Ideally a person with school horses.
I have checked an older USDF Directory and failed to find anyone, in any dressage capacity in that area or even towards Hilton Head Island.
Is it a Dressage Desert? Does no one speak those funny letters when teaching?
I asked this question once and got zero answers :lol: apparently when I move there (retirement age!) I will be the only one. Or maybe by then it will become a dressage metroplis?!
Sorry, I know that does not help you 
I used to ride with Michelle Folden when I was on that coast, and she’s now working here:
http://www.stonoriverstable.com/
Also, this link might help too:
Yes, we are outnumbered here by hunter/jumper riders by about 200 to 1!!! As for a trainer with schoolmasters in this area, zero that I am aware of. We all basically clinic with Iris Eppinger (who is truly amazing:D) and for more intense training we take the horses down to the farm she works at called Valhalla in Florida. Joan and Erin Brinkman are the owners of the farm. Feel free to PM me if you want, I am in the Hilton Head Island area.
Petra Wilder comes to our farm in Beaufort, SC once a month.
Other than that…yeah, you are shipping out to Aiken, or Columbia…or Fla as in DWB’s case.
Looking For Beginning Dressage Instructor Near Hilton Head
I am new to the Bluffton/Hilton Head area and am looking for a beginning dressage instructor. I have a Peruvian Horse, gaited of course and would like to use the dressage discipline to become a better rider. I am a novice, to say the least. Any ideas? I do not need an Olympic level trainer. DWBLOVER - are you still out there???
Yes LOL I am still out here, but just not in SC anymore! I’m not far though, only in NC now. Look up Sandy Creek Stables and get in touch with Michele Niles-Benedetti. She organizes all the Iris clinics. Iris teaches ALL levels of riders and horses. She is wonderful. And Petra Wilder does also teach ALL over that area, and she will usually travel to you. She is also wonderful and will teach all levels of riders and horses.
[QUOTE=POM;6440102]
I am new to the Bluffton/Hilton Head area and am looking for a beginning dressage instructor. I have a Peruvian Horse, gaited of course and would like to use the dressage discipline to become a better rider. I am a novice, to say the least. Any ideas? I do not need an Olympic level trainer. DWBLOVER - are you still out there???[/QUOTE]
Where did you move from? Tennessee?
Just b/c I’m curious…would any of the dressage people in the Saint Helena-Bluffton-Beaufort area be interested in going to dinner (or drinks) sometime? I’d like to meet more of the dressage crowd in the area as I am still fairly new to it myself.
Sorry for the thread hijack!
Look up Broomfield Stables on FB
It is a wasteland. My husband will be teaching this fall at GSU in Statesboro, which is about an hour west of Savannah. Not even any schooling shows. Sigh…
The Coastal Circuit and the Dogwood Circuit both have shows here, on both sides of the SC/GA line.
And Aiken and Charleston are a little further out, but accessible.
I was born/raised on HHI and must say dressage was a foreign concept until I moved away. We had a dressage instructor come in and clinic once at the jumper barn I was at.
However, Tidelands CT shows have now expanded to the Beaufort area. I would contact Christy Mackenass (sp?) and see who she knows in the area.
I’m up in Summerville now, and I’d love to meet more dressage folks! I use Valerie Swyghert, who travels down here a few times a month. I’ve never ridden with Michelle Folden but ive seen her clinic up in NC and I really like/respect her. But she is very far (2+ hours) from HHI.
Sue Selvey is also in the Charleston area.
But if you’re going to haul 2+ hours to ride with an instructor, I encourage you to go west to Aiken/Augusta. Valerie teaches out that way and that’s the horse Mecca.
Hope that helps!
These posts are all a bit older. We are moving to the area soon and I was wondering if there are any new dressage trainers in the area?
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