Any great instructors out there in Georgia, specifically Canton, Alpharetta or Marrietta? Need an instructor with a great resume i.e. has proven to have results with their clients not only locally but nationally. Would like to get confident doing 3’ hunters so I could purchase a horse for 3’ maybe even 3’6". Right now I am comfortable at 2’9" but I have jumped 3’3" I don’t want to show right away I just want to get confident then purchase a horse to compete on in the future. I don’t want to lease a horse either just lessons with the intention to show in the future.
Julie Mohr with Britmohr Farms is in that area, and she fits pretty much exactly what you need. She knows her stuff and is capable of teaching on a national level, but isn’t such a “show operation” that she doesn’t have some horses available for you to lesson on.
http://britmohrfarm.com/default.aspx
The site is a little out of date, but the phone numbers are still correct.
There are quite a few great trainers in the area but the majority of them will not have school horses for you to get comfortable at 3’ on. To do 2’9" - 3’, you will probably need to lease or purchase a horse with the top trainers.
Check out GHJA’s website for a list of trainers plus there are quite a few threads here on COTH regarding trainers in the Alpharetta / Canton area!
Didn’t JSalem win at Devon or something like that? I’d look up Patchwork Farms.
Janet Salem…Patchwork Farm. You cant do much better!!!
Here is my response to an earlier similar thread:
What excatly do you want to find? An experienced, upper level type horse for you to lesson on or simply any horse to lesson on other than a “beginner-type” horse?
The reason I ask is that of all the trainers I know, none of them have an “advanced” lesson horse. Most of them encourage riders to purchase or lease horses above a certain riding level (for some programs, that is after cross rails/mini-hunter, others you can go up as high as 2’3" maybe 2’6"), so they only have lesson horses that go up to the riding level. I don’t know of any program that you can lesson on a horse once a week for 3’+ jumping lessons. They may be out there, but I am not sure where.
If you are willing to ride greener horses, and have lesson that consist on you learning how to ride and bring up a prospect, you might be able to find a place looking for that. You’ll have to prove your skills first, probably by riding the beginner lesson type horses at least once. But that is also moving in to “sales horse” terriorty, and many places already have a resident pro rider that takes care of that.
Good luck! It’s can be difficult to find a program when you are a knowledgable yet horse-less lesson student!
www.englishivyfarms.com
Hunters, Jumpers, & Welsh Ponies
All I pay my psychiatrist is the cost of feed and hay, and he’ll listen to me any day. ~Author Unknown
And since Janet at Patchwork has been metioned, I don’t believe she keeps a string of lesson horses for upper level riders. Certainly contact her and see what she can offer, but I am fairly certain you would need to commit more than weekly lessons.
I don’t know of a program where you can jump high and not be owing or leasing.
Does it help if you ride on your own time? I do own 2 ponies that I ride in between lessons. I just want to get more experience before purchasing a horse. I don’t want to lease because then my budget for purchasing gets smaller. I don’t see the point in purchasing a horse that can only go so far or purchasing a horse that is too much for me? I want to be prepared without spending all my money before I get there. When I do purchase I would like to be able to compete confidently. Money wise I probably won’t purchase a horse for atleast 2 years because when I do I would like to show and that’s really what costs so much. So in the mean time I need to get in shape mentally and physically with the help of a trainer that won’t mind going slow with me then eventually I will start taking more lessons. It’s hard to find a trainer who will go your pace financially without pushing for more money. They all want you to show, show and show. Anyone out there not so demanding, anyone patient? I don’t expect to jump 3’6" on a lesson horse I understand that programs aren’t going to let you jump a nice horse when your only worth $200 a month to them. Any horse who can jump 3’6" and stay sound is on the sales list usually. Any suggestions?
Try Sharon at Falcon Ridge. She has a huge program and does have some semi-retiree’s and clients horses that she uses for lessons.
