i had my first (of hopefully very many) english lesson with lauren yesterday and it was such a fun morning! i got to groom sweet, lovable boo and then take my lesson with him afterwards. the ranch staff was super friendly, the lesson was right on time and lauren was really helpful and kind. i look forward to coming back -- see you guys soon! (lauren -- i hope i got your name right! i'm so crap at that.) read more

We had a wonderful class for my children and me. The horses are great, strong and very well trained. The instructors, William, Terese and Aidan, showed us how to groom and build a connection with them before riding. They also taught us how to properly give instructions to while riding. I have ridden horses a few times before, but this was the first time I really learned how to communicate with a horse. All of the instructors were very patient and supportive. This was my kids' first time riding, and they both had an amazing time and absolutely LOVED it. I also want to mention that Carolin was very responsive and helpful when scheduling our appointment. We will definitely come back for more lessons. read more

The quality of horses offered coupled with great instructors is wonderful. The approach brings horse and rider forward in their skill levels together. Love it! read more

Carolin and her team are the best guides for anyone who is serious about becoming a better rider. I can't speak highly enough about the knowledge and enthusiasm she has, not to mention her deep love and care for the horses. I'm beyond grateful to have found her! read more

I found CM Stables through Groupon when I was looking into new hobbies. Initially, scheduling the first lesson with them was challenging.. they did not answer the phone during the day so I left a message after calling a couple times. Eventually I just texted them and they responded in the evening, but they did not provide enough information about what to wear, how to get into the Paddock Riding Club, or where to find them once you get inside. With that said, my first impressions were fairly mixed - they seemed disorganized or maybe understaffed, but I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. I met Carolin at my first lesson and she introduced me to another instructor who eventually taught my lesson. The overall instruction was good and the facility was nice so I continued riding with CM Stables. Through my experience, I have learned that they don't (or rarely) answer the phone during the day because they are often outside taking care of the horses or teaching lessons which makes sense, but as a consumer it can be discouraging and may appear unprofessional when you're calling a business and you don't get a response, particularly so if you are a potential new client. I can say that once I started riding regularly, scheduling became easier, but sometimes things did come up that caused inconsistencies with scheduling like horse shows and wet weather as well as the wildfires. I appreciated it when they did let me know about those things ahead of time, but sometimes it slips their minds which can be inconvenient although it only happened a handful of times. Carolin can be assertive, but is often times well intentioned. She eventually taught a few of my lessons and I gained more insight into her passion for teaching lessons and training horses. She prioritizes safety and mastery of technique which is important. She's definitely a horse person who is very compassionate once you get to know her. I was aware of the slightly negative reviews when I purchased the Groupon and continued to ride with CM Stables afterwards anyways. I think it's worth giving them a try because somewhere along the way, I had reached out to other stables and instructors and I got fairly similar responses - they prefer to be contacted via text and they typically don't respond during the hours of 9am-6pm if they responded at all (because they are also out teaching lessons and caring for the horses). As someone who wasn't familiar with horses, it makes no sense from a business standpoint, but now having seen some of the daily operations at the barn, it seems to make more sense to me as to why things are the way that they are. read more

Terrible experience with Caroline! Stay away! I found CM Stables through Groupon and was excited to take a few lessons close by my home after a hiatus of few years. I called multiple times a day and left messages to try to book lessons, but wouldn't hear back during business hours. Instead, Caroline started texting me with unhelpful messages and I even ended up getting a very confusing text from her at 11:30 p.m. Whatever happened to business hours?! It was basically impossible to schedule anything or make any progress after me following up 10 times over the course of two weeks. If this is how she schedules lessons, I don't even want to think about how she teaches or how she takes care of her horses. I complained to groupon and got a refund - will be spending my money elsewhere. read more

I am a new student here and couldn't be happier with the training my horse and I are getting. My thoroughbred was struggling at another barn and Carolin truly honed in on my pony's power. I can feel my horse is stronger, my lead changes are better. I can't wait to compete at Thermal when the pandem is over. If you own a horse and are looking for a new barn/trainer I highly rec CM. She's great! read more

