Dressage Trainers Scottsdale AZ

Hello fellow equestrians!

I’m moving to the Scottsdale/Cave Creek area in early March. I’m looking for trainer and/or boarding recommendations. I have a barn in mind, but I want to make the best decision possible. I have a six year old mare and we’re showing 2nd level dressage. I’m looking for a trainer who will set my mare and I up for success and help develop us up the levels.

Here’s what I’m looking for:

  • Active in showing: I want a trainer that shows on a regular basis.
  • Young rider friendly
  • All levels; training to Grand Prix
  • (Possibly) Boarding available

Who do you recommend? Can you give me some pointers? Who has a good name and who doesn’t?

Thank you!

I am not sure what you mean by “(possibly) boarding available”. In the Arizona dressage scene, it’s very rare for a trainer to own their own facility. Most trainers here train out of boarding barns that allot them a specific or unspecific number of stalls. Several of the big barns also host other trainers, such as jumpers, western disciplines, Arabian breed specific, etc. That is sort of how it generally works here, most of the time.

I do know a couple of dressage trainers who own their own small barns and have arenas on site. It’s rare but there are a handful.

PM me for any specific names. My own trainer does not have any room in her schedule right now but she has an assistant trainer with whom she works, and I do believe the barn they train out of in Scottsdale has room and, that the assistant also has openings in her schedule. And they both definitely work with Young Riders. I am part of the West-Side contingent so I am not always up on what happens on the Scottsdale side of the business (my trainer teaches out of three barns) but it’s very easy for me to find out.

I’m glad to share more specifics and there are several local people I can recommend other than my own trainer as well as a few I would steer away from.

If you are looking to find your own boarding facility at which no dressage trainer is based, or, to have your horse at home and a trainer to come to you, then you are going to be much more limited in your choices. Most of the more accomplished dressage trainers here aren’t able to travel to teach one client. That has been my experience, anyway.

If you want to ride and train here year 'round, it does help to select a facility with a covered arena. Those tend to be the larger facilities with more going on, like I referenced in the first paragraph.

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Lots of really good and highly qualified trainers in this area. Feel free to PM me…I have been here 20 years and have boarded and trained with almost all of them at some point. I think personality, teaching style and associated facilities are often deciding factors. There are a few trainers who head to California for 4 months during the summer so that may or may not be a consideration for you.

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I think if you get a chance you should visit with several trainers. Silverbridge and JLR1 ride with my two favorite Scottsdale area trainers, but there are quite a few so you should be able to find the one who fits well with your personality and needs. Since you do want one who actively shows, getting out to shows may also help you get an impression of where you want to go.

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I know several trainers in that area. I like Juan Lopez Torres and Julie Sodowsky out of all of them. PM me if you want more names.

Another Phoenician chiming in: ditto on the covered arena point. Unless you are planning on living somewhere else in the summer, don’t plan to ride then, or are willing to get up and ride around 6am, you should select a location with a covered. It’s not so much the heat as the laser-like intensity of the sun that is the killer. I drive 25 miles each way to board at a facility with a covered. Worth it. I love my barn for the awesome care my horse receives, and have been there for 14 years.