Maybe it is because I do not live in the area in question but I can totally see someone moving to my area and making a similar post. They landed in one of the more relaxed type boarding facilities and they are looking for something that is more serious show type atmosphere.
Searching for a barn with the care you want can be difficult if you have lived somewhere your whole life. I can imagine it is extra hard when you have moved somewhere new.
Even as a recent resident of Colorado, I find the tone of the OP’s post insulting.
There are many roads to good horsemanship. It would be wise to spend your time in CO trying to learn from how different parts of the country do things differently, and why. I know I have.
One thing I’ve learned is that the old school, east coast hunter/jumper way of doing things is many times more about human preferences than horse’s comforts. I’ll take a dusty horse who spent his day in the field and came in mud caked without groom service where the rider worked for 45 minutes to at least get him this clean over a scrupulously clean horse who gets out for an hour a day and is constantly poked and prodded by his grooms to maintain his perfect image…but that’s just me.
Oh, I have lived here for over 50 years. Born and raised in Golden. I grew up with the McConnell boys. I know who has been moving in and out for all the decades. The OP struck me exactly like Helen Krieble did when she took over High Prairie (now Colorado Horse Park) when she said her daughter was going to show us “backyarders” how it is done back east.
As you can see, I have no problem helping the OP even if I don’t agree with her tone in the original post. Regretfully, she also moved to an area devoid of horses (relative to how it was in the 70s and 80s) as most serious barns have moved southeast to Parker/Elizabeth/Castle Rock.
You’ll appreciate this, then–even after being at several “fancy” barns, my horse and I were happiest and most relaxed at Table Mesa in Golden! Such nice people, and really good care.
I cringe at that comment by Helen. The trainer/stable I was with at HPF was pretty damn fancy and micromanaged every moment of the horses’ lives. So much so that they hated it when I showed up to groom Will myself. 
(Though I will say that his chrome was never so white again!)I can’t imagine more intensive care.
We used to ride from Hillcroft to TMR as kids. My sister lives next door to it.
To the OP, I might also suggest you go to the Colorado Horse Park these next two weeks for the “A” shows there. You will be able to see and meet trainers with who you might want to train.
I totally get having the impression the OP does. I myself had it once. However, I never voiced it. It is difficult finding new places when you don’t know the area, but if BNT blah blah East Coast is so important then I’m sure one of the East Coast BNTs can recommend someone to the OP.
I say this as someone who left a wonderful no name trainer in WA State who helped me find a trainer across the country.
And an FYI-- sometimes a culture of allotta Dexamethasone plays a part in show horses getting lots of scratches. That’s all I’m saying. Signed, someone who watched a lot of horses getting legs scrubbed at lot, often with sores on 'em, on wash racks in New York.
Now, now. One thing that some parts of the East Coast has is enough grass! Having grown up in California where there was lots of money and sophistication… but not enough water to be had for any price, I could appreciate the effects of Enough Water and how that helps horse-keeping. Now, residing in the PNW, I can see why Too Much Rain (plus clay) suck.
I moved out here from the east coast (SC) 6 years ago. I showed the circuit there and had in my head a certain expectation about horsemanship.
It didn’t take long for me to realize that horsekeeping in this climate is very different. I adjusted my expectations and made do and several boarding barns that (IMO) weren’t up to snuff.
I have since found a show barn in Fort Collins that is perfect for me. The horses are immaculately cared for but gasp live outside in a herd. The lesson kids are taught proper horsekeeping but the horses aren’t always spotlessly clean. There isn’t a groom on site but the kids ride well and the program is more than solid.
I think you need to adjust your expectations a bit OP. There’s a reason people do things a little differently out here.
I’m not sure why people are thinking I’m looking to be fed with a silver spoon when I clearly listed out the basics I’m looking for. I don’t think it’s too much to expect the bits and bridles are clean and the lesson horse is thoroughly brushed before a lesson. And that there is basic good flatwork that happens before jumping. That is pretty much literally all I’m asking for.
I also, again, never said that it didn’t exist - just that I was having trouble finding them.
That said, I have been getting some good recommendations for some places with solid basics in place (thanks to all who gave them!) and I’ve got a few trial lessons lined up.
I’m here in CO now and I love it and I have no intention of being combative. Clearly my original post offended folks and had a different connotation than I intended or my mentioning the East Coast raised hackles (which I was not expecting). I’m sorry that happened it was never my intention.
OP the way you framed your post insinuated that most people in CO don’t do the things you are looking for. You also insinuated that if people don’t do these things or require them they obviously are not top notch riders/trainers/horseman. MVP nailed it with the leg washing. I’m a native New Englander, started in H/J in the late 80s, groomed up and down the East Coast and did not actually see a case of scratches until two years ago when I lived in Washington. I have never heard of leg washing after every ride until now. That is why you got the reaction you did.
Limit things to here’s my background, these are my goals, talk training philosophy, talk about the program you need to be in etc. You’ll be surprised where you find what you are looking for.
Good luck in your search and keep an open mind.
Because your post implied that people who don’t do things exactly how you are used to “don’t get it” and have poor horsemanship. Again, there’s many different ways to skin a cat, and the signs of good horsemanship exceed grooming preferences and regional norms.
