Bright Valley Farms

If I owned a horse it would absolutely be kept here if I didn’t have the acreage! Each little sweetheart has a 24×24 corral and the owners have their own shed to store all their supplies, feed, treats, grooming supplies.
I went to visit a friend and me her horse and had a blast! She taught me so much about caring for the horse as well as all the surrounding horses! For instance, did I you know that you should not touch one horse to the next? Just like kids, one could have an eye infection that’s being treated and you could spread it! Did you also know that all horses can’t eat the same things?! Just like you and me somethings don’t agree with them! Sadly on their end it could lead to a vet visit cleaning them out! All good to know facts and every one in the area is more than happy to guide you!
Pretty sure that if I owned a horse here, I’d be welcomed into a family of horse/​animal lovers! All the individual owners I met were absolutely delightful!
Already looking forward to going back to visit my friends horse tomorrow and hopefully renting other horses for a trail ride!
Gorgeous location and very well kept by both staff and owners!

We had a wonderful time. Everyone was lovely, the horses were sweet and mellow, and the trail was beautiful.

Love! The customer service is great! The horses are great! And the trail rides make you feel like your not even in San Diego anymore! They also offer horseback riding lessons and summer camps! Nice ranch and not too far from the main part of San Diego.

I board my horse at Bright Valley Farms and couldn’t be happier! We’ve been at the ranch for seven years and our horses get the best care. Our stalls are clean and the owner and managers make that a top priority.
I also have had many friends come out and rent horses and all with great experiences with riders of all levels. Our rental horses are loved and well cared for and we have miles and miles of the most beautiful trails!

I had made reservations and the owner cancelled without notifying me. It was sprinkling that day so I guess it made sense but what irritated me was that he didn’t bother to give me a call the only reason I found out was because I called to confirm my reservation. Anyways, I decided to give it another try and had a good time. The guide was extremely friendly and the horses were well behaved for first timers. Prices are reasonable and the trail was okay. I think I would go again.

Went here for my niece’s 10^th birthday this past weekend. We had 6 riding and 1 pony rider. We didn’t pay extra for the helmet but I guess because we had a big enough party not to be charged or we reserved ahead. We were actually out on the trail ride for more than an hour. $ 40 an hr seems pretty affordable! Everyone enjoyed it. Our guide’s horse was being stubborn at times & did not want to listen. Lol. Towards the end my niece fell off her horse due to her saddle not being strapped up correctly. It was not a big fall, our guide was very caring and walked with her & her horse back to the stable. I rode Peaches, who I enjoyed very much. Also, Daisy, Julie, Pete, Van Gogh?, & Snowball came along? Kimmy, I believe was the young guide who was also helping out was very sweet & a pleasure to speak with on our ride. Thank You !

I was looking for an end of summer experience to share with my buddies and how great is it to ride horses? Bright Valley Farms was close so we made reservations and went mid-​week. Our horses were already saddled and waiting for us, our guide told us about the quirks of each horse and helped us get mounted up. The ride was very fun, we rode along a river bottom and next to a golf course. Lisa, our guide, gave us choices occasionally about which way we wanted to go — up the hill or along the flat trail, for instance. She was very patient with our lack of experience, giving us suggestions to help us ride better, loosen the reins for instance. Lisa was generous with our time, we were allowed to trot and lope for a short distance. The horses were great, willing to have fun along with us — not lazy, stubborn, or barn sour.
A very fun experience and I’ll be going back to Bright Valley Farms.

This is a great city close ranch. My friends and I went for a trail ride with a guide this week. Lisa is a wonderful woman who was our guide. I believe she loves her job. It feels that way. She is the kind of gal that I felt I had met before or known from somewhere. I guess that means she is comfortable and calm. The horses were gentle and friendly and knew the ropes. They appear to be well cared for here.
They have an open space reserve around the ranch that allows you to ride while feeling like you are hundreds of miles away in a beautiful place.
Thank you Lisa and Bright Valley for a great ride.

