down to earth; get yourself dirty kind of feel. You get the feeling of being a real Cowboy/​Cowgirl on a ranch. If you have your heart set on a place with lavish stables and fancy tack, go to Rancho Santa Fe and spend double the amount!
Meg and her staff were incredible with the riding instruction especially with the children that were hesitant to get on a pony. She even let parents walk along side if needed. I grew up riding horses and I could tell the instruction was up to par.
The Petting zoo was such a treat! All the kids loved to feed and pet the wide variety of rescue animals. And despite all the negative reviews, to us the animals appear very well taken care of, and were gentle and appreciative of the hay and carrots we fed them.
Yes Megan doesn’t beat around the bush. She is straight forward & firm when cautioning us about feeding the animals and giving the rules for the petting zoo and pony rides. If you mistake her personality as being mean or yelling, That’s your bad. She was amazing to work with, getting to know her was a privilege.
It’s just great that there’s someone out there to take in animals and rescue them like Meg does. Made us feel like our money was going to a good cause. We plan to start lessons this year for our daughter and hope we continue going to Mega Arte for a very long time!

I helped my aunt throw a birthday party for my ten year old cousin at Mega Arte’s Ranch, and we had a great time! The ranch is huge, there are all kinds of beautiful plants, small furry animals and incredible horses. Megan was a ton of fun and she is an extremely talented rider. We went on a nice long trail ride and my cousin and all of her friends had a great birthday. We will definitely be back!

First let me start off by saying that I am a single parent, Due to 5 surgeries in 2013 I was unable to have a birthday party for my daughter because I was disabled and we did not have much money, so I vowed I would make it extra special for her 7^th birthday. She made it very clear she wanted a cowgirl party, on a Ranch, so I saved every penny I could and started calling around to local places that did Ranch party’s. To my dismay all of my choices were booked 6 months prior,
(highly recommend this place and much cheaper, comes number one rated, but book early) moving on, i came across mega arte riding academy in family magazine, I work in a school so it’s delivered once a month, I went to Meg website and saw that she was in fact 200 $ more expensive than the 15 other places that I had called, but the pictures posted looked like an amazing adventure for my daughter, and I owed her big. I spoke with Meg two months prior to my daughter’s 7^th birthday party, I made it clear what I wanted, and I questioned why her prices were so much higher than anybody else, we talked for about 2 hours and she assured me that she offered waaaay more than any other facility and the children’s lesson’s they were to receive were top of the line, and not just a pony ride, and that the petting zoo would be a great experience and the hour long ranch tour they would get to see all about a real ranch and how it run’s. I was sold hook line and sinker, I made one terrible terrible mistake, I did not go out there and check out the site before hand, I trusted some lady over the phone, and I missed the very important details on the website that say DEPOSIT IS NONREFUNDABLE AND YOU ALSO GET CHARGED A FEE FOR USING A CREDIT CARD WHICH YOU HAVE TO DO TO PAY THE DEPOSIT, WHICH IS OVER HALF OF THE PARTY FEE’S, therefore she makes a substantial amount before you even show up for the party, then it’s all down hill. I have seen the posts regarding someobody taking riding lessons with Meg, and hay, maybe she is great at give one person at one time with nobody else around, one riding lesson, but No offense Helen C, THIS WASN’T A RIDING LESSON, THIS WAS MY LITTLE GIRLS 7TH BIRTHDAY PARTY, that cost me roughly around 550 $ just for the venue, and that does not include party supplies, or food, or even the treats for the so called petting zoo. Moving on, Meg’s website directions are not correct, therefore everybody including the birthday girl was an hour late, second problem, while being lost and trying to locate the site, the neighbors had very unfriendly words to say about this women, finally arriving on the venue I was shocked to see the poor shape it was in, and hoping I was mistaken and it was to be set up elsewhere, that was incorrect, ok, still salvageable, nobody cares about holes in the canopies, broken furniture, mildewed tables and bird poop on everything if the kids have a great time. WRONG AGAIN. Although I spoke with Meg the very night before to assure that everything was A GO for the birthday, upon arrival I was shocked to see her inappropriate dress code, and embarrassed for my daughter and the parents and children arriving that the place was a shamble, still staying strong we decided to just make the most of it, however I had no idea that it could actually get worse. Meg yelled at the children, spoke abruptly and inappropriately about me in front my own child while getting her so called riding lesson, while behaving badly and not paying attention during a lesson while one of the children were on a horse, Meg Brown tripped over a cone, fell down, and was dragged by a horse through the coral. I was just praying we got through the riding lessons safely and all children were unharmed, moving on to the ranch tour and petting zoo, the ranch tour and petting zoo consisted of about a total of 20 minutes, and they did enter a chicken coup type area, and I am aware it does not need a pond, but it does need some kind of water source, and the SPCA i reported her to did agree as well, anyways the children did not, could not, and were not allowed to pet ANY animals whatsoever, which is not what it states on said website, they did get to sit on a wooden bench covered in poop, and hold a small bunny for about 1 minute each child. Also only one parent was allowed per child to walk on the ranch tour petting zoo, so one parent for each child had to sit back at the coral and wait, she did not allow any parents to enter the chicken coup, or the area where the bunnies were, or the coral to take a picture of the children on the horses, as again it shows on her website. I have to conclude because I can only say 5000 words, so trust your judgement, go to the site and form your own opinion, I can only blame myself, as I did not do that, so I asked my daughter, did you have a good party, «well mommy that lady scared me, and she made you cry» that says it all, check it out for yourself.

