Help Center
The questions we get asked most, answered in one place. If yours is not here, call (415) 969-1223 or send the Customer Care form.
Rides · Lessons and the Lesson Club · Change or cancel a booking · Payments and receipts · Waivers and rider details · Veterans Ride Free · Gift cards and credits · Groups, parties and events · Contact us
Rides
Do I need riding experience?
No. Riders with no experience are welcome, and every ride starts on the ground with a hands-on introduction to horse behavior and safety. We match each rider to a suitable horse from the herd, and the group heads out only when the team sees everyone is ready.
Who can ride?
Riders 8 and up who can mount and dismount with minimal assistance; the rider weight limit is 250 lbs maximum. A child under 8 cannot ride double with a parent. For younger children, arena pony rides and lessons start at age 3.
How long does the ride take?
Plan for 75 to 90 minutes, including check-in and a safety orientation. Arrive 20 minutes before your start time to check in, fit a helmet and complete paperwork.
What should I wear and bring?
Long pants and closed-toe shoes or boots with a slight heel; no sandals and no open toes. Layers, because it is often cooler and windier at the beach than inland. Water and sunscreen: fog is not shade.
Do I have to wear a helmet?
ASTM-certified helmets are provided. Every participant under 18 must wear one at all times and may not decline. Adults are strongly advised to wear one and may decline only by signing the Protective Riding Headgear Refusal Agreement, and we may require a helmet of any participant on safety grounds.
Can I bring my phone?
Bring your phone. Keep it in a zipped pocket while you ride, and take your pictures when the guide says it is a good moment, or hand it over and the guide will take them. The one thing we ask is that nobody rides with a phone in their hand while the horses are moving.
Will we ride on the beach?
When the tide allows. Beach access depends on the tide and is not guaranteed on any given ride, and the exact route can vary with tides and conditions. We make that call on the day, for safety.
Why can't I see a later start time?
The last ride of the day always gets back before dark, so the latest start moves with the sunset through the year. The booking calendar only offers the times that work on the day you pick. In January, February and March the last beach ride of the day leaves at 2:30 PM; for an evening ride in those months, book the Sunset Ride and Cowboy Cookout on a Friday or Saturday.
Can we have a private ride?
Yes. The VIP Private Equestrian Experience is just your party and your guide: a private 2.5 hour experience. With optional add-ons, plan for 2 to 3 hours.
How many riders can book together?
Up to 9 riders can book the beach ride online. For a bigger group, tell us your date and your group and we will plan it with you.
What if the weather turns?
Weather, surf, tide, ground conditions, safety and the welfare of a horse are our call, and we make it for safety. If we cancel, you choose: a new date at no charge, or a booking credit for the full amount paid. Credits do not expire. We do not issue cash refunds. If we shorten or change an experience for safety once it has begun, we will offer a fair partial credit.
Where do we meet?
At the barn office at Ocean View Stables, 2152 Olympic Way, Daly City, CA 94015. Everything is by appointment; there are no walk-ins.
Lessons and the Lesson Club
Do I need any experience?
No. Every student starts at Level 1, on the ground, and your instructor builds from wherever you begin.
How young can a rider start?
Age 3. Lessons stay at the barn and in the arena, so the age-8 minimum for trail and beach rides does not apply. A rider aged 3 to 7 can take a lesson but not a beach or trail ride.
What do you teach?
Western horsemanship in the vaquero tradition: groundwork first, then riding, at the barn and in the arena. We teach Western only, so we do not offer English riding, jumping or dressage lessons.
Can I try a lesson before I join the Lesson Club?
Yes. Book a single 1-hour or 30-minute lesson and see how we teach. Lessons can be booked and paid for one at a time, outside the membership program, with no minimum term and no commitment of any kind.
How does the Lesson Club work?
It is a monthly membership for regular riders: Bronze is 4 lessons a month, Silver 8 and Gold 12. Your lesson points land in your account each month; you book lessons online and apply the points at checkout. 1,000 points is one 1-hour lesson. Each plan's page shows its price.
Is there a minimum term?
For memberships started on or after 28 July 2026, yes: choosing a monthly membership is a commitment to a minimum six-month term. If you end early, the difference between the discounted rate you paid and our standard single-lesson rate, for the lessons you have already taken, becomes payable. That difference is the only sum due on an early exit.
Do unused lessons roll over?
Included lessons are used within the calendar month and do not roll over. A single lesson cancelled with 24 hours' notice is issued as a credit rather than lost.
How do I book a lesson with my Lesson Club points?
Sign in before you book, with the email address your membership is under, so your lesson points apply at checkout. If the payment page asks for a card instead, you are probably signed in with a different email address: sign out, sign in with your membership email and try again.
When do my monthly points arrive?
They are added after your monthly payment goes through, usually within a few hours. If they have not arrived by the next day, send us the Customer Care form and we will put them right.
