Laura Persons is an absentee owner who cares more about her own horse show circuit than she does…read moreabout what goes on at her barn. After many months of regular weekly lessons, our child was not past walking the horse in a small enclosure. The large riding ring was always occupied with advanced riders. I emailed a number of requests for progress reports, but never got an answer. The instructor we were assigned lacked basic safety training and put our child in dangerous situations. In one instance she was thrown from a horse. When we tried to discuss the hazards, the the owner refused to acknowledge any responsibility and asked us to " go "elsewhere" for lessons. I strongly recommend staying away from this farm because of overall poor management.

This place is awesome! We have had a great experience here. My daughter went from a total…read morebeginning rider to jumping 3 feet fences here. The two trainers here Laura Persons and Guen Holden clearly care about the girls and the horses. They have helped my daughter reach her goals and have always been open to talking with us. I can't recommend it enough!

My daughter is 10 and started taking lessons here about eight months ago. The lesson program is…read moreunder new management since December and it has been a wonderful experience. The new head of the lesson program, Lynn, is amazing. She teaches Western and English and has a ton of experience and certifications. She has a wonderful way with both children and adults. Classes have been fun and challenging for my daughter and have really awakened her love of riding. We have a 17 year old gelding that we board here and he is well taken care of. Lynn's lessons looked like so much fun, I decided to start taking lessons too. Great experience and highly recommended.

I took Western riding classes here a long time ago and it seems like nothing has changed. I really…read moreexperienced the favoritism that one recent review has mentioned. The favorite students got all the nice horses (pretty, experienced, still alive, etc) and I got what they called a "plug". I didn't even know that word, but it quickly made sense. I begged the instructor several times to give me a better horse, to no avail. The horse was old, completely uninterested in what he was doing, I guess he just wanted to be left alone and retire. Needless to say, I didn't learn much. The stables made me feel bad for the horses, not nice at all.

Top horse trainers, well kept horses and extremely clean barn. Our daughter was able to take horse…read morelessons here on a leased horse for over a year. However, they told us up front that they expect riders to buy their own horse eventually at this farm so she enjoyed horse lessons while available as a special circumstance. My daughter just rides for fun, not competitions, but this is a very competitive farm with top skilled riders and trainers. Since my daughter is a skilled and experienced rider, they were happy to train her just like they do the competitive riders even though she chose not to compete as her personal preference. We would still be taking her to lessons here if we could lease time on a horse instead of buying it. We really liked the owner, how well she and the back-up trainer worked with our daughter during private lessons and most importantly how well they took care of their horses. Their animals are definitely loved and cared for.

What can I say? I started riding at 62 and am now 65. I enjoy myself so much that I should pay for…read moreit! Oops I do and will definitely keep doing so because Crista is a superb trainer, the facility is beautiful, the riders are like family and I absolutely love Oliver, the school horse. Crista has me competing and guess what I've actually beat some 9 year olds. I encourage anyone from a rank beginner to an accomplished rider to come out and have the time of your life!

Coraggio is a fantastic place to keep your horse. Extremely knowledgeable staff combined with top…read morenotch facilities and a dedicated trainer means I have improved tremendously over the 3+ years I've been with Paige at Coraggio. The horses are extremely well cared for, and their welfare always comes first. The facilities are fantastic, with a gigantic lighted outdoor ring, covered round pen, and miles of trails, plus lots of grass to hand-graze your horse on. Paige is a great trainer who focuses on both the rider and the horse. She explains concepts in a way that is easy to understand, and took me from barely having jumped to competing in the jumpers at A shows. I have also used her to help buy and sell my horse, and she was extremely professional and upfront about what is realistic during those processes. The assistant trainer Cathy is also just as good, and I've benefited from having two quality trainers to improve my riding skills. There's a great group of people at Coraggio - no barn drama here! It's a nice mix of kids and adults. I would highly recommend this barn if you're looking to board your horse, develop your skills as a rider, or get started with showing on the local or A circuits.

As a 30-something professional woman wanting to revisit my youthful days of riding horses…read morecompetitively, I began my quest to find the best trainer to fit me.  Not just any trainer would do.  A trainer who listened and understood my objectives; who exuded good character; and who exemplified great stewardship in the care of our beloved equestrian partners.    After interviewing several trainers in the Austin area, I found Paige Barnett Irwin.   You can trust Coraggio with your riding aspirations - Paige took the time to carefully assess my ever advancing skills and then re-customized my lesson plans to continue to strengthen my weaknesses with new ever more challenging obstacles.  Success in the show ring soon followed. You can trust Coraggio with the care of your horses - The horses in Paige's care always looked like show horses and simply impressive.  No one could guess my own personal horse's senior age as he looked and rode like a horse half his age.  They are the center of attention at Coraggio and the best care is provided.  Through meticulous barn management, high quality veterinary care and shoeing, careful feeding, and pure love, Paige's horses were clearly physically and emotionally healthy - clean barn, clean buckets, and super shiny coats. There was no mistaking - Absolute Athletes. You can trust the Coraggio Team environment - Perhaps the most important attribute I found in Paige was her character.  Paige is true class; a successful female entrepreneur; and a great mentor to the next generation of up and coming young women. She was never condescending or judgmental, but always supportive and motivating. That spirit is carried throughout Team Coraggio whose members, pridefully bearing the black and gold insignia Coraggio shirts, are all very supportive of one another in and out of the show ring. I think if you invest the time to visit Coraggio, you'll discover all this and more!

