Where to send young OTTB over the winter-SEPA, DE, Annapolis/Eastern Shore/Elkton, MD

[notanotherone]

Pretty much what the title says, someone in the SEPA, DE, MD area (closer to the Eastern Shore of MD would be super!), indoor preferred, someone who doesn’t go south, calm, confident rider who will address proper flatwork and not over face. Said horse has been OTT over a year, had some retraining, will w/t/c and pop over small fences. Goals would be to trust that horse is getting great care and getting worked. Don’t mind BNT or lesser known rider, eventer, dressage, or even hunter trainers as long as they are experienced bringing along greenies. Someone who communicates well and will keep me updated and has the capability to work with me in lessons also. Confidence building for horse and rider is my main focus! Some names that have been brought to my attention are:

Tracey Bienemann (spelling?)
Dodon Farm
Kate Hicks

I would love opinions of these 3 and others.

[bambam]

Kelley Williams at a Bit Better Farm in Maryland (closer to DC- not eastern shore though) does a really great job with young OTTBs. Care is excellent and I know she has other horses in training where the owner has been getting lessons on the horse along with her doing the training rides. Not familiar with the 3 you mentioned- sorry.

[merrygoround]

Hillary Moses, good with greenies, has done Advanced, worked with both Jessica and Missy Ransehausen.

Is in SE Pa.

Tel #610-585-9081

[kcmel]

Kate is really nice and has a great reputation. I have only done one clinic with her (which was great), but others on here likely have more direct experience.

[mythical84]

I agree with bambam’s recommendation of Kelley Williams. I keep my horses at her farm, and absolutely love it there. When I purchased my new OTTB this spring, she was super flexible with me as far as a training program in order to help us both get settled in. We started with two weeks of full training with just her riding him, and over a two month period transitioned to me riding him full time with a lot of lessons. She does typically go to Aiken for a week or so each winter. You can learn more about Kelley here: http://abitbetterfarm.com/.

One of my clients, Kerry Blackmer of Miles Ahead Farm (based at Loch Moy) will be staying home for most of this winter, and she specializes in OTTBs. You can learn more about her here: http://milesaheadfarm.net/.

[NeverTime]

[QUOTE=vicarious;7818402]
Hillary Moses, good with greenies, has done Advanced, worked with both Jessica and Missy Ransehausen.

Is in SE Pa.

Tel #610-585-9081[/QUOTE]

I was going to suggest her as well. Fabulous with young horses; she’s a really tactful, empathetic rider. She’s also a super stand-up person who I’d be very comfortable doing business with. She’s based out of BFNE’s fabulous facility, w/indoor, near Unionville.

You wouldn’t go wrong with Kate, either.

[Brandy76]

Hilary Moses is great!
Also, Carrie Butler at Covey Run Eventing

[retreadeventer]

Highly recommend Tracey and Kate.
Highly recommend lots of people! All good in this area, take your pick and go visit their barn and enjoy their company for a day or two, or it’s not too late to hang out at Waredaca warmup ring and watch your riders compete and school young ones…good place to make contact.

[judybigredpony]

Hillary definitely and also Tara Ziegler

Tracey thumbs up…might pass on some of the others.

[scubed]

Hilary yes, Tara but don’t know if she has an indoor. Another option is Blue Hill farm where the assistant trainers will be home all winter. Both excellent, soft riders and teachers. I happily lesson with them when Missy isn’t available. Rachel has started two greenies for me and everyone was particularly impressed with how good the young TBs flat work was in a short period

[notanotherone]

Thanks all, where is Hilary Moses located? Can’t find a website that is active? Looking into several options, and thanks for the PMs as well! Kind of leaning towards Tracey B since she’s the closest option, but haven’t heard from anyone who’s actually trained with her yet.

[bornfreenowexpensive]

[QUOTE=notanotherone;7820585]
Thanks all, where is Hilary Moses located? Can’t find a website that is active? Looking into several options, and thanks for the PMs as well! Kind of leaning towards Tracey B since she’s the closest option, but haven’t heard from anyone who’s actually trained with her yet.[/QUOTE]

Hillary is based out of my barn. West Grove PA. VERY easy to get to us. Good hacking…and a LOT of OTTBs. She competed to Advance on one…and still has him (Maddox). She is extremely nice and I would trust her with any of my horses. She doesn’t have a web site and we don’t have one for the farm yet either. But we do have a facebook page. Kealani Farm. Bonus is Jimmy Wofford comes and teaches at my place about once a month and we are just down the road from Boyd and Phillip among many others.

She really is a lovely down to earth person and great with the horses.

That said…many of the people listed on this thread are great.

