Lessons Near DC

[blondewithchrome]

Another vote for Meadowbrook, it is a long-time lesson program but as others have said it can be far from where you live depending on where you are in the city, and they only do programs, not drop ins (summer you can do 4 lesson packs but throughout the rest of the year you have to do a set weekly lesson for 32 weeks and it is not cheap).

I agree that PG CO could be a good bet depending on where you are in DC. Also look at Northern VA in the McLean/fairfax area. Rokeby is very close to dc but not sure what lesson horses they have - worth a call! You might also want to give Clairvaux, Jonelle Mullen, and/or Cavallo farm a call - all in Va but within an hour drive of the city, I’d venture a guess. Hope you find a great option!

[dcequestrian]

I don’t think Rokeby has many amateurs. Not sure if that’s important to OP though. Likewise, Clairvaux seems to have mostly juniors but they at least referenced other “grown ups” that rode there and there are other amateurs featured on their social media pages. Jonelle Mullen (TuDane) doesn’t really do lessons unless you’re going to purchase or lease in short order. Cavallo has a separate lesson academy for beginners but if you want to jump higher than 2’, you’re going to have to lease. They do really reasonable half leases though!

[BAC]

Meadowbrook looks like a wonderful place for lessons on school horses based on their website. It appears to check all the boxes for the OP. I wish I lived nearby, it sounds very much like the local riding establishment I spent my junior years riding at.

[gottagrey]

Also OP don’t necessarily discount some smaller places - some may be outside your commute time but I know of a couple places west of the city in Poolesville/Boyds area where trainers have a couple of horses for lessons or have owners who allow their horses to be used in lessons. The places I know of are mostly adult and older Jrs and in these situations your not booked into month’s worth of lessons so don’t necessarily have as stringent cancelation requirements.

I think if the OP could or would eshare a bit more about DC location, we could offer up more suggestions

[James1991]

Thanks all this has been really helpful!

I live in the Shaw/Ustreet/Logan area so it really is fairly easy for me to go in multiple directions based on my experience but if that helps anyone’s recommendations I am open ears!

[lynne]

I did the drive from Logan Circle to a barn in Aldie for years, 9th st to 395/110/66, and it was doable as long as I avoided certain times. I think MEA Haven does lessons out that way.

I often drove up to Mont Co to visit a friend who lived up there and rode at Rolling Acres, and found that drive more frustrating than the drive to Aldie. So much traffic and so many lights. Tho that’s true of 50 going out to Aldie now too. No easy drives around here.

[TheDBYC]

Also in Middleburg: Beverly Equestrian actually has lesson horses & a lesson program, although they’re about the last place you would expect to. It ain’t cheap, but it’s a nice facility with some adult amateurs & offers more options than just hunters, hunters, hunters. They tack & groom for you, which might be nice for someone driving all the way out from DC to ride.

[ElementFarm]

Another vote for Clairvaux in Leesburg. The trainers (one is younger) are good, and the lesson horses are decent considering most schoolies are 2’-2’6 horses max. I had a lesson slot with other young adults, which was nice, though I’m fine riding with educated and polite juniors.

when I moved to DC 4 years ago, I tried a few H/J barns that looked feasible on a map. Traffic made that big fat lie!
It got to the point where I couldn’t face an 60-90 min drive just to hack around an hour, jump a couple of courses, and then another hour drive home. With the exception of Clairvaux, I felt like I was paying to school someone’s green or in-need-of-a-tune-up horses for them. I’m a decent rider, and like many of us, it’s just hard to find a lesson program that can support more advanced riders that don’t own/lease, board and do the full program.
In my case, I’m only in DC during the week, and go home to my own horses in NC on the weekends, so I’m still actively able to ride and show, even though I gave up riding in the NCR.

In your case, maybe try to finagle some flexibility in your work hours? If you can go to the barn during non-peak-rush-hour, it would be a lot more manageable.