I have repeatedly tried contacting the stable through various avenues. They remain unresponsive and…read morehave not returned any messages regarding boarding. I decided to not keep my horse there because they come off unprofessional.

This is my daughters' first summer at Monarch Stables. Last year we tried a different horseback…read moreriding camp in westlake for a week and it was the highlight of her summer. Then we heard about Monarch from her friend at school and are so glad that we came here! It's really beautiful! All the horses and ponies are gorgeous! The staff and camp counselors are super friendly. The kids are all happy to be there. They do arts and crafts, swimming & fishing in the creek, in addition to taking care of the horses and riding lesson. At the end of the day your kiddo WILL sleep well at night. I'm a little jealous she gets to spend her summer around horses! We will DEFINITELY be back next summer for camp and will look into there after school program this fall.

My 6 and 8 year old children were taking lessons here for about 2 months. The lessons were…read morestructured that one child had the main instructor and the other child had a student helper. At one lesson, I realized that the student helper wasn't having my daughter do much at all, i.e. she did not let my daughter lead the horse out of the stable or steer the horse as they were doing the rounds even though she had done in previous lessons (felt like she was at a carnival or fair). I asked the main instructor if the helper knew how many lessons my daughter had, as she wasn't having her do much. The instructor told me that some helpers are not very vocal or assertive, and that she was content with a warm body. Before our next lesson, I asked if we can have a more assertive helper so we can get the most out of our lessons as these lessons are $80 each and I wanted them to be instructive for both children the entire time. She told me to find somewhere new and good luck. I felt this was pretty unfair as we had a decent rapport over our previous lessons. I was completely caught off guard and disappointed with the unprofessional and rude departure. Please be prepared if you have more than one child to possibly be disappointed.

Best care anywhere in central Texas. Visited many barns before finding Weddle and would not board…read moremy horse anywhere else. All the horses are happy, content and extremely well cared for. They get turned out every day in shady paddocks. All stalls have rubber mats and very deep bedding. The horses are fed quality grass hay and top-of-the-line grain. There's a huge arena and very a large, high-wall round pen so there's always a place to ride your horse. Dana is an accomplished horsewoman and a wonderful trainer and riding instructor. Dana teaches adult beginners (like me!) as well as young riders. She emphasizes safety and enjoyment of both rider and horse. Her lesson horses are retired champion show horses with the training and experience to develop confident, skilled riders. Weddle specializes in Arabian and half-Arabian horses but ALL breeds and disciplines are welcomed! This is a professional operation, a hidden gem in Southwest Austin.

great stable, they treat every horse like it's their own. owners are nice/ friendly people no…read morematter what your skill level is or type of riding you do. They have a lot of well trained beautiful horses as well.

From the owner: Operating near Buda since 1991, Optimum Training Center offers full care stall boarding for all…read morebreeds with a family friendly environment. The facility includes 12x12 stalls with good ventilation and big windows, a very nice 100'x175'outdoor arena with sand footing, a covered and lighted 48' round ring, tackroom, heated indoor washrack, hot walker, grooming areas and large turnout pens. Stalls have fans in the summer. Blanketing, holding horses for the farrier and trailer parking at no charge.

One of the best places for trail riding. Horses were well…read morebehaved and friendly. The wranglers were great with communicating everything we needed to know. Plenty of space to ride around and great scenery.

Great experience with friends for a bachelorette. Booking was personalized. I was able to ask about…read moredifferent options to customize the event. We ended up selecting skeet shooting. We arrived on time, checked in and signed the waivers. There are lots of farm cats and a dog just FYI. Once ready, you get a hay ride to the skeet shooting spot from your instructor. Once you arrive, your instructors take it from there - safety instructions, demos etc. We had a ton of fun! Many of us had never even shot a gun before so this was fun and competitive. Once that was done, we got to pet some of the horses and the team had helped us receive our lunch order (via DoorDash). We ended up taking our lunch back to our Airbnb because it was just so hot in the honkey tonk barn. Overall, I would go this again and even try the horse trail ride!