My daughter competes successfully in the 1.30 +m jumpers. She is going to college in Ithaca. She will not have her own horse at college right now. She is hoping to make the college team, but wants to take lessons prior to that. She would like to stay close by. (I have very capable friends in Syracuse, if she wants to go that far, but she wants something close, when she cannot get up to Syracuse.) Any hunter/jumper/eq is fine. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!
PMing
Um, I too went to school in Ithaca and unless someone new has moved in I don’t think anyone nearby has a program that would be suitable for what you describe.
I finally just kept my horses in Virginia and rode Thurs - Sun because it was easier than trying to make Ithaca work.
Todd Karn was around for a while after I left but I think he is gone again.
I, too, was there a while back. IMO, all of the trainers there are home grown. If you want a better-educated set, I think you’ll have to travel.
If I were doing the jumpers, I’d not to go to the obvious place in town. And I’d also pursue that “educated” trainer that I’m talking about. Mainly, I mean someone who knows how to get a horse broke and well-conditioned on the flat, and who knows the value of good dressage. In general (and in Ithaca) you can find the kind of jumper training that’s a little more “git-r-done” because they don’t have the dressage education.
Thank you everyone! I welcome more responses, as well.
She has had the privilege of riding and showing with some exceptional trainers and coaches. She is not expecting that caliber. I want her to get to ride in a “safe” situation (ie reasonable lesson horses and instructor with good judgement and nothing too extreme).
I went to school in Syracuse (mumblety) years ago. I rode at three barns there for a short amount of time and enjoyed all of them. I can’t for the life of me tell you the names of them. One was the barn that 'Cuse’s IHSA team rode out of and the other was the barn that 'Cuse’s riding classes were offered through. The third was just a trail riding outfit that I had a blast with. Once they saw I could ride, they handed me tough horses and told me to have at it. The IHSA barn was about a 30 minute drive from Syracuse proper and the other was closer, maybe 15 minutes. I know that’s not helpful for Ithaca, but perhaps your daughter’s school (not sure which one she’s attending) would have similar contacts with local barns.
Good Luck. I just graduated, and during my time in Ithaca could not find a suitable place to board my horse that I felt I could trust, and I believe I looked at just about everything in the area. I ended up leaving the horse home and riding Thursday night-Sunday.
Not sure which school she is attending, but if she is riding for Cornell their program is quite extensive compared to other IHSA programs and she very well may not have time to ride elsewhere.
If she likes the coach for the college team, why not start riding with him/her sooner and more regularly? Especially if there’s no other adequate farms in the near vicinity.
I rode with my college coaches more than just my scheduled one hour, once a week team lesson at both colleges I attended during my undergrad. I was competitive and wanted to ride more. Most coaches are happy to accommodate more lessons 
Todd is still around -he is based out of Galemont Farm (used to be Sorrell Hill Farm) in Warners, right outside of Syracuse.
If you don’t mind the drive, the Maddens’s farm is in Cazenovia, NY, possibly the same driving time as Syracuse.