How do I pause my membership?
Send the Customer Care form with "Pause my membership" in the subject and the date you would like to restart. The hold goes on the same day, and the confirmation email explains billing and your lesson points while it is paused.
How do I end my membership?
Sign in, open your membership under My Account and choose Close Subscription. If you do not see that button, send the Customer Care form and we will close it for you. For memberships started on or after 28 July 2026, Section 10 of our Terms explains the six-month term and what is due on an early exit.
How do I switch to a different plan?
Send the Customer Care form and tell us which plan you would like, and from when.
Change or cancel a booking
How do I reschedule?
Open your booking confirmation email and tap Change or cancel my booking. Up to 24 hours before your start time you can move your booking at no charge, subject to instructor, horse and facility availability, without paying again.
How do I cancel?
Use the same Change or cancel my booking button. Cancel at least 24 hours ahead and we issue a booking credit for the full amount paid; credits do not expire and are not transferable or redeemable for cash. A cancellation inside 24 hours, or a no-show, is treated as fulfilled: no refund and no credit.
I picked the wrong date or time.
Move it with Change or cancel my booking in your confirmation email, at no charge, up to 24 hours before your start time.
Can I add a rider to my booking?
Yes, while there is room: book one more seat for the same date and time on the booking page. Up to 9 riders can book the beach ride online.
Something came up on the day.
Call us as early as you can on (415) 969-1223. Under our Terms, a cancellation inside 24 hours, or a no-show, is treated as fulfilled.
Payments and receipts
What will I pay at checkout?
Most prices are shown before a payment processing charge, which appears as its own line at checkout before you pay. Camp tickets and gift cards carry no processing charge. Pod stays and stay packages are priced plus tax.
Where are my orders, invoices and receipts?
Sign in to your account with the email address you booked with to see your orders and invoices, download receipts and pay an open invoice.
An agency or program pays for my lessons or camp.
Tell us before you book. We can invoice a regional center, fiscal agent or other program directly instead of taking a card at booking.
I need a receipt or your tax details for a reimbursement claim.
Your receipts are in your account. For our W-9 or tax ID, send the Customer Care form and we will email it to you.
I think I was charged twice.
Send the Customer Care form with your order number and we will check it and put it right.
Waivers and rider details
Does everyone need to sign a waiver?
Yes. Every participant signs the OVS Participant Agreement, Release and Assumption of Risk before any hands-on animal activity, and a parent or guardian signs for a minor. Sign it online before you arrive, or on paper at check-in.
How do the other riders in my group sign?
After you book, we email a short rider-details form. Add each rider there and each one gets their own waiver link by email. Anyone who has not signed online can sign on paper at check-in.
Veterans Ride Free
Do veterans ride free?
Yes. If you served, your own beach ride is free. The free ride belongs to the veteran personally: it covers the veteran's own ride only and does not extend to family members, dependents, or anyone booking on a veteran's behalf. Proof of service is required.
How do I claim it?
Answer Yes to the veteran question when you book and the discount applies at checkout. We then email a short verification form with an upload link for your proof of service; complete it before your ride.
Can my family ride free too?
The program is about putting the veteran in the saddle, so the free ride is the veteran's own. Family and friends riding with you pay the regular rate, and we would love to have you all out together.
Gift cards and credits
Do you sell gift cards?
Yes. The Ocean View Stables Gift Card is sent by email, in four amounts. It never expires and carries no processing charge.
How do I use a gift card or a booking credit?
Book as usual and enter the code at checkout. Booking credits from a cancellation work the same way; they do not expire and are not transferable or redeemable for cash.
My code says it is invalid.
Send the Customer Care form with the code and we will check it.
Groups, parties and events
We are a bigger group, or want a private event.
Up to 9 riders can book the beach ride online. For a larger group, a private event or anything custom, tell us your date, your group and what you have in mind.
Do you host birthday parties?
Yes. The Youth Birthday Horse Party is three hours at the barn for up to 15 children: a lead-line ride for each child, time with the horses and goats, and a private Western-themed party area. You bring the cake, food and decorations.
Corporate events and retreats?
Ground-based leadership sessions for teams, with no riding required.
Can we stay overnight?
Yes. A whole private pod on the bluff, rented by the day with a two-day minimum, or one of the stay packages.
Kids camps?
Day camp at the barn in the summer and school holidays. Every date shows with live ticket status.
Boarding, training and leasing?
See the boarding and training pages. For anything else about horse ownership or leasing, send the Customer Care form.
Still need help?
Call (415) 969-1223, text (844) 415-3617, email zachary@oceanviewstables.com, or send the Customer Care form.
Ocean View Stables, 2152 Olympic Way, Daly City, CA 94015. Everything is by appointment; there are no walk-ins.