Thank you for your comprehensive point, it is such a useful summary that really lays out the issues. I appreciate your time.
Of those mentioned in the thread, Lohman and Rolling Acres are probably two of the better programs in the area. Lohman is a judge and course designer – very laid back, casual (some may say too casual), always has great horses. Generally positive in his training methods, I’ve seen him frustrated but I’ve never seen him yell or be derogatory. He mostly does hunters and eq. I know him well enough to chat with him at the rail, but can’t say I’ve ever had dinner or beer with him. His wife is a moderately successful A/O. My daughter groomed/rode for him for three weeks in WEF this winter and she had nothing but good things to say. I vetted him by talking with other trainers, before letting her work for him and didn’t find anything negative.
Rolling Acres (sisters Patty Foster and Mary Lisa Lefler). Serious program. Very professional. Hunters/jumpers/ponies/eq. My impression is that Patty does most of the training/business operations and Mary Lisa does the riding. I haven’t really observed them instructing students, but they regularly have legitimate contenders at indoors, eq finals, pony finals, etc. Patty’s daughter rode during college on an NCAA eq scholarship.
Another great program with a barn just a few miles east of Leesburg (closer to DC) is Cedar Creek/Jenny Graham. She does a great job, with juniors and ponies and has some adults/AOs too. Serious without being pretentious. Nice working barn (no polished brass), excellent care. She does the training, her husband takes care of the horses/barn. Her program also produces legitimate riders never embarrassed at indoors/eq finals . If things had played out differently with us, my daughters probably would have trained with her.
Kama Godek leases a stunningly beautiful facility, and that impresses some people.
Thank you again for your help, I truly appreciate it. It looks like Rolling Acres would be more feasible than Lohman in terms of commute and the program looks terrific. If you are able to give your opinion, since Cedar Creek would be quite a bit closer, would you say that Rolling Acres is significantly more competitive than Cedar Creek in terms of the results they get from their horses and riders? I am not going for HOTY here, nor do I have endless money for constant showing (and I work a lot, have a family), but I do want to get the most out of my horse and my own (less energetic) potential. My top priority is that my horse receives excellent care when I am not able to get to the barn. Thank you again for your time, this is so extremely helpful!
