To be fair, the last time we rode with Misti was 5 years ago and things may have changed. I genuinely hope they have. The only reason I am posting is because I'm seeing her advertise a lot, and I think this is important information to have as a prospective riding student or parent of one.
When we rode with Misti, I was initially impressed. She was present, involved, knowledgeable/experienced, and had some incredible young helpers, some of whom she'd worked with for years. After the first lesson, I stopped seeing Misti at the barn aside from one-off's. She was not involved. She hired on various trainers. Notable: most only lasted for 6 months to a year.
Also notable, multiple horses were in unhealthy states: elderly (well beyond retirement due to age or injury), battling unaddressed health issues, missing a shoe, etc. I watched her tell a rider to "go ahead" and ride an elderly horse recovering from an injury after discovering he'd thrown a shoe. Multiple horses were also not young/green-rider appropriate, and yet used with young/green riders. This resulted in multiple falls and injuries.
Having grown up with horses, I knew this was not okay and left. Shortly after we left, I learned all of her teen and pre-teen helpers had left as well and gone to other barns. The hired trainers followed suit. It wasn't safe or healthy for rider or horse.
Yes, she is affordable and promises the moon in her adverts and social media posts, but there are far better facilities out there for riding lessons. Facilities that prioritize not only the safety of their rider, but that of the horse. Many offer more contact time, and one-on-one, higher quality instruction at a comparable price.
As a side note, I am posting this anonymously because I've noticed that she "goes on the attack" when people provide constructive feedback. I watched her lose it on a 12yo helper one time, and her responses to negative/constructive reviews on the various sites are biting (she's always right, never the customer). I left on good terms with her. I simply saw that this was not where we wanted to be and moved elsewhere. read more