[2LaZ2race]

A friend tried to take lessons with Tracey (she was pretty close location wise) to her, she would e-mail back and forth but communication was hard and she ended up giving up.

Dodon has the hype of Retired Racehorse Training Project stuff so you might be paying for that more than anything else.

[trafalgar]

Nuno Santos at Loblolly Farm in Hampstead Md is FABULOUS with OTTBs and very active in the current OTTB retraining project if you google him. I don’t know if he has room but if he does you would not go wrong. The facility is fabulous and the care the best.

[Abadaba]

I second Nuno Santos. He knows thoroughbreds inside and out and spends a great deal of time on flat work and never asks a horse to do more than is wise. The 3 horses he had at the TB makeover at Pimlico last week were the most relaxed and well trained horses you could imagine and beautifully turned out. I know several people who keep horses with Nuno and they are all very happy with what he has done. Ken’s Kitten is a good example.

[colliemom]

I’ll give another vote for Kelley Williams. I just took my 5 year old OTTB down to her for a month while I’m recovering from minor surgery. I watched her first ride before having to head back home, and knew that this was going to be worth every penny!! http://abitbetterfarm.com/

[DGEventing]

I am an advanced level event rider/trainer working out of An Otherwise Perfect Farm in Upperco, MD. We have a barn full of OTTBs (many of which are in training or in for consignment), and an indoor/outdoor/dressage ring and XC course (along with tons of hacking and trails). I stay up in MD during the winter. Tons of references and very happy clients (one of my owners lives in Snow Hill which is near you, if you would like to chat with them!). We keep the number of horses low so each/every one gets individual attention… working students won’t be training your horse! Check out our website www.DefyingGravityEventing.com

[ivy62]

If you would consider going a little farther the trainers at our barn are masters with young horses. They do not do the show circuit themselves so they are around all year round. We have a beautiful indoor, outdoor, trails etc. The horses are never over faced. They leave confident and happy…
Check out petitgalop.com look under the natural horsemanship page and watch the videos and see what you think…
Good luck

[adapt_overcome]

I’m not super familiar with the other two names you mentioned, but know several folks who have sent horses to Dodon with varying degrees of success.

One mare just needed a tune up really, which I guess she got. One gelding was having a few “Oh I’m so fit now, must be naughty” problems and was sent down to finish out his jumping education and a bit of boot camp. Both were OTTBs which Dodon specializes in, though to be honest after reading some of their correspondences I would not have guessed that.

My friend with the gelding I think would not send another to Dodon given the chance (and the mare was sent to another, somewhat closer farm the next winter). My friend really felt at the time that Dodon’s communication was lackluster at best, and felt that she had been led to believe on more than one occasion she would be receiving an update (call or email) by a certain point and had to chase them to get updates even on just the horses’ general condition. The farm claimed that the horse took a while to “settle in” (wasn’t ridden for nearly 3 weeks upon arrival), and though was sent to them happily bopping around some gymnastic lines ready to be introduced to courses, he was there for 4 months before any evidence of him running through even a 2’3" course. When he came back he spent some time with a local trainer and everyone agreed that he was telling us he was mentally and physically ready for more challenging questions (the reason he was sent to Dodon in the first place- he HAD the foundation). He WAS a hot TB with “personality”, but not dangerous or unsafe in any way, but sensitive and requiring a specific ride. Friend was disappointed with the whole experience, and while not thrilled with the communication skills she did said she was never concerned that the horse was being mistreated or neglected in any way- but darn wouldn’t it be nice to have a phone call “how’s my horse 1500 miles away doing?” returned in less than a week

[grimlin45]

Would highly recommend Dodon Farm Training Center. I have sent three horses that I purchased directly off the track straight to Dodon Farm for retraining and eventual reselling. Couldn’t be happier with the results, all the horses were easily and correctly transitioned, looked absolutely fantastic and sold to appropriate buyers. I live in NC and was very happy with the communication and honesty involving all my horses. I received regular updates including pictures and videos. They also immediately contacted me about any necessary vet visits. Steuart and his assistant trainer Michelle are excellent riders and trainers who have a unique skill for recognizing the appropriate methods and time frame necessary to develop each individual horse. I have also trailered in for a few lessons on my personal horses, and sent my greener horse for some jumping “boot camp” for a week. Even after just two rides with Michelle, my guy was jumping with more confidence. Steuart very quickly honed in on my own riding weaknesses, worked with me on correction and also focused on the best way to develop my very talented horse. I can have some serious confidence issues (especially on my even less experienced horse) and the combination of taking some lessons while also having them provide professional riding/training for my horse was a great solution to build my confidence, my horse’s confidence and make us a stronger team.