The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District has agreed to allow a nonprofit group to operate aging stables in the Los Gatos foothills, pending approval of a long-term agreement.
Bear Creek Stables has long been a place to board and learn how to ride horses. Although Midpen owns the stables, the district contracted out its day-to-day operations to Chaparral Country Corporation. Chaparral officially left Bear Creek Stables in January following allegations of horse abuse. At Midpen’s meeting on Nov. 20 last year, the district decided to allow a nonprofit to run the stables, and the Friends of Bear Creek Stables expressed interest to do so.
In a unanimous decision, Midpen voted March 26 to extend its current short-term agreement with the Friends of Bear Creek Stables for six months until Dec. 6 and provide an additional $48,000 to allow the nonprofit to meet the requirements to finalize a long-term agreement.
“To make this successful, we need to be working together, and we use the words partnership and success,” said Rick Parfitt, president of the Friends of Bear Creek Stables. “And so it really is a partnership between all of us, not just the nonprofit and the district but also the people we bring into the programs, the boarders, the people who are there.”
The March 26 meeting was essentially a recap of several meetings held with the Friends group and the district since January. Midpen’s assistant general manager Brian Malone gave a presentation establishing several initial milestones that the nonprofit would have to meet before taking charge of the stables.
Although the Friends are currently an established 501(c)3 nonprofit, they are not in compliance with the California State Attorney General Office’s registration requirements. Midpen staff anticipate the group to meet the requirements by June.
The Friends also set a fundraising goal of $250,000 to establish an initial operating fund that would help them work through the first years under a long-term agreement. They are expected to be able to raise the funds and enter a long-term agreement by Oct. 6.
Prior to the district making initial improvements to the stables, including updating the stables’ water system and completing road and drainage maintenance, the Friends group is expected to raise an additional $250,000 for its operating fund, and raise at least $100,000 in revenue from boarding and programming. The nonprofit is also required to successfully operate the stables and consider funding a portion of the improvements if there is a fundraising gap.
Parfitt said the Friends have raised around $30,000 already, with another $30,000 expected from pledges from the community. However, he said that the nonprofit is running at a loss at the moment due to the condition of the stables and the lack of programming and limited boarding. In the meantime, he said, the Friends are prioritizing providing “top-notch care” to the horses already being boarded at the stables.
The district already committed to cleaning up debris, replacing up to 50 paddocks and putting up signs around the stables. The Friends were expected to maintain the paddocks, pay the utility bills and feed and water the horses.
The two organizations have yet to agree on insurance coverage. The Friends of Bear Creek Stables are tasked with asking for quotes for required coverage before making that decision. Parfitt said there are currently two insurance policies in place for the horses.
The nonprofit is hoping to bring back not just boarding at the stables, but programming like arts and crafts, nature walks and traditional equestrian lessons. While there are no horse camps planned for this summer, Parfitt said the Friends intend to hold a camp in 2026.
The district and the nonprofit are hoping to hire a facilities maintenance specialist and an open space technician. Both these positions would start out part-time with the potential of going full time in the next few years. Annual salaries are estimated at about $117,000 for the facilities maintenance specialist and $67,000 for the open space technician.
Several people at the March 26 meeting spoke in favor of the decision have the Friends of Bear Creek Stables take over operations. Brooke Gaeta, a boarder at Bear Creek Stables since 2021, thanked the board and the organization for keeping the stables open. Gaeta also spoke highly of the nonprofit’s ability to to care for the horses .
“They’ve been so great to our horses and our community. They communicate so well. They are taking such good care of our horses,” Gaeta said. “And it’s so nice to be around other equestrians that are like-minded. … We all help each other as boarders right now, and we support each other, we communicate with each other, so it’s just been a very good, healthy environment.”
Midpen board president Jed Cyr closed the meeting by praising the nonprofit and the staff on coming together for a proposal that is the first of its kind.
“I’m incredible impressed by all the effort and thought in here that went into the very brief ad hoc committee,” Cyr said. “Out of that emerged this challenge to create something that’s not been done here before, and the enthusiasm is obvious.”