Hello -
I am moving to Tampa from the San Francisco bay area and am looking for a show jumping A-circuit barn. I have my own horse and am currently showing in 1.30s. Must have a trainer who provides pro rides as I will want a couple of training rides each week. Show or lesson requirement is fine.
Thanks in advance for any input you can provide!
Oh no why would you do that?! I moved from Tampa area to SF 14 years ago 
Where, specifically? Will you be living in Tampa?
Agree, depending on where in Tampa you can be an hour away from the barn in traffic
If you’re south, Debbie and Steve Stephens have a very nice barn in Parish/Bradenton,
Perennial farm is in Tampa at the yacht club. I don’t know who the pro is now but they’ve got a nice facility and a good reputation.
Thanks- this is helpful. I’ll be living in Apollo Beach. But definitely open to an hour long drive for a good barn!
You will likely be better off driving south to Parish/Bradenton/Sarasota honestly. I don’t have any specific recommendations because I was looking for the opposite of a hunter show barn (pretty low level eventer), but when I was looking, it did seem that there were better options with more land down that way. Apollo Beach is a LONG drive into the city at rush hour, you don’t want to add another 40+ minutes out of your way going all the way to Dade City or something. I think there were a handful of barns in Riverview, which is right between you in AB and downtown Tampa. If there is anything suitable, that might be the best commute-wise. Good luck, it was a hard area for me to horse personally, but I think there is a much better H/J scene there and of course the weather is wonderful most of the time!
I grew up and trained in Bradenton/Sarasota/Parrish. Tons of barns in that area.
The facility is absolutely beautiful, I rode here for about a year as a junior. Debbie was only there part time and I didn’t lesson with her enough to comment much in either direction; she wasn’t awful for sure because I’d remember that!
For whatever reason the area tends to be way more hunters than jumpers, at least when I lived there.
Does anyone have contact for Debbie and Steve Stephens? Are they centennial equestrian? Looks like none of the website links work.
Yes, It’s Centennial. You might try messaging them through Facebook.
Google says 941-730-2520
Tampa Bay is a large area. Do you work from home, or commute to an office job? What hours are you able to ride? This will be a big factor. Similar to the bay area, our area is spread out and can have a 1.5 to 2 hour drive between locations even in optimal traffic conditions.
Bayshore Stables is closer to Tampa. Derek Van der burg is the trainer there. From what I see on their page, they seem to have a focus on jumpers. They do a lot of rated shows, and you can check them out on instagram and FB. When I was looking for board a few months ago, they did not yet have lights for their arena but were planning on it.
Premier Show Stables is in the Riverview area of Hillsborough County, a little north east of you. Not sure how many A rated shows they do, and I don’t know much about their trainer. But the facility appears nice and they have lights if you need to ride in the evenings. That area does suffer from terrible traffic, though.
As someone said, Sarasota/Bradenton/Parish may be a good option because Apollo Beach is not too far north. It would also put you closer to Terranova and Venice , so less of a haul for rated showing.
Kingsmeade Farm and Clair Kellner are in Lutz. Clair rode with Don Stewart as a JR and is well connected in Ocala/Palm Beach.
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