By Meg Pierce
In the heart of the Rancho Santa Fe Covenant lies one of the best-kept secrets of San Diego equestrians – Willow Creek Estancia. Sculpted to perfection over the years, this amazing luxury equestrian estate is crafted from seven different parcels and reveals 77-acres of verdure landscape. A wonderland of entertainment with pool, tennis courts and a private bowling alley, Willow Creek Estancia was primarily designed for the avid horse enthusiast. Just a short drive to Del Mar Beach and Race Track, the luxury equestrian estate is home to a variety of facilities that will make any equestrian swoon, no matter your discipline.
1. Main Barn
Designed with three separate wings, Willow Creek Estancia’s exquisite main barn has 27 stalls and encompasses the owner’s apartment, offices, grooming and farrier workspaces. Accentuated by the beautiful light wood ceiling, lined by rows of clerestory windows, and sturdily built iron and darker wood stalls, it’s not only a practical home for equines, it’s an architectural masterpiece. The guest home sits in the west wing with French doors opening to lawn and flower beds facing the sand arena and Grand Prix field.
One branch of the building features wide living spaces for the animals, each with an exterior door, and the stalls connected on the inside by a vast center aisle big enough for farm equipment and tractors for efficient delivery of feed and bedding. The other branch is home to the farrier and grooming spaces. In the middle of the two wings, a path leads to another entrance of the guest house through a lush palm-lined lawn. Both equine and equestrian will feel at home in this tranquil setting.
2. 3 Sand Arenas
Close to the horses in the main barn and equipment storage in the hay barn, the largest sand arena is 285 by 185 feet. Open and adjacent to the grass Grand Prix field for convenient transformation into an obstacle course for jumpers, the oval-shaped arena has two green islands in the middle and plenty of space for setting up fences at varying heights and spreads to train the green or advanced jumpers. A second sand arena near the main stables sports 20 by 60 meters of clean, fenced rectangular boundaries for practicing the 20-meter circles, diagonal lines and figure-8s that will bring home the dressage medals. An additional sand arena at approximately 50 x 100 feet is ideal for flatwork or gymnastics that require a more controlled space.
3. Grand Prix Field
A variation of surfaces is essential to both a horse’s and a rider’s training, whether for dressage or jumping. Willow Creek Estancia’s sand arena and adjacent Grand Prix field allow for a diversity of exercises. Obstacles can be set up on the 620 x 445 foot grass field to prepare for various Grand Prix competitions or to help animals develop their musculoskeletal system as their gaits adapt to different surfaces.
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4. Family Barn
Due to the owner’s strategic acquisition of different parcels of land at different times, Willow Creek Estancia has a second, smaller barn fondly referred to as the family barn. As beautiful as a chapel, this equestrian home features clerestory windows, high wood ceilings with open beams, and both in-and-out and interior stalls. Located just steps away from the house, it shares the aesthetics of the residence with a red-tiled roof and white adobe walls crawling with fuchsia bougainvillea. An adjacent one-bedroom groom’s apartment with a kitchen, bathroom, living room and secluded outdoor terrace ensures staff can be close by to look after your horses while you’re away.
5. Private Trails
At Willow Creek Estancia, your horses have a walker to keep them fit, fenced pastures for grazing, and fields and arenas for running drills, but none of these facilities on their own create the kind of equestrian lifestyle the current estate owners envisioned when they pieced together the 77-acre estate from seven different parcels of land. To capture the mood of the Argentine ranches that Willow Creek Estancia is named for, you’ll want to take a hack past the barns, pool, house, and gardens, down to the private bass-filled lake. Sea breezes, a variety of trees and delightful sculptures around every corner make for a pleasant outing without ever leaving the grounds of the property.
6. Access to Public Trails
Yet, why stop there? Past the lake and pastures to the end of the property, you’ll find access to Rancho Santa Fe Covenant’s 50-miles of groomed riding trails on which you can enjoy the association’s 68 acres of open space. Hacking is an essential way to help your horses develop the balance and coordination they can only get from different types of terrain. But more than that, this is the type of equestrian life that you and horses were born for. Freedom and open spaces. So, let the adventure begin at home.