I am going to be a student at UMich. I ride in Texas and unfortunately going to college has had terrible timing as I am in need of a new horse to move up on so I have to sell my current horse and find a place to ride that either has nice lessons horses or leases available. I rode at a show barn that imported a lot of horses from Germany so I was taught the more European style of jumping vs the American hunter style. I was just wondering if anyone could give some input on some of the barns near Ann Arbor! Your help is MUCH appreciated.:lol:
The UMich equestrian team rides at Willowbrooke Farm in Plymouth, though I don’t have any personal insight to add about the facility or the trainer because I’m just going to be a freshman myself! Small world 
Feel free to PM me. I did my graduate work at U of M and am from the area, so am happy to run down my experiences with a number of the barns around privately.
If you don’t mind a 40 mile Drive there is Fox Meadow w/ Polly Howard in Temperence Michigan http://foxmeadowhunterjumper.com/
I ride with the Howards and they are 3 hours away. Incredible horsemanship, great people, great horses. Highly recommend.
I am looking for something very similar so if you get any insight, please let me know!
Geez Emily I read that as 3 hours away from U of M then I read the name on the post LOL , your gonna scare the poor girl off , it can’t be more then a 30 minute drive for her .
There are MANY barns near and around Ann Arbor plus quite a few A shows , Depending on the level you will have a wide varity to choose from. If I read the OP right I would say Howards are her best bet , plus they can give her a lot of support in the horse buying end of things AND A BIG PLUS the Family owns and runs a Tack shop !!!
I did check out this barn and it seems fantastic! Unfortunately I think a 40-45min drive is just too far
It’s pretty common to drive that far here in Michigan for a top Barn. We don’t have many . and it’s pretty much all interstate.
There’s also Greg Crolick in Clarkston Michigan that may be a bit closer, But he is FLA for the winters
1 Like
Lol, I meant that I drive 3 hours since I’m in Grand Rapids. 45 minutes is so close!
Check out Cindy Phibbs at Hidden Lane Farm in Ann Arbor. It is super close to campus. I rode there as a junior and through undergrad at UM. Cindy is an old school good horsewoman with a super tidy stable and shows at the A shows. The website is www.hiddenlanefarm.com
Oh really? I am just concerned that a 90min commute there and back will start to feel very long, especially with the busy schedule of a college student.
Eh, college students have far more flexibility in scheduling than most adult riders do. If it’s good coaching you want, that’s not so far (on an interstate).
With college class schedules it might be doable to get to Fox Meadows, but anything approaching rush hour and that 23/94 exchange basically shuts down and it would take forever just to get out of the city.
Last I heard they didn’t have a lot of lesson horses and were mostly focused on their boarders, but that’s been a few years. Maybe someone who rides there could give better insight on the availability of lesson horses? When my friend was there, she was told there was literally only one horse. But we were both grad students so it’s not like we were their target market anyway.
[QUOTE=MIKES MCS;8823644]
There’s also Greg Crolick in Clarkston Michigan that may be a bit closer, But he is FLA for the winters[/QUOTE]
He’s planning on staying home for the winter since he’s just moved into his new farm. Roberts, or World Equestrian Center now, is on his schedule for sure. Greg is definitely a top class horseman and easily the best rider in Michigan. All his clients are well trained and successful as well. Check out Greg Crolick Stables on FB!
Greg Crolick
[QUOTE=JustEquit8;8825441]
He’s planning on staying home for the winter since he’s just moved into his new farm. Roberts, or World Equestrian Center now, is on his schedule for sure. Greg is definitely a top class horseman and easily the best rider in Michigan. All his clients are well trained and successful as well. Check out Greg Crolick Stables on FB![/QUOTE]
I definitely think you should check out Greg Crolick as well! Beautiful facility, great trainer/rider and all around person. He also teaches out of the Grosse Pointe Hunt Club as well as his new farm in Clarkston.
In that case , yes for sure , (I heard a lot of people are going to be showing at Roberts this year). Just on a note, I have never been a client of Greg’s but was stabled behind him a a show one year. He was just one of the nicest people I’d met and his staff were very good and worked their buts off , true horse people …
To the north you should also check out Huntsover Farms with Cindy Petherbridge. There is a great program and with several girls that go to U of M and ride there right now. It is about 40 minutes.
If you want to head south, check out Fox Meadow. They have a great program too and it’s probably 40 minutes.
In Ann Arbor you have Hawthorne Hill.
All three would be great options that do all levels of A shows. Fox Meadow and Huntsover show year-round.
Good Luck
