A spinoff of the zombie thread regarding Denver area trainers. But it got me to thinking “hey, I might find some answers if I ask here.”
Denver and the surrounding areas is too far for me to travel to frequently. Even the Firestone area is too far. Fort Collins and the surrounding area would be ideal. I am aware of the Four Winds, but want to see what other options there are.
What I’m looking for:
-A coach, not so much a trainer. I keep my horse at home, he’s broke to death and I’m not looking for someone to show him.
-Allows haul-ins.
-Quality instruction regarding quality of movement and way of going over fences, as well as rider position and effectiveness. Hunter-type of expectations.
-I don’t have big show aspirations locally (I keep a horse in training across the country and travel with that horse). So I would prefer to not have expectations to spend the summer on the A circuit. In other words, I don’t want to be a cast-off simply because I will not be traveling to Parker all summer.
-Someone who is welcoming of a stock horse.
-Flexible-ish schedule for lessons. I realize everyone has their own life to live and I respect that. I just simply cannot make it to mid-day lessons Monday thru Thursday. Early evenings or weekend lessons would be the bomb.
-Laid back atmosphere (my horse is going to be hairy with a less-than-perfect partial clip, will be dusty even after brushing because he only gets bathed during the summer, and I’ll likely prefer to ride in a Carhartt sweatshirt than a TS getup). I’m also not one to get in to the social aspect of a barn. I don’t much care for clique-iness, but I’m paying for instruction, not social hour.
-Demanding instruction is welcome. Assuming said coach isn’t a total @-hole. I am paying for someone to make my horse and I better, not coddle me.
-Decent footing. The mid-teens red beast isn’t getting any younger so I try to go easy on his joints. Truly any footing is better than what I have at home so long as it isn’t so deep that it’ll cause a soft tissue injury. An arena that doesn’t have a trough around the permitter from several days of lesson ponies going around, without being touched by a groomer is preferred.
-The horse and I have experience through 3’3". I absolutely DO NOT have to jump every lesson. I greatly value flat work, poles, cavalettis, etc. The goal for this horse is to keep me in shape for when I show the main horse across the country and occasionally go to the bigger stock horse shows where we meet up with my trainer. He is my equine soulmate; he really is just my fun horse, but we have been highly competitive when we do actually show.
Does anything like this exist? Feel free to PM if you’d rather not disclose things publicly.