I’ve been wanting to go horseback riding with my fiancé for a long time now and I stumbled upon their ad in The Reader. I shopped around looking up places on google and Bright Valley Farms had the best price and they offer military discount.
I took one star away from the review because the address is totally wrong on this Unilocal and on their website! YIKES! Make sure you write down the directions when you’re talking to them on the phone! We accidentally drove to an apartment complex. Got back on the 94 East. (Please fix your website) to: 12 469 Campo Rd
El Cajon, CA 92 019
They’re located Parallel next to the Edwards Cinema theater on Campo Rd. :)
I wish there was better signage but you’ll figure out to park at the entrance and walk all the way to the office. It looks very «Sanford & Son» and «Western» with all due respects, a cool place!
I recommend you wear jeans, bring sun glasses, and a hat! You’ll get a lot of smokey dirt kicked up and all over you.
If you LOVE horses, you’ll be in heaven. There’s some beautiful and sweet horses there! I hope you get to meet «Apache» he’s the most sweetest horse I’ve ever met! Almost like a puppy that needs his tummy rubbed! ;) They all have their own personalities.
The price was the best in town. $ 40 each for a 1 hour ride around a beautiful trail. Unlike most horseback ranches you’re allowed do a little galloping here!
I rode Chief. He wanted to gallop! He freaked me out when I first sat down on him!!! He galloped trying to go back in the pen. Geez! Chief is very fast paced and wanted to get out of the single file line we rode in. He walked with his tongue hanging out the whole ride. Poor sweetie. He walked straight to the «water troff» and got a huge drink of water when we came back. I felt so bad for him. I’m a little concerned how gross all the water looked in the buckets. Everything looked green and gross!
My Fiancé rode «Leggs» a draft horse that was the slow poke on the trail. It was my Fiancé’s first time riding. He felt scared but realized his horse was sweet and gentle as can be.
Overall, there were 2 guides that rode on the trail. One in the front, one in the back. They were very pleasant and professional.
The ride was a lot of fun and I really wish I could have done more galloping.
I highly recommend Bright Valley farms for a fun time!
*Bonus– A quick video of my ride:

Good experience in general. The guide was nice & friendly although he stated he wasn’t the typical person who does this. Great availability to ride. Average trail. Not very organized but they saved us in a pinch when Hidden Haven wasn’t able to fulfill our reservation due to their guide being on vacation.

I took my husband to Bright Valley Farms for his birthday two weekends ago, and I have to agree with a previous reviewer that with any business, it’s all about customer service, and this place is seriously lacking. I made my reservation several weeks prior where I stated I’d like to do the full two hours of riding, and I asked that we be put on a ride alone with our guide, if we had to pay extra that would be fine. I was imagining a slow, scenic ride, just the two of us, how romantic. The girl I spoke to said this was fine, and we wouldn’t have to pay extra to be alone. Perfect!
I never got any phone calls confirming my reservation, so the day before, I called to confirm, and I said again, just making sure you’ve got me down for two hours, and alone with our guide. The same girl had answered as the first time, and she said definitely yes.
We arrived early to fill out paperwork, and were greeted by the same girl who had taken my reservation. She asked how long we wanted to ride, I said two hours, and she said No, can’t do it. The trail for two hours is closed. I’m slightly annoyed by this time, because I had confirmed twice we could do this. She finally agreed to do the two hours, but it left me feeling that they just didn’t want to be out there any longer than they had to. Also, they have you pay upfront and ask you to leave the tip for the guide before you even meet her! That would be like eating out at a restaurant and tipping your server before you even see your meal. Silly.
We went out to the pen to get on our horses and right before we were about to leave for our ride, one of the girls yells across the arena if it is OK to add four people to our ride? The four men were standing right next to her, and I felt forced to say yes. There goes my romantic trail ride. This actually really upset me because I called and asked several times to ensure we’d be alone, and at the very last second, they snuck a group of other riders with us. Nothing against the guys, they were nice, but it defeats the purpose of my gift.
We get on our horses, I had Magic, and my husband had Sienna, a huge stock horse. Another lady came out to tighten up saddles and she asked if I was an experienced rider. I said I used to ride quite a bit when I was much younger, but it has been at least 13 years since I had ridden. She said oh good, that must be why they paired you guys with Magic and Sienna, it takes an experienced rider for those horses. My husband is not a rider, and this made me nervous, because his horse was seriously huge, and acting very temperamental.
Our guide introduces herself (I think Bonnie), and she was very sweet and nice. My One star rating does not reflect my experience with her, she was great. Anyway we start the ride, and to make a long story short, my husband’s horse Sienna is seriously freaking out. She kept rearing her head up, going through thick brush and bushes and leaving the rest of our group behind. She was seriously crazy, and making the rest of the horses act up because of all the nervous energy. The kicker was when she took of galloping and ended up 100+ feet away from us in the middle of bushes, and my poor husband had to get off the horse. He was understandably very upset, because he was almost thrown from the horse. Birthday present — ruined. Our guide took Sienna and had another guide walk her horse back to the ranch. My husband had to walk back on foot to the ranch. I had to finish my ride out, which I didn’t really enjoy, because the whole time I was thinking about my husband and his horrible experience. And I know Sienna was acting up because she was giving our very experienced guide a helluva time.
We finished our ride early, thirty minutes early, although we all did pay for the two hours. So at this point I’m thinking, we overpaid, my husband got all of 10 minutes on the horse before he had to get off, and they haven’t said one word about refunding us or making it better. I sweetly asked the same girl from before if we could please have a voucher to come back and try it again, this time on a different horse for my husband. She said no! And I have to say she was very nasty about it. She said it was my husband’s fault because he voluntarily chose to get off and that they wouldn’t be responsible for it. I told her that if she had been more judicious about pairing horses with riders, this might not have happened. Without saying one word, she gets out a frequent rider card and stamps each spot angrily, handing it to me without even looking into my eyes. What’s it good for? I have no idea, she never said, and we left shortly after.
So many things bad about this trip that could have been avoided if they had just said sorry and tried to make it right. Oh, and I got poison oak to top it all off.

