or the next 10 years at least, bicyclists and passers-by on Portola Road will be able to pause at Spring Down Farm, lean on the fence, and watch the horseback riders circle the big ring and encourage their mounts over its jumps.
Thanks to owners Stanley and Carol Goodstein, the front six acres of the Spring Down Equestrian Center are on track to become public open space owned by the town of Portola Valley.
"We want to see the property remain as open space," says Stan Goodstein in the dining room of the home they built behind the stables.
"Hopefully, it will be something with horses -- like a town riding ring," chimes in Carol, who has run the boarding and training stable since 1984. "That's a dream."
Over the past year, the Goodsteins, who already had permission to divide their 12-acre property into four separate lots, negotiated a complicated deal with the town to sell the front two lots to the town at below their market value, but keep using the land for horse shows and equestrian training for 10 years.
The three-acre parcel at 725 Portola Road, adjoining Town Center, officially became town property on October 10. The town has an option to buy the adjoining three acres, and is planing to acquire it within the next couple of years. The town is paying $1.625 million for each lot from its open space fund.
"The total purchase price for the property will not exceed $3.25 million -- considerably less than its $3.8 million appraised value," wrote Lisbet Nilson in the spring Town Newsletter.
"Everybody really wanted it to happen," Carol adds, walking toward the riding ring now on town property. "I wouldn't want to see houses there. It's nice that other people can enjoy it too."
After 10 years, the Goodsteins can continue their operation on a smaller scale. They must reduce the number of horses from the present 84 to 40, and move the ring back beside the stables.
Stan's health problems pushed him to get his estate in order and make sure Carol could continue her love affair with horses. "She can operate the business on a smaller scale," he says.
Carol fell in love with horses as a small girl in San Francisco. She used to ride in Golden Gate Park, and later became riding manager at Lowell High School.
Stan came to California when he was 12 and moved to San Francisco in 1948. For years he owned and operated the Slumberland chain of sleepware stores throughout the Bay Area -- where Carol worked for him. Now retired, he says, "I invest in start-up companies and the stock market -- and Spring Down."
The Goodsteins moved to Woodside in 1969 where Carol kept and showed horses. "I showed hunters and jumpers, and a lot of people asked me for lessons," she says.
Carol turned professional in 1972, giving riding lessons from her stables in Woodside. In those days, even Stan rode the Woodside trails. No longer. "I'm into golf," he says.
The Goodsteins have two grown children, no grandchildren. "Our dogs are our grandchildren," they say.
When Spring Down Farm came on the market in 1984, the Goodsteins jumped at it. The barn was first built in 1968 by H. Myrl Stearns of Ladera and called Valley Farm Boarding Stable.
Spring Down Equestrian Center is now a bustling establishment, where horse lovers from 6 to 76 polish their skills and bond with horses. Carol and her staff give riding lessons, from beginners to show jumping and dressage. And they have all sorts of programs -- spring, summer and Christmas camps, four public shows a year, Girl Scout "Horse Lover" merit badges, even horsey birthday parties.
"They get a complete experience with the horse world," Carol says. "They learn to groom, clean tack, and clean the stalls. They learn to ride. They learn how to get ready for horse shows."
Carol even gives lectures in horse psychology. "We give people an opportunity to see the world through the eyes of a horse," she says.
She means that literally. "One day I give a lecture on how a horses eyes work," she warms to her subject. Horses see two pictures, one from each eye, and the ears tell you where the eyes are looking, she explains. "But when the ears are up, looking forward, the horse only sees one picture."
Carol concludes, "The horses are really the teachers. I'm just the interpreter."
