Tallahassee, FL dressage scene -- the good, bad, and ugly!

[fizzyfuzzybuzzy]

Soooooooo, ANOTHER move may be in the works for me. :sigh: This time it’s a short one – just two hours away to Tallahassee, FL. I don’t currently have a horse (though I will start shopping shortly after moving), and the plan is to rent for one year, then buy a small farmette to have my guy(s) at home. I would love recommendations for a high quality dressage instructor, preferably one with a schoolmaster (though does not have to be UL, just correct) so I can get my seat back after being out of the saddle for a bit.

Also, what’s the scene like in general? Shows? Tack shops? Saddle fitters? Chiro/massage? Clinics with UL riders?

Looking forward to hearing all about the new town!

[paintjumper]

The good…

Marsha Hartford-Sapp, check out her Facebook page…great horsewoman, great resource for the area, knows all the supporting folks in the area, unbelievable trainer

[fizzyfuzzybuzzy]

Thank you! Hopefully we won’t have to move for 2-3 months, but I’m trying to get my ducks in a row!

[FlightCheck]

Send a pm to Bensmom

[PoohLP]

First off, welcome, potentially, to Tally. There is a decent sized equestrian community here, filled with its own particular brand of drama. Marsha, mentioned above, is very involved in doing the Mustang Makeover and with the FSU team. I did a few lessons with her when I first started back riding several years ago and, although I ultimately found someone who was a better match for me and what I was looking for at the time, she is nice, has a big program, travels a lot, has A LOT of school horses and does a lot of group lessons, some of which are adult only. She also is very responsive through electronic means (website, text social media, etc.) Just make sure you want to be in a big program.

My first suggestion for other recommendations would be to reach out to the SouthWinds Dressage and Eventing Association (http://swdea.com/). They are very active setting up shows, clinics and other events for the area and likely would be a good source of information about the local dressage community.

I don’t know if she has school horses, but I recently did a dressage clinic with Bryn Cahill and she was fantastic. I really liked her style, which was very classical and gels with what I have been doing with my personal trainer (who I’m only not mentioning because, while she does dressage, she is more jumper focused and has limited schoolies). My understanding is that Bryn has decided to stay in the area.

On Clinics page of the SWDEA website, you also will find contact info for Claire Harrisson, who sets up a lot of dressage clinics. She’s a very good rider and very plugged into the local dressage scene and I suggest reaching out to her for other trainer recommendations.

[cdalt]

I am an older, retired dressage rider and have lived in Tallahassee on and off (mostly on) for over 40 years. I have ridden with many local instructors and many of the clinicians who come here. Choosing an instructor is a very personal decision - what works for one rider doesn’t necessarily work for another - and I learned many years ago that the person who rides beautifully does not necessarily make the best teacher (two very different skill sets - it is great if you can find both in one person). You might want to try Krista Snyder (if you PM me, I can supply her phone number). She has ridden with many top professionals over the years and I learned more from her than anyone else (and had the most success and most fun with my “less than athletic” TB/App gelding). She has regular clinics at her farm with Wolfgang Scherzer (sp?) who is from the Birmingham area (the next clinic is 10/10 and 10/11).
As far as SWDEA goes, I think it is almost defunct now - I was an officer and worker bee for many years in the club but have heard from others since I moved back to Tally a couple of years ago that there are no meetings, no clinics and very few shows happening. As mentioned above, Claire Harrison is a good “go to” person for information about clinics, local shows, etc.
There are a couple of good tack shops in Tallahassee (Town and Country and Pony Express are 2 that come to mind) and several feed stores (I particularly like the people at Fla Farm and Feed and even drive way across town to buy from them). Hope this helps some and welcome to Tallahassee!

[PoohLP]

SWDEA actually is making a bit of a comeback, but the most active people are in Havana, LOL. They actually had to close registration before their last show because they had so many entries (nice change) and they seem to be doing a lot of socials. They also are a good source of information about upcoming clinics.

Krista is a good recommendation. I haven’t lessoned with her, but have heard good things. And the Wolfgang clinics are is great once you have your own horse.

[fizzyfuzzybuzzy]

I checked out the SWDEA site, and saw the clinic portion, but no newsletter, or trainer/barn directory available? Do you need to be a member to have access to that? I will definitely be checking out the local tack and feed stores, as I do hope to buy my own little farm by this time next year!

Does anyone looking for a working student type position part time? My new job will have fairly flexible hours, and I’d love to be able to get some extra saddle time in addition to lessons. I’m very experienced, even with my time away!

[Bensmom]

I agree with everything that has already been said here, though pooh is right that SWDEA is making a bit of a comeback.

If you are looking for somewhere that you could work some in addition to lessons, I would recommend that you talk to Marsha Sapp – http://www.freewebs.com/southernoaks/ Her program is a large one, but it is very varied, and as recently as a couple of weeks ago, she was looking for some additional barn help. I love her accessibility through online media, and in the dressage area, she’s got the most school horses of various abilities.

I know several people that have been very pleased with Krysta, though I don’t know her myself (I haven’t shown in 10 years, so I am just getting back into it). I’ve ridden with Marsha with my mare over the last year, but since she had surgery (my horse, not Marsha) in May, we are just walking under saddle, and it is still up in the air as to what I will do when she is back to work, in large part, because we don’t know yet how successful the stifle surgery has been, and what, exactly, she will be able to do.

There are several good saddle fitters that come through town, though I don’t think we have anyone local any more. My longtime trainer hasn’t been teaching much, and I don’t think she is doing saddlefitting at all. I’ve had good luck with Catherine Overstreet, who comes down from AL and makes a swing through town periodically.

Local tack shops and feed stores are good, chiro/massage – there are a couple of good massage therapists in Tallahassee proper, and another really good one to the west of town, so that will depend on where you end up buying a farmette. Chiro – there is one that comes to town from the Ocala area that I think is good. I’m not sure who else is doing that sort of work, as I can only work with DVMs for that and for dental.

Several good vets too, and depending on where y’all want to look for property, I could have suggestions for you too. Most of the horsey Tallahassee community is on the East side of town, though Little’s Crossing in Havana has also been very active. There are more bargains to be had on my side of town. I have a 30 minute easy drive to work, and would spend longer coming in from the east side of town, which would have a Tallahassee mailing address. But, to the west isn’t the trendy equestrian side of town for sure! :lol:

Stay in touch and let us know what we can do to help!

Libby (and hi <wave> to cdalt – it has been SO LONG since I’ve seen you!! Glad to “see” you here!)

[fizzyfuzzybuzzy]

Thanks Bensmom!! It sounds like there is a pretty well-rounded community, which is awesome.
My job would be pretty flexible, so I can look for land pretty much anywhere in Tally or surrounding towns, since I won’t be going to the same place every day. DH might disagree with that, though! :lol: So I suppose it depends more on where he ends up working. Is there any rental options? Farms with apartments that I would have the option of boarding/self care? It looked like there was a pseudo-equestrian community in Havana – is that Little’s Crossing? I’ve already started looking at farms/land for sale…I like to torture myself.

I will definitely keep in touch…I’m sure I’ll need more guidance once more details are in place!