My boyfriend and I had an amazing time on our trail ride! He brought me here as a surprise for my birthday, and had settled on Bright Valley Farms after reading that they had horses for all experience levels, which was great since I’m an experienced rider and he’s a novice.
We showed up at about 9:45 on Saturday morning, signed our release forms, and were able to head out immediately. We chose a 1 ½ hour ride, which was the perfect length, especially considering that it was very hot out. We even got to do a decent amount of trotting! I rode Little Boy and my boyfriend rode Comanche, and I think they gave us both great horses for our experience levels.
In talking to our guide, we found out that she’s actually a volunteer. She loves to ride but doesn’t have a horse of her own, so she volunteers as a guide so she has more opportunities to get out and ride. I thought that was pretty neat, and it was nice to have a guide that was enthusiastic about riding. We also found out from her that you can request specific horses, so we can request Little Boy and Comanche again on our next ride.
All in all it was a great experience, and we’ll be back again sometime!

Horses are well trained, but with any business it’s all about customer service. First off, the owners are about as rude as they come and they definitely have an attitude problem if you ask them ANYTHING.
Riding prices are WAY overpriced. I could lease a horse for a month for what they want two hour ride for. As far as «knowledgeable guides» they’re all 12 and under and can point out a couple historic locations on the trail. Big deal. And to all the kids who «work» there commenting on low rated reviews being immature «we don’t want people who’re mean here anyway» This is what I’m talking about people! You have prepubescent brats calling the shots at this location who barely know how to ride but act like experienced riders.
Trails are great, but you can get the same system by boarding at Willow Glen, or neighboring ranches like Pepper rock farms. In short, no reason at all to come here. Oh btw, their «pasture boarding» has barbed wire fencing… Yeah, SO safe.

horses are mishandled and/​or neglected. The owners care more about te profit than the quality of care thier horses are recieving, or how thier workers treat the boarders

I had such a good time on a trail ride there with my mother. The guide was hilarious and the horses were great. I was still pretty nervous after my last horseback riding experience (at another stable) but the guide was really flexible. We trotted for a bit but I declined going through the small stream. I will definitely be going back!

We called twice to make reservations. One a week before and then early the day we wanted to ride. We were told to show up at 2pm and drove 40+ miles to go riding. When we got there they told us to come back in 30 – 60 minutes, they were out of horses. This was frustrating because each time we called we tried to make a reservation and they told us it wasn’t necessary and wouldn’t let us make one. Needless to say they lost our business.

I board my horses here and I think it is as relaxed and friendly an atmosphere as it gets at a boarding facility. The owner/​manager, Mike is totally laid back and never bothers you about anything. The staff works really hard keeping the pens clean and horses fed well. They use fly predators and chickens to keep the flies down to a minimum.
The rental string is well cared for and happy. They live all together, allowing them to establish natural horse relationships among themselves. The trails are scenic and include some hills.

This was my first time at Bright Valley Farms, and only my second time on a horse, but it left me wanting to go again!
–Our guide was really friendly during our ride and even took our picture for us!
–I felt very comfortable on my horse and felt they paired me well.
–The trails were nice and the ride had variety including going up and down hill, some water and even trotting (which I had never done before)!
–The prices were also reasonable and we even got a longer ride than anticipated!
All in all a very pleasant and fun experience!

If you’re looking for something different, fun and entertaining please try Bright Valley Farms located outside of Rancho San Diego.
We wanted to try something different besides dinner, movies or dancing. Not your most common extracurricular thing to do in San Diego but horseback riding now ranks in my top 10.
We rented three horses; Peaches, Angelique and Shadow. Peaches and Angelique were friends for life. Our guide told us when horses grow up together they will form a friendship where they don’t leave each others side. If one went one way the other was right beside. I noticed Shadow seemed a little jealous of this pair and seemed to cop somewhat of an attitude while they were glued to each others side.
There are different paths; we took the water trail. Our horses went down the river and through the forest of Jamul. It was an area I didn’t realize existed. Angelique loved to eat (my horse) Every time she came upon a nice green area she would stop and graze. Hey, it would be like me walking through a path of chocolate and not stopping to taste the goods.
We came out of the forest onto the backside of Cottonwood golf course, up to an old Indian burial ground. Learned a lot about the area and our guide led our horses into a full trot ending in running. He left out the part that Angelique had the roughest trot which consisted of a couple of extra moves. Good thing I had extra support in the bra arena. I believe my muscles would have broken down and they would lose more gravity than they should. I mean come on… A girl needs all the help she can get!!!
Towards the end of the ride you could sense the horses knew they were headed back home. They picked up the pace and seemed to have an extra kick to their walk. We finished tipping our guide and feeding each horse carrots.
It was a fun time. I found out they have sunset rides you can take in the evening. If you want to try something different check this out. I think you may be surprised how much fun it can really be. Girls, remember… good support!!! Hmmm… come to think of it that may go for the guys also.