Sorry guys. I know what you mean.
We canât tell in advance what the best barn will be for you. Only you can discover that. We can however give you tips about how to go on that process of discovery. These tips are ultimately more useful to you long term than simply a barn recommendation that happened to work for a friend of a friend.
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We would all rather not have to try 20 barns. But I would rather try 20 barns and find the one thatâs right for me than only go to one, try to deal with a program, horses, or trainers who arenât a good fit for me, and be miserable about the sport I love. So thatâs the wisdom Iâm sharing here. If you tried 20 barns, you would know a TON about the programs and options in your area. You might also be really sick of making your parents drive you every barn in your area. There are benefits and drawbacks.
As someone who has been riding for roughly twice as long as you have been alive, I have had the experience of finding a barn that looked great at first, only to find that it wasnât right for me. Best to go and look. You want everything to be just right the first time. I appreciate your energy and enthusiasm, and I have every sympathy for your impatience. But thatâs why you want someone to tell you where to ride, and why you got upset with me for suggesting that you make some barn visits - youâre impatient, and that could cause problems with this process. Do you want to stick to the first barn you ride at no matter what, or do you want to find a barn with an amazing instructor and a bunch of awesome school horses who can teach you - PERSONALLY, YOU, as you are - safely and effectively so that you have an amazing and awesome time in this sport? You might get both, but itâs a long shot.
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All good OP. Just remember many of us have been riding for longer than youâve been alive as the poster above me said. We are all here to help each other. As a new poster we donât know you here yet so we donât know what you know.
Thanks guys.
This^^^^ 1st lessons at new barns are normally on a very quiet horse, so trainer can evaluate you. Assume the 1st lesson horse you get, and things you are asked to do will be pretty basic for the first lesson. It may seem like a dumbed down lesson at first, or âthey treated me like a beginnerâ, but realize that 99 percent of people that are novices, will overestimate their ability (ie, someone that went on a trail ride at a horseback riding rental place) a couple of times will say they are experienced/intermediate. So trainers have to protect themselves, the horse, and the rider by starting pretty much everyone on a very safe, quiet horse. Your 2, 3rd and 4th rides will be more representative of what the lessons there will be like.
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jetsmom, thanks. I figured that.
https://www.horseproperties.net/properties/New+Hampshire/Rockingham+County/Chester/32413
Senator Bell farm is a very nice facility - well-known in the area. Not sure of their future plans but it has been on the market for quite awhile.
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Senator Bell is a super nice facility - well-known in the area. Not sure of their plans but it has been on the market for quite awhile.
Wait, what do you mean " on the market?" Are they selling?
Itâs been listed for sale for less than a year - havenât heard anything recently but itâs on all the real estate sites (for just a speck under $2M). No clue what the owners are planning to do but theyâve had that place a long time. You can google it and youâll see a bunch of photos of the facility - it really is nice with a good reputation.
On their website they say nothing about planning to sell it. Are you sure this is Senator Bell Stables in Chester, NH?
Well you wouldnât put up that information on the website because it would scare off clients.
Big equestrian properties take a long time to sell. I wouldnât worry. Go enjoy your lessons.
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ok. good God that scared the crap out of me. I was like " What the hell? I just found this place!!" LOL.
Thinking you need to open your mind up. You have decided on âBiomechanicsâ without any experience based comparisons and condemned the use of sticks or spurs period. Despite not understanding how they can function as an extension of the aids and not as cruelty.
Open your mind so your trainers can teach you, donât walk in and dictate to them how they will teach you and what you refuse to learn. Remember you are on their horse as well. Most barns donât have by the ride school horses any more. If you find one, cherish it.
These days many, many large pieces of horse property are going to be for sale whether publicized or not. Besides that, trainers have lifestyle changes, as you just learned, and can go broke, get sick or even die like my long time trainer did. Another place where you need to keep an open mind. Always visit enough places to know where you would go if you had to move again, donât get caught as you are now scrambling to find a new place to ride .
A hint when reviewing lesson prices, read carefully, use of their horse to lesson on may or may not be included in the published prices. It will be there somewhere but look for â not including use of horseâ or â use of horse includedâ or âuse of horseâ prices listed seperate from the lesson prices.
You have many years, many horses and many trainers ahead in your life. Each one will teach you something but only if you are willing to listen and learn.
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Yes iâm sure. Driven by the place a gazillion times and like mentioned above itâs not something you would list on your business website. Google search it and youâll see the listing. Would it worry me? No. Massive facilities like that can take a very long time to sell as very few buyers are in the market for a place like that.
Sometimes new buyers keep the horse business and sell off the rest of the property. Itâs makes no sense to pass on looking at a lesson barn because it is for sale. Now, if you were brining in your own horse as a boarding client, it might. BUT you have to move in 3 months so you might want to take a chance even as an owner in this situation.
As mentioned, these take a very long time to sell and donât always close when expected or at all and going into winter in New England is not prime buying season. Donât worry about it, learn what you can while it is there.
I have not completely refused to learn to use spurs or crops or anything like that. I am fine in using them as an extension of aids, but not as cruelty. And I have had comparison lessons when it comes to biomechanics. The first place I learned to ride at told me to pull on the horses mouth with reins to make it do anything. That is not correct. prefer biomechanics, it just makes sense to me.
No reputable lesson barn teaches their students to use spurs or a crop âcruellyâ so you donât have to worry about that. You will probably not be using spurs for awhile yet.
As a beginning rider youâll need to go into your lessons with an open mind. You have heard from people here, that this barn provides good instruction. Just as you want a good instructor, instructors want good students.
Good luck. I hope you find a barn that you love.
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Pulling on the reins to make it do anything is not a training theory, itâs just an ignorant and lazy instructor making a few bucks taking advantage of young people who desperately want to ride.
Not familiar with â biomechanicsâ but it is possibly just another way of expressing classical theory that has been proven to work since Alexander the Great turned the â wildâ stallion to face to the sun so it would quit spooking at itâs shadow circa, like, 300 BCE or so. Pretty sure as soon as Egypt got the wheel at least a thousand years before that, they figured out it was easier and more productive to make the chariot team want to perform then force them.
Nothing is really new, we just understand it better.
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