[QUOTE=Equistar92;6097636]
Does it help if you ride on your own time? I do own 2 ponies that I ride in between lessons. I just want to get more experience before purchasing a horse. I don’t want to lease because then my budget for purchasing gets smaller. I don’t see the point in purchasing a horse that can only go so far or purchasing a horse that is too much for me? I want to be prepared without spending all my money before I get there. When I do purchase I would like to be able to compete confidently. Money wise I probably won’t purchase a horse for atleast 2 years because when I do I would like to show and that’s really what costs so much. So in the mean time I need to get in shape mentally and physically with the help of a trainer that won’t mind going slow with me then eventually I will start taking more lessons. It’s hard to find a trainer who will go your pace financially without pushing for more money. They all want you to show, show and show. Anyone out there not so demanding, anyone patient? I don’t expect to jump 3’6" on a lesson horse I understand that programs aren’t going to let you jump a nice horse when your only worth $200 a month to them. Any horse who can jump 3’6" and stay sound is on the sales list usually. Any suggestions?[/QUOTE]
You sound like you are in an absolutely perfect position to lease a horse for some term (6 months maybe) to get used to a trainer and her program before starting to shop. Leasing a confidence horse to show you the ropes and get you back in the gave before buying is a terrific way to make your money count when it’s actually time to buy. You’ll know what you want and you’ll be a more capable rider. It’s worth the money, and MUCH cheaper than buying the wrong horse!
I think you are asking for (in MOST cases) a non existing trainer. Most lesson programs rarely have horses that even jump 3 ft, and if you are capable of jumping 2’9 you should be on your own mount who you ride and develop more advanced skills on. Like you said, most trainers will not let you ride nice athletic horses when you are “only worth $200 a month to them” so why even expect it? Also, you say that when you compete you would like to be able to compete confidently but what I don’t think you realize is that you aren’t going to ride for a couple of years, buy a horse and go to a show and suddenly ride like a confident champion time after time. Confidence is acquired over time and develops from experiences in and out of the show ring.
If I were you I would find a trainer you trust and keep lessoning on your ponies until you and your trainer can find a way to make your budget work. What is wrong with buying a horse that needs a little bit of work but that you can eventually move up with??? Remember that the economy is in your favor at this point.
Phoebe Loughrey is perfect for getting confidence up in a safe environment, and has had many wins at the big national shows. You would probably need to buy something to school bigger than 2’9" though.
[QUOTE=Perfect10;6098152]
Phoebe Loughrey is perfect for getting confidence up in a safe environment, and has had many wins at the big national shows. You would probably need to buy something to school bigger than 2’9" though.[/QUOTE]
Interesting. Which wins at which national shows?
A USEF search for the last year shows one show (RMI) in unjudged hunters (DNP) and low adults (2’6") where there were 2 entries. The results are DNP, 3/3, 2/2, 1/2 and 2/2. There does appear to be a championship in the long stirrup division at 2’.
I didn’t say in the past year. When she was younger, she herself qualified for, and I believe won at least once or twice, at all the national shows. She doesn’t ride herself much anymore, but her students have had great success. Last year, she had the only junior rider in Georgia to go to indoors.
[QUOTE=Perfect10;6098488]
I didn’t say in the past year. When she was younger, she herself qualified for, and I believe won at least once or twice, at all the national shows. She doesn’t ride herself much anymore, but her students have had great success. Last year, she had the only junior rider in Georgia to go to indoors.[/QUOTE]
Okay. What divisions did she compete in/win at national shows?
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Okay. What divisions did she compete in/win at national shows?[/QUOTE]
I honestly don’t know, since that was long before I knew her and she took a lot of time off to have a family before she started riding again and opened her barn. I have seen pictures from Devon and heard about her success there among others that I cannot think of off the top of my head. She was featured in an issue of Practical Horseman if you would like to search for it.
Google Phoebe Loughrey Stables and you will find the answers to what shows, the images & the Practical Horseman mention. It doesn’t say what classes.
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Last year, she had the only junior rider in Georgia to go to indoors.[/QUOTE]
Incorrect information. There are many fine trainers in the Canton, Alpharetta area. Both Janet Salem and Julie Mohr took junior riders to indoors last year, as well as Sharon Enteen (I believe and I’m probably missing a few more). Your best bet is to schedule a visit with a few of these farms and see who can suit your needs. Good luck!
[QUOTE=Perfect10;6098488]
I didn’t say in the past year. When she was younger, she herself qualified for, and I believe won at least once or twice, at all the national shows. She doesn’t ride herself much anymore, but her students have had great success. Last year, she had the only junior rider in Georgia to go to indoors.[/QUOTE]
The Boggios are from Georgia.
If you’ve got some free time, I’d go to Atlanta Winter II. I was there showing last weekend and most of the barns there were from the area. That might be a good place to start looking… that way, you can meet the trainers and see students in action. Maybe call ahead at a few places and say you’ll be there and you’d be interested in getting to know more about their operations.
