I am looking for barn for a crossrails rider, wants to show and progress. Close to Princeton, NJ. Would love to find a place with lots of other kids. Wants to eventually get a pony, I guess aunt air in the air, will be providing that at some point.
Please not Hunter Farms… anywhere else?
Really, nowhere to ride in the Princeton area?
Try Black fox farm in Pennington.
[QUOTE=Manahmanah;8899716]
Try Black fox farm in Pennington.[/QUOTE]
I would avoid Black Fox. They may have a lot of kids but I know someone personally who has direct knowledge of their program and how they run their barn. It is not one I would recommend at all.
OP, what is your desired commute distance?
I know one private farm in Pennington that may do lessons on a small scale. Other than that I can’t recommend any lesson programs in the Pennington area.
If you want a program that has groups of kids that go to shows, enough lesson ponies and horses to make it easy to move up the levels, you may need to travel into ringoes or parts of hunterdon county which would be ~1/2 hour drive. If that is of interest, I can give you some specific recommendations.
If you live in Princeton and wouldn’t mind traveling east a bit, others on this board may be able to give you additional ideas.
Duncraven in Titusville
[QUOTE=SnicklefritzG;8899813]
I would avoid Black Fox. They may have a lot of kids but I know someone personally who has direct knowledge of their program and how they run their barn. It is not one I would recommend at all.
OP, what is your desired commute distance?
I know one private farm in Pennington that may do lessons on a small scale. Other than that I can’t recommend any lesson programs in the Pennington area.
If you want a program that has groups of kids that go to shows, enough lesson ponies and horses to make it easy to move up the levels, you may need to travel into ringoes or parts of hunterdon county which would be ~1/2 hour drive. If that is of interest, I can give you some specific recommendations.
If you live in Princeton and wouldn’t mind traveling east a bit, others on this board may be able to give you additional ideas.[/QUOTE]
Do you know anything about Toy Box? They aren’t far from Princeton, I have heard decent things about them but do not have direct experience.
[QUOTE=AliCat;8900160]
Do you know anything about Toy Box? They aren’t far from Princeton, I have heard decent things about them but do not have direct experience.[/QUOTE]
Toy Box is in Ringoes, so completely out of the Pennington/Princeton area that the OP was referring to. The drive might not be too bad depending on the time of day. The owner is an eventer and the barn is on the smaller side in terms of programs. A friend of mine checked it out fairly thoroughly for boarding and really like the facility, but ended up moving out of state.
Maple Run, also in Ringoes, has lesson horses and a lot of eventing enthusiasts. I don’t know what their program is like now that their manager has left to start her own place (with her parents’ help). They are a smaller facility so may not have as much of a group vibe with kids, but worth checking out if you don’t mind a bit longer drive.
OP, I think a lot has to do with what kind of program you want to be in. Do you want there to be a lot of kids your daughter’s same age or level to provide a lot of camaraderie? Do you want to be going to a lot of shows? Or mostly stay at home learning with a core group and maybe only do a bit of traveling off property? That may dictate in which direction you go.
Duncraven has a large program and hosts a lot of nice shows. It’s a nice facility and would be a very reasonable drive from Princeton. They are on the expensive side though. In addition to full board they also require a minimum expenditure per horse per month which can be fulfilled many ways, either lessons or services. So you would be paying out at least $1400 per month once you got a pony. It might be a good place to learn depending on what they have for beginner lesson horses and ponies.
send me a PM if you;d like more recommendations in Ringoes or elsewhere in Hunterdon county.
With backroad navigation over “the mountain”, Toy Box and Maple Run are just as accessible and possibly closer to Princeton than Duncraven with virtually no chance of traffic ever. So I’d say if you have suggestions in that general area, it’s worth sharing.
[QUOTE=AliCat;8900280]
With backroad navigation over “the mountain”, Toy Box and Maple Run are just as accessible and possibly closer to Princeton than Duncraven with virtually no chance of traffic ever. So I’d say if you have suggestions in that general area, it’s worth sharing.[/QUOTE]
If you are looking for recommendations for yourself, send me a PM. 
[QUOTE=SnicklefritzG;8900301]
If you are looking for recommendations for yourself, send me a PM. :)[/QUOTE]
Not at this time, but I’m always interested in barns in the area. Until I started dating someone on “the mountain”, I didn’t realize how easy it is to connect Princeton and Ringoes so I just wanted to point that out.
Briarwood is out of Black River in Ringoes as well. Should be about 30 minutes depending on which side of Princeton you are driving from.
Both Hidden Hills and Brookside Show Stables are in Hillsborough (actually out of the same facility), both trainers are good for a kid to move up from that level. Lots of kids and good lesson horses. Hillsborough should also be about a half hour.
Thanks, I will pass these on. He is eight loves to ride
Hasty Acres in Kingston, lots of lesson horses and kids. It has an indoor and an outdoor arena.
It needs to be a hunter jumper barn, my family lives 5 minutes from Hunter Farms but riding there proved to be crazy. I think that they would like to keep it to about a 30 minute drive if possible. I will pass on the suggestions, thanks.
Whats the scoop on Dapple Hill?
[QUOTE=In the Air;8901034]
Whats the scoop on Dapple Hill?[/QUOTE]
They are in bedminster and would be about 40 mins in perfect traffic conditions (rare on 206).
Id second Duncraven. If your son gets really into it, they have the level of trainers to take him to where he wants to go. It’s also nice that they have the shows there.
I emailed Duncraven last year when I moved to the area, and received one of the snootiest, rudest replies of my life. Your experience may differ.
Maple Run is more eventing, and a smaller program, so not many kids. Toy Box is a beautiful farm, but again I think more eventing.
Equest in Allentown may be getting a bit far, but they are HJ. They seem to be quite a serious program, but they and their clients (including kids) show frequently and do well.
Strangely enough I really enjoyed lessoning at Hunter Farms for a couple of months when I was horseless. Horses for courses I guess
I boarded at Toy Box for quite a few years. Beautiful facility with great care but they don’t push showing, and not many kids there at all.
Hasty Acres has been around for years; not a fancy place but I think they have a larger lesson program.
Briarwood is a bit farther, but an easy drive, over the mountain onto Wertzville Rd. to Rt. 202.
Hi there- new to this forum. My daughter currently rides there and has only had good experiences, but I am concerned after reading this thread. Can you go into detail about the things you have heard? Thanks for your help in advance.
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