First of all, I can’t believe the horrible reviews I have read. I started taking lessons with Meg in 2005. I started taking lessons for Dressage on a beautiful Swedish warmblood. After about a year she worked with me so much that I was able to enter the Del Mar Nationals. She really helped jump start my career. I now teach and train in Los Angeles at the second largest riding facility there. Whenever I’m in San Diego I visit Megs barn and see how well she is progressing with her horses. She’s absolutely great with kids and ALL of her animals. I’m really disappointed in these people’s reviews. First of you DO NOT need a pond in a chicken coup, and second of all, all these parents who probably have NO idea about farm animals should not be pushing there kids to pet every single animal at the barn. Since she does RESCUE animals and some are not ready for so much interaction. Overall this place is great for beginners and intermediate riders!

Meg claims that we had 25 kids and teens which is not true. She was assuming that people were children by looking at them and she wanted us to pay for older children whom were not participating in any of the events, they were just there to help with the children and they were over 18. Meg requires that anyone under the age of 21 have a waiver filled out by a parent or guardian when last I check 18 and older you are responsible for yourself. I believe she also was under the impression that I was a teen as well and was included me in that total of 25 kids, but I am over 21 years old. There were only a total of 14 kids participating, which are only 2 kids over what we said because there were unexpected guests. Meg had to of expected that each child would have a parent come along; there was not a huge amount of adults. Regardless the adults being on her property doesn’t affect her working with the children in any way. Many of the people were lost and she started without everybody and was not helpful in assisting people to getting to the destination. She claims that her chickens had water, but they did not at all. I have been to quite a few different farms and I’ve never been to one that smelled as bad as hers did.

I normally don’t write reviews here on Unilocal — only ones I’ve written are when I’ve had very negative experiences in which I’m the first to admit isn’t the the fairest towards businesses — but I felt it due to give the instructor and staff (and the awesome animals!) at Mega Arte Academy a shout out for their professionalism and expertise. My six-​year old daughter has been a regular weekly client for over three years now and I’ve seen her thrive and blossom into a confident rider, with the help of Meg who has been nothing short of nurturing and positive. My daughter also attended one of her camps that was excellent. And we attended a bday party here a few months ago and it went as smooth and as fun as could be. I did a lot of searching before picking this place and the deciding factors were not only Meg herself, who is as gracious and accommodating as can be (and develops a rapport w the kids like I’ve never seen!), but bc of being free to take advantage of the ranch itself — which has so much to offer. My daughter and I always look forward to feeding the horses, bunnies, goats, chickens, pigs… even a llama! Also, the fact that these animals are rescues where Meg and her staff nurse back to health, and then train the horses so that they’re fit to ride… well that was the clincher for me. The prices are reasonable and fair. When I came here to post this, I happened to notice some negative reviews that have me shocked. At the bday party we attended, Meg did review in detail the do’s and don’t’s and rules/​regulations, as I’m sure every ranch director must review with their clients for safety reasons. I would think she would be remiss in not doing so. Perhaps the reviewer who mentioned this grew restless or bored and just wanted to get on with it… not sure how giving a safety lowdown to a bunch of overly excited kids could be viewed as a negative thing! I will continue my daughter’s lessons here and without hesitation recommend this academy to others.

