I know Texas is a big state but I am curious.
What are some of the best hunter/jumper barns in Texas?
I am originally from the Southwest but showed mostly in CO, AZ, and NM.
You’re right… Texas is big!
In the Houston area the biggest trainers I am aware of are Peter Pletcher and Will Roberts. Also Marteen Van Der Hoven (no idea how to spell that) and I’m sure some other good ones.
In the Austin area the only trainer I am really aware of is Kelly Lorek who has some nice horses.
Around Dallas there are a bunch of trainers, Matt Cyphert, Jim and Joan Hensen, Laura Hightower, Chris Nelson, Glenn & Kelly Ronden, Julie Cleveland then Courtney Calcagnini is further north but seems really good as well.
Of course some are better than others but I don’t want to step on any toes voicing my opinions on here.
You can see a full list of the Texas trainers with their websites at thja.org
Obviously it depends on what area you’re looking in, but the Houston and Dallas/Ft. Worth areas have a decent amount of trainers. I know a lot about trainers in Houston and there are tons of options for different levels of showing, training, etc. There are also a lot of schooling and B/C shows, but not a whole lot of A shows in the Houston area, though there are some in Tyler, Dallas, and Waco.
sent you a PM
I used to live in the Austin area, and I trained with Jen Shaw. Just like any circuit and any trainer, people have different opinions about her, but after training with many other trainers, I found her to be very straight forward, a great and supportive coach for myself, takes great care of her horses, and has really nice horses at her barn. She consistently places well at the A shows and always has a rider at Zone Finals. Also competes on the East Coast if the rider is interested.
As for the other areas of Texas, I bought a really nice horse from Peter Pletcher once. He does really well even on a national level. My trainer here in California knows of him and thinks he is really good. For Dallas, I am mainly aware of Mike McCormick, but I have heard he is pretty intense when coaching.
Houston area also there’s Christian Rogge (top line sporthorse), Stephanie and Palo Tropia (clear round show jumpers)
Celine Burch and Mike McCormick also in Dallas area.
Everyone knows I wear my I heart Celine sandwich board and ring her bell. Celine is awesome. She’s been a huge help to me when nobody else would touch me because I taught lessons at a neighboring barn which did Pony Club stuff. Go figure.
Jo Beard has moved locations and is ramping back up to go out to shows full-time again. I ride with her now and she’s got my beast who adores her.
But yeah, North Texas is very lucky to have a wide variety of awesome trainers. The Hensens seems like uber cool people.
[QUOTE=Wizard of Oz’s;5627521]
There are also a lot of schooling and B/C shows, but not a whole lot of A shows in the Houston area, though there are some in Tyler, Dallas, and Waco.[/QUOTE]
Not exactly true. Very few A shows in the Dallas area, quite a few in Katy (Houston).
http://thja.org/Shows/2011%20Show%20Dates.htm
A complete list of trainers that attend at least some A shows in Texas.
if you know Dallas pretty well please PM me on who is the best big time trainer in DFW area for serious showing. thank you
worldclass…Matt Cyphert, hands down.
Opinions aside, some would argue that Mike McCormick and Tracey Fenney are up there with Matt Cyphret. Jim and Joan Hensen also do a lot of showing as does Chris Nelson, who is up and coming. Two others to look at would be Glenn and Kelly Ronden as well as Jordan Siegeil and Laura Hightower.
It’s honestly all about what program fits you and your horse best. There are a lot of good trainers with winning clients in the Dallas area.
[QUOTE=Nickelodian;5642629]
Opinions aside, some would argue that Mike McCormick and Tracey Fenney are up there with Matt Cyphret.[/QUOTE]
I would agree with this. Mike and Tracey do quite well and have nice horses in their barn in my opinion.
Can someone recommend a barn in Dallas area that has a good assistant trainer who stays at home with clients when lead trainer is away at shows? Someone who could help this re-rider get up to speed over fences so that I can eventually attend shows? : )
Seems like most programs in area do not have anyone in place to assist us with less mileage.
Appreciate your recommendations!
[QUOTE=worldclass777;5640838]
if you know Dallas pretty well please PM me on who is the best big time trainer in DFW area for serious showing. thank you[/QUOTE]
Best trainer for hunters or jumpers?
Mike McCormick and Tracy Fenney don’t take any new clients to the best of my knowledge. Matt Cypert is primarily jumper focused.
I love Stacie Goodson and her barn is almost exclusively adult riders, which is a plus if you’re an adult and don’t want to ride with a bunch of kids.
Chris Nelson is no longer in the Dallas area, I heard he moved to Louisiana.
I hope this helps. Send me a PM if you want more details.
Bob Brawley at Brawley Farms is new to this area from California but one of my old riding students is now a working student there and she’s very happy. I’ve watched videos of he and his partner ride and they both seem like very nice riders. I do think that they are gone quite a lot as well though.
Becky Sanoja is another very nice trainer over in Wylie. She owns Bryherstone Farms and is mostly jumpers. She travels to larger shows as well but has a very intimate program. One of the few trainers I’ve gone to that I gave her an idea of how I needed my lesson to go (for confidence reasons) and she gave me exactly what I asked for.
Mike is… a bit crazy? xP He’s actually been banned from many show grounds in the area (or he was a few years back) for some of the things he did 
I dont hate the guy as I did get a hell of a deal on a horse from him and he can get results… just in a very different way.
I’m just north of DFW and can give you some good and bad trainers if you PM me 
I’m in the same situation with the re-rider wantin to eventually show again ^-^
LOL! That’s a subtle way of putting it… I hear stories ALL the time. My trainer works closely with him and someone was like “you should go when he does and just observe.” NO THANKS!!! I already had my 2 years of dealing with a different crazy trainer…
You all are scaring me with the wacky trainer talk…any strong academy programs that serve up competitive AA riders in the area? Should I consider NTEC in Wylie?
[QUOTE=ballisticgirl;6331291]
You all are scaring me with the wacky trainer talk…any strong academy programs that serve up competitive AA riders in the area? Should I consider NTEC in Wylie?[/QUOTE]
Academy programs with an AA focus are one area that Dallas lags behind in, IMO. (That’s asking for a lot almost anywhere, really.)
Do you have a horse or no? I can PM you some recs if you have a horse and are interested in being in a program as opposed to just lessons.