CM Training Stable is definately the most professional barn I've ever experienced. It's a hands on barn so get ready to learn all of the tasks it takes to become a real equestrian person. I've learned how to tack my leased horse, give supplements with the feed, and overall how to ride and train to be in equestrian competition. Both my kids have had such a wonderful experience and I can say are truly equestrian people now thanks to Carolin and her team of trainers. I highly recommend this barn. on top of it we're like a big family and take an occasional trail ride and potluck barn party. it's the best hands down. read more

We scheduled our lessons on 5/6 in March, confirmed on 5/2, showed up on time. BUT, NO HORSE for us because of a prescheduled horse show. We squeezed time from our precious weekend and drove 50 minutes for this, but only received disappointment. It should be 0 star rather than 1 star. read more

CM Stables - Horseback Riding Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Gallop away from this stable. I bought two Groupons from this place one for my daughter and one for me. The Carolyn woman that runs it clearly doesn't give a damn. She was hard to get a hold of, replied with obscure texts that made no sense then cancelled the only appointment I was able to make. She complained about too many phone calls, the weather and the moon. If she needs to put her business on Groupon it is because she needs it, maybe she does not have business in low season or none at all. Get a grip lady CM stables ! Overall a complete waste of time and money (It took me two hours to cancel my Groupons) plus dealing with a jerk. read more

I made a purchase for my daughter to go riding I called the number and a young girl answered she asked if i could text the same number I dialed with my information. I did so and she responded really late and didn't say a thing but "How did you hear about us?" At 11pm and didn't say anything after that The Whole ordeal was UNPROFESSIONAL from the start read more

I would give it a 0 star if I could but I am giving one because Carolyn, I think she is the owner, was nice enough to call me back. LISA employee should not be working, very rude, horrible customer service. She gives a bad name to CM Stables.... Stay away from LISA! What is a place without good customer service? Too bad for horse lovers... hopefully after this post is up, LISA will reconsider her attitude towards valuable customers. read more

Professionalism is not a word known by this barn. Don't expect your lesson horse to be there in fact you can't even expect your instructor to be there. "Instructors" are often inexperienced ammeters. Carolin is an aggressive rider constantly ripping horses mouths and ribs to shreds. It's amazing she has any sound horses at all. She is incredibly rude and attacks lovely sweet people at the paddock for no other reasons other then she is insecure and unhappy in her own life. Her feral children and dogs and students for that matter run rampant with no respect for anybody or anything. She goes out of her way to attack people. Yes she can sit a wild horses moves very well. But often, the majority, of the time the horse is only acting up because its fed up of her constant harsh and abusive riding. Never take lessons here and never send your horse here. read more

Carolin has been my trainer for over five years and I cannot say enough great things about her! She has taken me from nervous adult amateur barely able to jump a cross rail, to confidently jumping three feet and higher. She has trained two horses for me too and has also teaches my kids, who adore her. She is great with horses and humans. All I can say in response to the negative reviews regarding contacting her is that she is really busy and does much of the horse care and riding herself. Leave a voice message and she will call you back. Her lesson horses are also wonderful and she has fun horses for all levels to ride and learn on. read more

I have nothing but good things to say about CM stables, Molly and Carolyn. I found the stable through a Groupon and they have been nothing short of amazing since I started taking lessons at the end of last year. Their horses are great, especially Chardonnay and Boo!! As long as I continue riding I will keep coming back! read more

Carolyn is super sweet and gives lessons on gorgeous, quiet horses. I have been riding since I could walk, but took a long break after moving from Atlanta to LA. I don't get to take lessons as often as I wish (due to my schedule) but when I do, I always go to CM to ride Boo. read more

I've only written a few reviews but this place deserved a review more than any place I've ever reviewed. After 2 years of working with a trainer in Agoura Hills who I will not name on here I was ready to get my own horse. My old trainer helped me pick out what I that was going to be my dream horse. My god was that a HUGE mistake! I got a 5 year old bay Arab. He was crazy when he got to our barn but I was told that's normal when a horse just moves. After 2 weeks of "settling in" I had a lesson on him, he bucked me off and fractured my wrist. After 8 weeks of my wrist healing and my trainer working with him my trainer said we need to get rid of him he is not workable. A friend of mine told me about this trainer Carlyn from CM Stables who works with nightmare horses so I gave her a call. She seemed nice, nothing more or less than I had expected. She came to my barn in Agoura Hills and got on my horse. He must have bucked 20 times in a row, reared and just went completely psycho as he had when I tried to ride him. Carlyn said she could fix him, and she stayed on him which my old trainer and I were not able to so I gave her a chance. It took her about a month and it was like he was a completely different horse, of course I still wouldn't dare get on him. It took me another month to have the courage to get back on him and he is an absolute dream to ride. He still occasionally stops and looks at something scary but that's as bad as it gets. I LOVE CM STABLES and can't possibly say enough good things about her. read more

