My niece is 17 and began riding during COVID. She is a novice (jumping 2’6) and is looking for a lesson barn within 40-minutes of Ellicott City where she can gain confidence and experience with a great trainer and school horses. She’s open to eventing as well. I looked through older posts but thought it would be worth checking for any suggestions not already mentioned!
What are her goals? Does she want to show? Will she ride school horses exclusively or will she be able to lease or purchase eventually?
Off the top of my head, there’s Clover Luck in Ellicott City (off Manor Lane) and The Other Left in Burtonsville. They’ve both have some very nice lesson horses and from what I’ve seen of their riders, some excellent instruction.
Kim Williams at Willow Wood in Woodbine is also excellent, but I have no idea if she has lesson horses anymore and it’s definitely more of a show barn.
Thank you! I passed those on. While I’m sure she would like to have her own horse that’s probably not in the cards financially. She’s done some half-leases and is a working student at a local barn that she likes, but that barn isn’t able to offer the kind of instruction she would like to continue improving. I’ve been encouraging her to look into IEA and Clover Luck looks like they have a team, so I am hopeful that might be a good fit!
I know both the Other Left and Clover Luck through an adult catch ride league, so I have gotten to ride a couple of horses at each barn in shows. Both owners are also good friends with my primary equitation instructor and she can’t say enough good things about both of them. I think both do have IEA teams and I’m pretty sure the Other Left also is the IHSA barn for at least one college in the area. Whether she winds up at one them or not, I hope she finds a good fit - I know how hard it can be especially when you’re outgrowing a barn you like.
