General FAQs
Who are we?
West Campus Stables is a student cooperative at UCSB campus. We provide boarding and riding opportunities for horse owning and horse loving UCSB students, faculty, & staff.
We have limited space to accommodate local community members.
A co-op?
Yes. As a cooperative, our members do most of the day to day work: We feed our horses, we clean stalls, we complete repairs, and basically do whatever needs doing!
Want to get involved?
If you have experience with horses, or a horse you want to bring with you to college, learn more about what it means to be a riding member or a boarder on the ‘How It Works’ and ‘Get Involved’ pages!
FAQs about STUDENT RIDERS
What kind of experience do you need to be a student rider member?
Some horse experience is needed to apply. Safety is our priority for humans and horses alike! As a co-op, we do not have the capacity to offer lessons and therefore cannot accept beginners. Complete our online application here.
Qualified Applicants demonstrate these qualities:
- Deep knowledge of horse handling etiquette and safety.
- Ability to ride and handle horses independently without a trainer or other supervision.
- Reliability, integrity, and consistency. As a co-op, we rely on members taking responsibility for important chores.
- Willingness to be an active and contributing member of the co-op. As a co-op, we rely on member labor (whether it be physical like feeding horses, or administrative like answering FAQs)!
- Ability to recognize and appropriately respond to equine medical emergencies.
- Sufficient experience working with and riding horses. In your application, we encourage you to speak to whatever your background with horses may be.
I applied to be a student rider, but haven’t heard back yet.
What should I do?
We receive a large number of applicants each month, but as a small co-op we only have a limited number of spots available. This availability is further informed by how many horses are in residence during a given quarter!
Unfortunately, not all applicants will be accepted and able to be matched with a horse. This is dependent on applicant ability and experience, but also simply on horse needs and availability. Horse owners reach out to applicants on a needs basis based on how suited an applicant is for a given horse (ie: you have a strong background in Western riding, but a horse owning member is looking for a rider to help train their dressage horse!).
That said, don’t be discouraged if you don’t hear back right away!
As we are majority UCSB students and faculty, needs change over time as schedules change or students graduate.
We do not have the capacity to reply to all applicants.
What is a ‘community member’?
Community members refer to anyone living in the Goleta / Santa Barbara area who is not affiliated with UCSB. This includes SBCC students and other residents in the area.
Community members are welcome to apply for boarding (limited availability), or to our student rider position (for which there is no limit, applicants will be considered based on ability and need).
I keep seeing the words “chores, duties, and workhours” on the website. What do these mean?
As a co-op, we are completely reliant on the labor of members, whether it’s the day to day physical tasks of mucking out our arenas or administrative tasks like managing hay orders.
Riding members and Boarding members are each responsible for a set number of chores, duties, and work hours to help keep our facility running smoothly! Participation is what makes our co-op possible.
Members complete small small monthly chores (along the lines of sweeping out the tackroom, or contributing a bag of carrots), rotating duties (such as taking out the trash & recycling for the facility), and contribute four work hours per quarter (which can include a range of contributions to our community ranging from taking on administrative tasks or helping to repaint our exterior fence!).
It may sound like a lot on paper, but most members find it easy to complete a task here and there over the course of the quarter and before you know it: your chores are done!
Most members find they spend about 1.5 to 2 hours per month on their chores, duties, and work hours collectively.
Can I visit?
To ensure everyone’s safety, we cannot accommodate unplanned visits. However, if you wish to arrange a visit for your club, sorority/fraternity, UCSB class, or local organization, please reach out to us ucsbhorses@gmail.com.
If you are interested in boarding your horse with us, you are welcome to arrange a tour by contacting us at ucsbhorses@gmail.com.
Are their volunteer opportunities for those without horse experience?
We love connecting with our community. If you are part of a group, we encourage you to reach out to us via email at ucsbhorses@gmail.com to organize a visit day.
Unfortunately, we do not have the capacity to accommodate individual volunteers / visits at this time. That said, we are working toward facilitating volunteer days that UCSB students could sign up for, so keep an eye out on Shoreline and our Instagram for possible future events!
FAQ's about BOARDING
What kind of services does your facility offer?
As a co-op, we are completely reliant on member labor. Consequently, you will form a part of any services provided. As a community, we facilitate feeding hay and pre-portioned grain (that you provide, if wanted) twice a day on a rotation.
Beyond that, it is the responsibility of members to organize the care of their own horses. You will be responsible for mucking out your stall, filling your water, exercising your horse, and any other care; OR coordinating this daily care by inviting and assessing the eligibility of student rider applicants to help you with this care.
What is included in the board fee?
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Stall (all stalls priced the same)
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Hay. We provide orchard grass and alfalfa. You choose the ratio and quantity given to your horse for 2 feedings a day.
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Gear space in a locked tack room.
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Wheelbarrows and pitch forks for mucking
What is NOT included in the board fee?
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Any other varieties of hay, grain, supplements, etc, are up to each individual member to provide for their own horse.
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Bedding
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Mucking / turnout services of any kind
When should I submit my boarding application?
As soon as you are interested in boarding with us, feel free to submit a boarding application on our website here. If your boarding application is preliminarily approved, we will then be able to offer you a tour of the facility. At this time due to limited availability of our student executive board, tours can only be scheduled for those interested in boarding with us.
What are the expected chores and responsibilities of boarding members?
As a co-op, we are completely reliant on the labor of members, whether it’s the day to day physical tasks of mucking out our arenas or administrative tasks like managing hay orders.
Boarding members are responsible for a set number of chores, duties, and work hours to help keep our facility running smoothly! Participation is what makes our co-op possible.
As a boarding member, you are expected to participate in the feeding rotation unless you will individually feed your horse each of their meals.