I came across CM Stables and trainer Carolin Malmkavist by luck, and I am so glad I did! She has a wide range of excellent horses and works with them every day - it's easy to see how much she cares for each one and the improvement in horses she has worked with is evident. I've seen her train everyone from young children to adults, experience levels from absolute beginner to competitor. Everyone I meet who works with her seems to have a story of bouncing from trainer to trainer until they finally meet Carolin. She has a great knack for helping you through your trouble spots and even when I have a bad day I have never walked away feeling like I didn't get better at something. She changes her teaching style and level for each rider, even in group lessons, so I always feel like I'm getting the attention I need, without being either coddled or pushed too hard. No matter your age, experience level, or riding goals, if you have a horse or not, Carolin is well set up to meet your needs. She's an excellent trainer and I could not be happier! read more

Bad experience, I bought a set of three lessons. Caroline scheduled the second lesson for noon the next week. Next week I arrive on time and I have to look for her and she is teaching a group lesson for children. She says I must have gotten it wrong and that I should check the schedule. I know that I put in the time on my phone right away, and I go to check the schedule, which means walking back and waiting around for someone to help me. They check it for me and it says noon. I understand being busy but she automatically acted like I was wrong and that she couldn't care less. read more

I've been working with Carolin for 2 years and she's changed my riding tremendously. I have a difficult green horse that is challenging for me to ride. Caroline has taken the time to work with me on a multitude of levels, breaking down aspects and implementing exercises to overcome old habits and incorrect positions. She also works with my horse to make things easier for us to learn. Caroline's great teaching and riding abilities have taken my horse and I up a Dressage level every year I've been with her, scoring high 60's. She's an awesome trainer and a respected competition rider. read more

Im definitely caught off guard by all these bad reviews but Carolyn is a great trainer and can definitely expand your riding skills in an effective way. I used to ride at a different barn inside Paddock Farms but realized I wasn't given the opportunity to expand my skills or knowledge and was being overcharged so I switched to CM Stables and I couldn't be happier. If you're looking to advance your riding skills into a more professional level then this definitely is the right place for you. read more

Not so great with green horses and if you decide not to use her anymore she will give you hell.

Caroline is the worst. I bought a group on to try out a stable that I can go to on a regular basis. I called to schedule my first lesson before the voucher expired and was able to get something scheduled. The day of the lesson they called to cancel and reschedule. Things happen so was happy to accommodate. Reschedule and when that day arrived no riding was occurring though I had driven 45 min to get there. I didn't get a call canceling which due to the rain the day before I could understand. However Caroline was such a HORRIBLE person and had the WORST most entitled attitude. Do NOT come here and save yourself the negative and bad energy and frustration. read more

Avoid this place at all cost!! I was here once for a horse riding for my anniversary and had a terrible experience. The staff has the worst customer service and the owner could not be any more rude when I was sharing my experience with her. I have been with other horse riding businesses in that community and the CM Stables is definitely the right fit and is actually very bad for the other horse riding businesses reputation. Stay Away From Them!!!! Worst experience with Caroline & instructor. To respond your message: Instead of focusing on your costomer service and their satisfaction you calling everyone fake reviewers . read more

If I could give 0 stars I would! I have called multiple times, left messages on her voicemail multiple times, and sent her emails over the course of several days and I got NO RESPONSE! This is very unprofessional! Customer service not so good. I bought the groupon deal and wanted to get a lesson as soon as possible but how can I when she never picked up the phone nor called me back. I am very unhappy about this place... I got a refund from groupon and i took my money someplace else where I can get a lesson. read more