Hunter Jumper Barns in NC

[rose_33]

Hi!

I have already made a post about this, but I wanted to make one more to see if anyone else had anymore info.

I am looking for a serious hunter/eq barn near Raleigh, NC. I understand this area does not have much but I am willing to drive as far as a hour for a good barn. Again near Raleigh, NC.

Here are some things I am looking for:
-A good trainer with experience.
-A nice, well kept barn (possibly with an indoor ring.)
-Goes to ‘AA’ and ‘A’ shows along the east cost (WEF, WEC, Tryon, Aiken, etc.)
-A good program

I am not very familiar with the area, but I will be moving there this summer. I know this will be hard to find in the area but if anyone knows anybody LMK!!!

[StormyDay]

Marilee Ventura/ByWay Farms. She is excellent and attends many of the local AA rated shows (tryon, all the shows in Raleigh, Washington international, Upperville, etc). I highly recommend her. She doesn’t got south for the winter, but she has connections if you want to do that. It’s just usually not necessary in that part of the world; there’s maybe a 2 month ‘break’ in Jan/feb and then the regular show season is back on.

She doesn’t have an indoor, but realistically it’s not necessary there. It’s uncommon to have persistent gross weather.

[dags]

I know of several great barns in NC but, for your specific requests, I’d recommend Apex Equestrian. They’re about 15 minutes from the airport in (fittingly) Apex, NC. Haven’t been to the property but have worked with trainer Scott Diffey to market some of their sale horses & found him very open & honest & quite nice to boot. They just returned from WEC Ocala with Tryon & Kentucky next on the sched.

[silver_charm]

Apex is great but not sure if Scott does hunters? Everyone I know there is an AA/AO jumper, but I admittedly lost track after Kyle left. ETA they have a teeny tiny indoor, but the footing in the main ring is exceptional and can be used in most weather.

Fetching Hat Farm is where I’m at, we have two trainers so that one mostly handles the local shows and one does the A shows. They go to Tryon all the time, Florida is a possibility depending on the number of people interested in going. Most of us are jumpers but there’s a group of hunters and eq kids and both trainers can ride and train for all rings. We have an indoor which is great when the winter rainy season kicks in.

[CBoylen]

You can get to SP/Aberdeen in a little over an hour and ride with Tommy Serio. The extra 20 minutes is probably worth it. I don’t think many other people in that area now have a hunter program that goes to WEF.

[dags]

@silver_charm

Apex is great but not sure if Scott does hunters? Everyone I know there is an AA/AO jumper, but I admittedly lost track after Kyle left.

True. I did kinda skim over the hunter/eq part of OP’s request.

[rose_33]

I did look at Apex, but they seem to only do jumpers, do you know of any other barns?

[rose_33]

Awesome thank you, I have seen something on safesport about him though… Anyone know about that? Does he have a website?

[CBoylen]

Tommy is currently showing. You can make your own judgements regarding the safe sport case that is well documented.
He doesn’t need a website.

[ElementFarm]

I second Merilee Ventura. While she generally stays closer to home (does Raleigh, CHP, KHP, Tryon) she has sooo many connections she could find you a good match for Florida. Her farm isn’t’ fancy, but it’s safe and the horses all love her program.

Harold Chopping is local, and he’s on the road showing a lot.

Tommy Serio, as already mentioned, is also local. He winters in FL and summers in NC. He’s off the suspension list now, and is riding/taking clients to shows.

I’ve had no personal experience, but Jamestown Equestrian Center seems to do well at the shows I’ve seen them in.

We’re lucky to have decent rated and schooling shows in the area (using the same jumps, facilities, and judges), and there are several good programs in the area that don’t go to WEF. If you’re okay with just meeting up someone down south for a few shows, that opens up a lot of options for you in RDU and SP.

[touchstone]

Laurel Tinney at Mission Hill Farm would check a lot of your boxes, except for WEF. Really wonderful people and program.

[rose_33]

I would probably be open to meeting up with someone to go down South, what are the other trainers in the area?

[rose_33]

I have looked at her and she looks great!!

[Midge]

Mike Rosser is also in Southern Pines and goes to Ocala in the winter then Aiken, Tryon, Blowing Rock, etc in the summer.

[Legacy1576]

Hey! My name is Laura Gaither Ulrich. I’m the trainer at Fox View Farm (fvfhorses.com). We currently have a waitlist, but I’d check out Lauren Hill, Laurel Tinny, or Tony Albertson. There are a bunch of other great ones, but they were the first to come to mind.

[rose_33]

Hi! I have looked at the Fox View Farm website it looks great! Is there a way to apply for the waitlist, or is it closed off? Thank you for the suggestions!

[Limerick]

An excellent trainer who has not been mentioned is Quiet Meadow with Bob Savage. Bob is very detailed regarding equitation and the horse’s way of going. He was quite the Equitation star when he was in his teens and still rides very well. He also trained with Merilee Ventura who is, in my opinion, the most knowledgeable Hunter/equitation trainer in the area. Bob is in Pittsboro and Merilee is in Carthage. They are both worth considering. Good luck with your search. Feel free to PM me. We lived in the Triangle for 17 years and competed at both C and A shows.

[Anne]

Some great suggestions here; I am with CBoylen laughing at the idea that Tommy needs a website.

[rose_33]

Haha, sorry I wasn’t sure!

[SMRaven]

I would also highly recommend Laurel Tinney. She is excellent and her horses are very well taken care of. Mostly hunters. They will occasionally send clients to FL in the winter if there is enough interest, and she’s very connected and willing to send clients to show with other trainers if that is the best option.