Colorado has way less full service barns than the east coast. There’s a heavy presence of DIY-ers and a ton of people who keep their horses at home. A lot of horse spend most of their time outside being horses, and the management reflects that. It’s different. It’s not better-than OR worse-than, but you need to respect that people who do things differently don’t necessarily have poor horsemanship skills.
In fact, I would maintain that people who keep their horses at home doing all their own care could have excellent horsemanship skills, regardless of whether the tack is ready to be inspected by GHM himself.
The reality is that presenting the perfect A circuit appearance at every moment of every day is something that is oftentimes created by heavy professional management and professional grooms.
I have 3 horses at home. My husband and I do all the chores and care ourselves. Our horses are happy and healthy and we know them inside and out from caring for them 24/7. Between maintaining a small farm and a full time job, my tack doesn’t get cleaned after every ride. Probably after every 3rd ride or so. And while I prefer my mare to always be well groomed, when she comes inside from her 12 hour turnout literally caked in chunks of clay, I have to decide if it’s most important to make her look beautiful or most important to get her clean enough and get a ride in. Etc. And I certainly don’t wash her legs every ride, as out here where water is a precious resource, that would be wasteful if done when not necessary. I also don’t clip her ears down since she’s turned out 12-14 hours a day and there’s bugs unless she’s showing. And because it’s so dry here, I don’t brush her tail every ride because her hair is more brittle here than it was in the Midwest and breaks easily (even though that drives me crazy, lol). But essentially, although perhaps unintentionally, your original post says that people like me “don’t get it” and don’t have horsemanship skills that match your standards.
Sure, barns should teach kids to clean tack and to clean their horses. But having been at several barns around here, I’ve yet to see lesson kids riding around on filthy horses with disgusting tack. Ready for an A circuit barn? No, but it doesn’t always have to be. And furthermore, if you stop to listen and watch and look past the cosmetic things, you’ll learn that there may be reasons behind why things are done differently - or bigger hills to die on than a barn full of spit-shined bits.
Fair enough! But what you listed were not basics. They were your expectations.
What got me was the written statement “solid horsecare basics (i.e. always clean your tack after a lesson, horse is spotless for a lesson, wash legs post ride, etc) and riding basics (hands together and steady, horse forward and straight, etc).” signified good horsemanship/riding skills because the trainers “got it.”
For example, I kept my FEI horse at a very low level barn. I did all the work myself. And FEI requirements, e.g. zero tolerance for medications, formal jog ups with immediate elimination, etc. make the “A” show hunters look like a walk in the park. And yet, I played against the some of the best in the world in those days. There were competitions where I was the only “green tag” truck and trailer (what we joke about being from Colorado) on the show grounds.
I never wash my horses’ legs after a lesson unless it is a hot day. We don’t have this issues here. Nor did/do I always have a spotless horse, even when I rode/ride with Olympic judges/trainers. Maybe I get away with if because I know them on a personal level and am involved with national governance of the sport.
Things like “hands together” is not always good, or even appropriate, riding. One must be able to move the hands independently, to use the seat and leg independently to ride. A straight horse is also a braced horse. We are not as backwards as the statement implies when considered in the context of your thread title.
As I noted, you moved to a bit of a h/j desert in Boulder. There is a reason I moved south of Denver.
Hopefully, this allows you to understand my initial ire. Now, that is done and over because we are discussing things, I am happy to help!
Again, spend a few days at the horse park and you will see a majority of the “A” show trainers around here. That is a good “interview” process. Good luck! And I will see you around!
Reed Ayers
With all due respect, I don’t think you have an appreciation of the way your prose raise hackles. You subtract the offending “basics include soaping off legs after each ride” here. You could have omitted that in the beginning and found plenty of people agreeing with the rest of it-- wanting good flat work and clean bits (at least). Perhaps its genuinely unclear to you, but asking in your title that these barns “get it”–implies that what you have experienced counts as the universal “It” of horsemanship.
I say this as someone who also has moved to a market with, IMO, lower standards of care than I want. And I’m sure there is a person or two whom I have met and who has felt my contempt. But here I am, so I have to learn to get along. And sometimes folks in the new place can add something to our horsemanship that we didn’t learn in another community/environment.
To get back to the original topic, Tracye Ferguson in Golden/Arvada (mentioned several times) is great. Expects you to care for your horse, teaches quality flatwork, is a good old fashioned horsewoman and all around fun trainer. Debbie Bergman (same barn) is the same way. I used to ride with them and learned a ton and loved their approach!
It sounds to me like OP ended up at a barn with low end horsemanship and was perhaps unaware not washing legs every ride isn’t the norm. Maybe she really is having bad luck and only ending up at places with poor horsemanship and bad teaching, not these places with great horsemanship but that are a little different from the East Coast that everyone is suggesting. She didn’t say anything about looking for a place with full grooming, individual turnout, etc.
Thanks for all of the recommendations! I think I’ve found a home with Claire and Courtney at Front Range Show Stables. .
Agree. Horses’ ankles and feet should be kept dry. No wonder so many people can’t have barefoot horses.
This post is nearly seven years old.
Oops, deleted my response as I didn’t notice the age after it was bumped up!
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