I’m considering moving barns starting next year and am looking for an A circuit hunter/jumper show barn that would be able to show the ropes to a junior who is fairly new to the show circuit. Planning to lease a horse and am hoping to ride 4-5 times a week! I live in Toronto and I’m hoping to keep the commute under an hour. Thank You!
What part of Toronto? I have tons of suggestions, but your location and 1-hour commute will narrow the field drastically.
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Help if you can narrow down what your actual monthly budget will be for lessons and a lease horse with your folks before starting out. No sense wasting time if something’s not within range. For your own information, you don’t have to share specifics on here.
It would be nice if if we had a range though, like under 1000 for everything. Parents can tend to be a little vague about how much they want to spend, mine sure were. Getting a budget in place first would have saved much time and some hurt feelings. It’s an uncomfortable subject to bring up but needs to be step one.
OP what is your definition of A circuit? In Canada in hunter/jumper the distinction usually made in Equine Canada recognized shows is between Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels of competition.
What height are you currently jumping? If you are under 3 feet that puts you in one tier of barns that are more plentiful and more affordable.
If you are seriously working above a metre and heading to 4 feet that is a different tier.
I’m guessing you are jumping under 3 feet now because you would invariably have a lot of show experience if you were at the next height range.
Bronze shows are regional and don’t accrue points for championships. Silver shows accrue points provincially. Gold shows accrue points nationally. Entry fees and EC membership and passport cost go up accordingly. All are EC recognized and get your results listed on the data base.
You can show at the 2 foot 9 height at any of these levels of show. Where I live Bronze shows tend to top out at about a metre, Silver shows don’t exist, Gold shows don’t have crosspoles classes and go up towards the 4 foot mark.
Show barns will take their students to all these levels of show. Our bronze shows are huge and very competitive.
Anyhow one good way to help select a trainer is to look up the EC results for shows in your area. You can look up the winners at your height, find their trainer, search the trainer, see their results. Then Google them to find where their barn is.
Ideally you want some one who is taking a string of juniors to multiple shows and doing OK.
Then you can find an upcoming show, get an order of go, figure out who the trainers are, go to the show, and watch the students ride. Do you like how they ride? Do they have good form? Are the horses happy and fit? How does trainer behave at the warmup ring?
However if you want to ride 5 days a week you are going to be limited by geography. Toronto is a big city, and you need to find something on your side of town.
Edited to add: I see there is a similar thread going with someone asking about adult re-rider barns in Toronto and they are getting names suggested.
I also see that the Toronto people do use the term A level shows but I m not totally sure whether they mean EC rated or Gold specifically.
Thank you to everyone for responding. I live in North York so on the north side of town. As far as budget, my parents generally are comfortable with spending what they sense is reasonable. While this is fairly ambiguous I think this means going middle of the range, not breaking the bank but not going dirt cheap either. Monthly lessons+board ballpark between $1000-$1500 plus horse lease (under 15,000 but I really don’t know?) and showing costs, but obviously cheaper would be better. My definition of A circuit is gold shows I think?, so for Toronto the majority of the showing would be done at Palgrave unless you travel to Wesley Clover (Ottawa), in the US or if you qualify to the Royal etc. I am under 3 foot right now, 2’9" is a comfortable height for me. I am looking for a barn where I could possibly grow into 1m plus with proper time, training and experience.
Thank you again!
I’ve recommended her before, but Margie Gayford is great (and north of the city). Wonderful person and horsewoman.
Are you doing jumpers? Hunters? That may help narrow the options as well.
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A circuit is Gold shows.
OP, look for a barn that does both Silver and Gold (Trillium and A circuit) and get yourself started on the Silver circuit. Costs will be much less and as you are jumping under 3’ there is no need to blow the extra money on showing Gold.
The Silver circuit in Ontario is very competitive and you will learn a lot. The Silver cicuit also has a Modified Junior (or they did) at 3’3" where on the Gold circuit you’d be going from Children’s 3’ right to Junior at 3’6". That’s a big jump.
Good luck!
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Thanks for the advice everyone! I am looking to start in hunters and eventually progress to jumpers. I really appreciate everyone’s responses 
Actually, there is a solid 3’3" division open to juniors and ammies at the A shows. It just doesn’t go to the Royal.
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OP, full lease horse is 1/3 if stated value for a year. Less time usually works out to be a little more, owners want to gone longer, not shorter,. You pay board and all other expenses on top of the lease fee. Details vary and are defined in the contract.
If you get a trainer with a lesson program, you will likely find there are suitable horses available for all types of part leases, 3 day a week half leases, 2 day a week leases, all sorts of things. These are typically month to month with a 30 day notice for any reason either side wants to terminate and the owner generally pays all expenses which are rolled into your flat part lease fee. . So you don’t get locked into a year.
Since you are just starting to get serious, strongly recommend you start with a month to month part lease. Actual horse ownership comes with some surprises cost wise, no matter how much you think you know you don’t know until you own one. And a part lease lets you get out in 30 days if it gets hurt and is laid up for months. Your parents will probably be more comfortable with the minimized risk in leasing as you start out here.
Another thing pointing to a shorter term part lease is your riding will be improving and the horse that suits you now will be outgrown ability wise and you’ll need another more able to advance you within a year. It gives you access to a wider variety of horses suitable for you at that time rather then getting locked into something you bought.
For the level you are riding at, two foot nine hunters in your first year of showing, I think you could buy a suitable horse for $15,000. Maybe an older kids show horse stepping down a bit.
The advice to get into a program with a monthly lease/lesson package is spot on. This would be more a “half lease” situation where the owner continues management of the horse.
In those programs you pay monthly fee and the owner takes care of vet and farrier etc as well as board costs (which your lease fee helps offset).
If you took a full paid lease for a year you are responsible for that horse as if he is yours including vet, farrier, board. The only reason to do this rather than buy is if it gives you access to a much better horse for a short term than you can otherwise afford, like for one show season.
As others have said those leases are typically 1/3 of the presumed sale vsle of the horse. So a $15,000 lease would get you a $45,000 horse for one year. If you wanted to keep that horse two or three years it would make much more sense to just buy him outright.
But at the stage you are at, even if you are relatively well funded, it makes sense to keep your options open and your responsibility minimized.
I would also say, do a monthly lease through your trainer where the trainer retains management, you pay a set monthly fee, and you can move to another horse when that’s appropriate.
If you do a full paid yearlong lease or buy a horse, either way if he gets injured you are responsible for all the vet bills and rehab and you won’t be able to ride for the duration. On a monthly lease you can move to another horse.
Sent you a PM
Jumping in from western Canada. We generally consider gold shows to be A shows where I’m from. Good luck to the OP on the barn and horse search. Depending on what circuit you end up on 15k can buy you a horse in ON, but to be competitive at the bigger shows in the hunters with that budget you are likely looking at something older that you may be stuck with forever. If you want to go that route that is great, but with any type of lease you don’t carry that risk.
Yes, I agree OP shouldn’t jump to horse ownership at this point. I’m assuming she’s coming off lessons and hasn’t had full time use of a horse either owned or paid lease. I was just pointing out the economics of paying that much for a one year lease!
Depending on skill and ambitions, it’s not a bad idea to have a more modest horse for the first year. I’ve certainly seen progress get derailed when people get a $60,000 horse too soon that has more scope and forward than they are able to ride yet. A “better” horse isn’t "better’ for every rider!
Contact Mac and Christi McQuaker at Gryphon Farms in Schomberg. They can help you with finding a lease and it’s a great barn with really nice people and good coaching. http://www.gryphonfarms.com/