I would give this a zero if possible. Meg is completely unprofessional. She was argumentative with the adults and constantly was talking about the adults while walking the children around. most of the animals couldn’t be pet in the «exotic petting zoo» her ad shows much more than you actually get. Horrible experience and would highly recommend not to have a party here.

OMG this has been one of biggest disaster b day party I have been too. It was a joke. the lady «Meg is absolutely crazy».she was yelling at all the parents… rude to the 7 years Olds. Talking about the b day girls mom in front of the kids on the horses. All of the poor animals looked hungry and the chickens had NO WATER. the place is smelly dirty and everything was old, all the chairs were broken or covered in spider web’s. I am so mad that my daughters first horse ride was there. And it was way over priced for what she had to offer. I would NEVER RECOMMEND THIS PLACE TO ANYONE. .AND I WILL BE TELLING EVERYONE I KNOW NOT TO GO THERE.

When I first visited this place years ago, I instantly loved the fun atmosphere and the assortment of different beautiful animals. I got a feel for Meg, the owner and operator of the barn, and I realized she truly has a passion for all of her animals and appreciation for all of Earth’s creatures. I watched her teach a couple lessons and host some birthday parties. The pony parties are the best and so are the summer camps!
I loved the atmosphere and Meg’s clear motives so I asked Meg if I would be able to board my horse here. We came to an agreement and my pony has been a part of her riding academy for several years now. He is in the best shape of his life and loves his job with the kids. I am unable to ride as much as I’d like due to injuries and he has always been happy when he is most active, so this seemed like a perfect fit. My pony is like a son to me, so I would never have him in a facility that I did not feel would be perfect for him.
I highly recommend Mega Arte Riding Academy, because I trust Meg and the facility with my pony-son’s life. Like I mentioned, the pony parties are a blast and you should look into the summer parties for your young ones. She has years of experience of riding horses and in dressage training/​showing.
If you need a little more encouragement, come say hi and meet some of our fuzzy, feathery, hoofed, snout-​nosed friends!

My girls went with a group and had a great time. I’d give it more stars but when we were lost virtually right around the corner the person answering the phone was incredibly rude and unhelpful. It took neighbors in the area to help us find it. Gave the experience a very «sour» beginning.

Our family took a trail ride at this fantastic riding academy and couldn’t be happier with the experience! Meg Brown, the owner was really helpful and made it fun for everyone. The ranch is so beautiful and peaceful that I didn’t want to leave. She takes care of animals that have no home and I should say they are some lucky animals! Trail ride was great fun, view was beautiful, horses were great, the whole experience was truly amazing. My kids, 17 & 13, cant wait to get back on the horses again and that’s why we are going to take lessons there, all of us! Everybody, who’s looking for a place to ride should stop looking and just go there, loved it, loved it loved it, thanks Meg!

My daughter loves the programs here. Meg is a wonderful instructor, she has taught my daughter how to ride as well as to respect the horses.

We love Meg and my daughter does too! We are so happy we found her. Our daughter is really young and has been riding with Meg every weekend for the past 7 or 8 months now. Meg is such a professional instructor and we feel good knowing that she is giving her this great foundation. The pony that our daughter rides is very gentle– Meg keeps her close, on the lunge line so that she is in control. Our daughter can work on balance, walking, trotting, holding the reigns and turning around cones. They usually finish with a trail ride around the property. Not only does our daughter enjoy her lessons, my husband and I love walking around the property. Its in a beautiful setting and Meg has taken in a variety of once neglected farm animals. We usually bring carrots and we feed the animals after her lesson-​Such a great way to spend a few hours on the weekend. Highly recommend Meg, especially if you have a young child that would benefit from riding. She’s great with kids and extremely qualified and experienced-​something you need if you are going to get your kids into horses.