Riding near Boone, NC?

[BeastieSlave]

It looks like DD will be heading to Appalachian State University in Boone, NC next fall. She’s excited, but unhappy that she won’t be taking her horse. So far, we haven’t found a place nearby that would accommodate her guy. In fact, we’ve only found one place ‘nearby’ where she could ride. The school’s riding club uses horses at a facility that’s not exactly local, but hopefully that will be okay.

Does anyone know of any places to board (with turnout) and/or take lessons near Boone? Kid is a pretty good rider (if I do say so myself)…

[mroades]

Unfortunately I have never heard of anything good anywhere near Boone…hope I am wrong

[eventerdiva]

Boone

I’m sorry I can’t be of any help in the riding department…but what a fun place for her to go to school…and for you to visit! ::winkgrin: I loff me some Boone and surrounding areas…and the Blowing Rock horse show in August is fantastic!

ETA: Have you checked with the facility that hosts the Blowing Rock show?? I’m not sure what the actual name of the place is, and I don’t know anything about it other than being a spectator…might be worth looking into. Good luck!

[myalter1]

My sister went to school there. No riding info tho. Sorry

[Holly_Jeanne]

'fraid I’m not help

I’m afraid it’s been a while since I lived there so I’m not much help but, I did two degrees there and loved the place! Can’t wait to visit this summer.

[TarheelJD]

I was told that Blowing Rock kicks all of their boarders out while the show is going on – if that is true, all of those horses must go someplace relatively nearby for those few weeks. I would call the Blowing Rock folks and ask them if they can give you any recommendations.

[drmgncolor]

I went to ASU and lived there for 6 years. I rode on the Equestrain Team and kept my horse at the farm… of course, this was 10 years ago and the facility has since changed hands. I believe it is now called Grandfather Stables, in Foscoe. It looks very nicely renovated, but might be geared towards the western rider now. At any rate, they have an indoor, which is really advantageous up there.

The Blowing Rock Equestrian Preserve is where the horse show is held. They do board and I think they used to kick out the horses during the 3 weeks of the show, but I’m not sure if they do that anymore. They have nice arenas though.

Yonnalossee Riding Club.. They have an indoor, but I was never crazy about the pastures.

Elk River is a NICE place up in Banner Elk. Not sure if you have to be a member to board there, but I do know you have to have deep pockets. :winkgrin:

River Run is in downtown Valle Crucis. It’s beautiful. I used to have a friend that lived and worked there. I am not sure if they still board.

There really won’t be places to board within crAppalCart ride of Boone. Getting out to a farm will require access to a car and I can’t comment on Freshmen and cars at App anymore… they’ve since added an additional parking garage (among other changes) on campus since I left.

It’s a great school, though. I had so much fun, it took me 5.5 years to complete undergrad! :lol: DH and I would move back up that way in a heartbeat, if there were jobs available in our fields. I have some horsey contacts up that way still… I’ll see if I can’t find some other ideas for you.

[Holly_Jeanne]

Hey drmgncolor!

I think I rode at the same place back in the 80’s when I lived there (10 years, two degrees, worked for the school). As you go down 105 toward Grandfather, you turned left on a little road in the middle of Foscoe, right? :lol: It was a hunter/jumper barn at the time. They boarded and I rode for some horse owners who either didn’t ride or weren’t around much. It was sold while I was riding there and became private. Then I moved to PA and lost track. Wish App had a team back then!

[drmgncolor]

[QUOTE=Holly Jeanne;5544085]
I think I rode at the same place back in the 80’s when I lived there (10 years, two degrees, worked for the school). As you go down 105 toward Grandfather, you turned left on a little road in the middle of Foscoe, right? [/QUOTE]

Yep. Turn left at the gas station onto Church Road. Watch out for the one lane bridge. I recall being told it was originally a Standardbred farm… if you looked closely you could see remnants of the track.

[Holly_Jeanne]

That’s it!

That’s it but I actually think the Standardbred part was after I was riding there. I recall hearing that the new buyer was going to use it for some kind of race training and I don’t recall ever seeing anything resembling a track prior to that. We had an indoor and outdoor ring and lots of rocky pasture. :lol: Want to say it was run by Jackie but that’s all I remember.

[T-storm_chick]

One of my former co-workers lives in Boone–and as of two summers ago the show facility DOES kick the boarders out during the show (he kept a few of the displaced horses at his place.) If DD is riding during the school year this may not be a factor for her, though. Good luck!

[Event4Life]

Ooo I love Boone/Blowing Rock…Blowing Rock is not far away at all, I am sure you could board there and go to App State. There are GREAT trails in the area too. If she’s into outdoorsy stuff she’ll be in heaven, we go there to hike for long weekends all the time. I love wondering around Boone too - some cool stores to poke around in.

[BeastieSlave]

Thanks guys!!
She’s very excited about school and the non-horse activities. I think it’ll be a good fit for her. She’ll be taking her car and while she’ll be able to drive out to a barn, I’m not looking to foot the bill for a long commute!
I told her that she wouldn’t be taking a horse initially anyway, so she’ll have some time to get the lay of the land and figure out her own stuff before having to deal with a horse (her horse is not the easiest keeper). We checked on the Riding Club - it’s really expensive to board and doesn’t have any turnout to speak of. It might work if they have school horses for her to ride, but not for boarding.
River Run looks like it’d be worth checking into…

[mfallshookup]

Hey, I just moved up here for the summer and found a place in Boone that I have my horse at! It took me awhile, but hopefully this place works out! They have 2-3 barns. Boarding barn just got remodeled and they have plans to re-do the school horse barn and eventually the whole property. They have a small indoor and an outdoor arena and just ordered a few new jumps. There are places to trail ride and so far there have been people there riding every time I have been out. The girls name is Anne Marie (Shes the trainer there) her # is 336 314 1538. And the owner is Lucas. All super friendly and knowledgeable and its located 4 minutes from “in-town.” I will let ya know how it works out! I’ve been coming up here for 14years and hopefully now I have a nice affordable place to keep my horse in the summertime!
-Kris

[TarheelJD]

[QUOTE=mfallshookup;5642140]
Hey, I just moved up here for the summer and found a place in Boone that I have my horse at! It took me awhile, but hopefully this place works out! They have 2-3 barns. Boarding barn just got remodeled and they have plans to re-do the school horse barn and eventually the whole property. They have a small indoor and an outdoor arena and just ordered a few new jumps. There are places to trail ride and so far there have been people there riding every time I have been out. The girls name is Anne Marie (Shes the trainer there) her # is 336 314 1538. And the owner is Lucas. All super friendly and knowledgeable and its located 4 minutes from “in-town.” I will let ya know how it works out! I’ve been coming up here for 14years and hopefully now I have a nice affordable place to keep my horse in the summertime!
-Kris[/QUOTE]

This sounds great. We have family in Blowing Rock, and I’d love to take a couple of lessons when I am up there visiting and away from my horse. I’ll give them a call - thanks for the info.

[blondejumper]

Anyone have any recent suggestions for barns in the Boone area? I am looking at moving to the area and would be interested in getting back into lessons and possibly boarding within the year. I’ve done some Google searches and haven’t seen more than a handful of options. I’m aware of Grandfather Stables and the farm where they host the Blowing Rock Show in August. Any other suggestions?