My daughter is a first year student at NYU and has moved her horse (a 1.10m jumper) to Essex Equestrian Center so that she can ride a few days per week. She has a car in the city and can get to the Holland Tunnel (or Lincoln Tunnel) fairly quickly. Essex has worked out well so far, but its not a full-service barn, so she is finding herself time-constrained with the grooming. She also finds the traffic up to Essex heavier than expected – it sometimes takes her 50 minutes each way. Are there any good full-service barns along the Turnpike or Rte 78 that are within reasonable drive from New York City (1 hour or less)? She would prefer a barn where the trainers don’t decamp to Florida for the winter months.
Have heard good things about:
Windham Hill http://windhamhill.net (May be >1 hour)
and
Ri-Arm: http://www.riarmfarm.com/
Michael & Michael at Windham Hill are wonderful. Redfield in Califon is also a very popular choice for NYC based folks.
I can personally recommend Ithilien in Whitehouse; amazing care and training and a great group of NYC riders. I’ve gotten there in 45 min from the Village with no traffic.
Lots of options, and some good ones already recommended—but the drive isn’t going to get any easier than 45-50 minutes, unfortunately. Just a fact of city life.
2 Likes
I boarded at Essex for a summer when I lived in the city. The drive is really one of the better ones available. The only one that is reliably better is Bergen Equestrian Center - although I’m not sure who the trainers are there now.
Will Baker at Coast to Coast Equestrian is only 45 minutes from the city. https://coasttocoastequestrian.com
1 Like
As sarah said I’m a Grand Prix rider and am only 45 min from the city. We offer full care training and board. I have numerous clients that commute from the city and the drive is very easy. Please feel free to give me a call anytime!
804-514-2617
1 Like
I strongly recommend Jenn Tirrell at Signature Stables in Tewskbury, NJ - access off Rt. 78 on an amazing property with an indoor and plenty of outdoor rings. Jenn has big barn credentials with a proven show record, and you get personalized care only found as smaller facilities. She instills confidence, and good horsemanship in all her students (adults to kids), and former students (aka - the adults) seek her out for lessons, horse shopping, and coaching at horse shows when they see her. The horses look and perform better under her management, and you can TRUST her with your horse for full care. She has a Facebook page with farm pictures and information and you can google her to see her list of accomplishments. She is worth the call and a visit to her farm.
Is she no longer at Redfield?
Palermo Show Stable in Bedminster. I work there, feel free to PM with any questions. It’s a beautiful facility, full service and the head trainer is a very successful international Grand Prix rider.
I’m not far, I’ll do the work! 
Joey Currais and Penny Kinnally are both at Bergen Equestrian Center, but I think they both leave for the winter. I know Joey Currais leaves an assistant home though.
I can’t recommend any barns but just adding that the NYU IHSA team rides at Essex so if she had any interest in joining (which as an NYU alumni member, I can highly recommend!) Essex could be more convenient.
A big thanks to all of you for some great suggestions. For now we are going to try to work out a custom quasi-full service option at Essex and see how it goes.
For the NYU Alum: My daughter did IEA for the first three years of high school and was not a fan, even though she did really well. I think it was too much disorganization and waiting around. However, she would really like to meet NYU’s IHSA team members. She was hoping to meet some fellow equestrians at NYU, but all sports are on hold due to covid, unfortunately.
A big thanks to all of you for some great suggestions. For now we are going to try to work out a custom quasi-full service option at Essex and see how it goes.
For the NYU Alum: My daughter did IEA for the first three years of high school and was not a fan, even though she did really well. I think it was too much disorganization and waiting around. However, she would really like to meet NYU’s IHSA team members. She was hoping to meet some fellow equestrians at NYU, but all sports are on hold due to covid, unfortunately.
