Recommended Dr Riders for 17.1+ Warmblood gelding for BD

[Mackenzie6]

Hi,
I am hoping for everyone's opinions on a suitable professional BD rider to bring on to aim at 4 year old classes my 17.1+ Palomino Warmblood gelding . He is currently 3 and has been backed and hacked out with no issues. He was then turned away and will be re started soon. He has lots of talent and is highly thought of by so many so if anyone can recommend a dressage yard ideally in the midlands but open to recommendations.

Thankyou!

 

[kc100]

You've posted this 3 times so will reply to this one only!

There are quite a few in the Midlands so you have plenty of choice - here are 3 that I know personally:
1. Liz Williams - based in Droitwich Spa. http://www.hillgrovestud.co.uk
She is my trainer and trains with Michael Eilberg - so will be a heck of a lot cheaper than sending your horse to the Eilbergs themselves, but will get the benefit of their training! She is really lovely, has her own yard so can send him there (or will travel to you). Very sympathetic trainer, good with all sorts of horses as you can see from her website, she has ridden pretty much anything regardless of whether they are bred for dressage or not. Currently competing her own horses PSG level and is a very talented young lady.
2. Natalie Allen, based near Kineton (in between Stratford and Banbury). http://www.natalieallen.com/
I used to work at her yard as a weekend groom - STUNNING yard with amazing facilities, she also trains with Carl Hester once a month. Only downside to her yard is there is very little turn out, and even when fields are ok she doesnt turn her horses out for very long. I'm sure you can push to get more turnout but if you are not visiting every day I wouldnt be sure how much turn out he'd get. She is a very nice rider and a good trainer, might be worth a visit to see her at least.
3. Paul Friday, based near Lighthorne (near Morteon Morrell college). Again used to do some weekend work for him at his yard. He is going really well with a lot of his homebred horses on the circuit, out at medium/advanced medium etc and winning a lot of regional and national titles. Has a very good rider for the young horses too (she competes a lot of my local venue on some of his youngsters and generally wins everything!). Paul himself is a bit of a character(!) and often uses some fruity language when riding but generally gets good results and horses are well cared for. Nice yard and lots of turn-out, with horse walker too and horses go on walker 45 mins daily before being turned out. Can contact Paul through his facebook page, he normally responds quite quickly.

If you've got lots of money then the Eilbergs would be amazing, their yard is near Beoley in Redditch. Have a choice of Michael or Maria to ride for you.

Some others I know of - only heard about these, have not dealt with personally much:
1. Vicki Weaver - has rode up to GP but due to various injuries doesnt have many horses to compete at the moment, so she might jump at the chance and be cheaper. Not sure where she keeps her horses but is around Solihull/Redditch/Alvechurch area. Have had a lesson with her in the past and she lovely person, never seen her ride so cant comment on that.
2. Henry Boswell, based near Ashorne, south Warwickshire way. www.henryboswelldressage.co.uk
Again I've had 1 lesson with him, nice guy and popular trainer. Never seen him ride though so cant really comment on that.
3. Clare Porz (can find her on Facebook) - currently based with Gareth Hughes and is riding some of his younger horses. Has come over from Australia and is very keen, saw her compete once and wasnt blown away but had a difficult horse so did well in the circumstances.

Not heard great things about Rhett Bird (from an old groom/rider of his) so would avoid that one (think he is a good trainer but not so great if you want to send a horse there for livery).

Hope that helps for now - my number 1 choice would be Liz as she's so down to earth and lovely, is great at finding solutions regardless of how difficult the horse is and is very patient. Plus you get the benefit of her training with the Eilbergs (she often takes her horses twice a week). Only downside is I've never seen her yard, but from facebook pics looks lovely! But investigate all of them, use the BD search for a trainer function as most of them are riders as well as trainers and contact details are all on there too.

If you need any more info please feel free to PM me (I wont go into more detail about Natalie or Paul in the public bit of the forum, dont think its fair on them or me).

 

[kc100]

Or if you decide against sending to a pro I will happily come and ride for you haha in my dreams!

But if you do want to get any more info on anyone in the area please ask, I spend a lot of time with trainers and judges (writing a lot for judges at comps in the west mids, and with various trainers riding my friend's fruit loop horse) so can easily get more info for you if you need it.