Indian Hills is an absolutely gorgeous facility in the foothills of Milpitas. Anyone is lucky to have such an amazing place to ride out of. I had my horse here, and Ali used my horse for lessons. I was a longstanding friend of Ali's. In the beginning, I enjoyed my horse being utilized for the young riders, learning and growing with her students. My horse went to shows with the students, and later on I used him as a pony club mount after I had left Indian Hills and Ali Kermeen.
I only write this review as a cautionary tale for people looking to use Ali as their trainer. Indian Hills is a very close-knit community, and word does travel fast in those parts. However, when you are part of HC Equestrian you are shielded from all of it. Ali makes sure that her students are segregated from the barn, and those who try and warn others of Ali's transgressions will find themselves notified by barn management they need to find somewhere else to board. It is sad for the boarders, as all they try to do is help those who have been charmed by Ali.
Her training started out slow, but she was never good at explaining her methods. She utilizes a lot of methods implemented by Ellen Eckstein, Ali's trainer, but unfortunately did not get her students to the level of Ellen's masterfulness. I did not know Ellen well, but I remember watching some of her more regular students ride with her. I wondered why Ellen could explain these concepts so easily, but Ali struggled to make sense of any of it?
Her horse, Lafitte, was a gorgeous gray warmblood. He was marvelous, but Ali struggled tremendously with being able to ride him. This is when the pieces started to fall into place for me. As I watched her gallop across the arena with a horse unable to stop, I began to wonder about her abilities as a horse trainer and her longterm commitment to the welfare of the horse?
She then attempted to train two thoroughbreds to the makeover in Kentucky, only to find them lame. The issues ended up being longstanding, and they were in incredible pain. I have concerns with a trainer who cannot recognize when a horse is sore and hurt and when they are behaving badly? This also rang alarm bells for me, as it took her until near the end of their training, with her struggling along the way, to realize these horses would not be able to compete.
I watched her search for her next competition horse. She rides a mustang now, River, who is a good horse and very talented. However, recently Ali has abandoned "natural" horsemanship for results that I assume will help her stay competitive in the dressage scene. Many times I've witnessed River's mouth gaping as she pulls back on the reins, trying to stop him. Such can be similarly said for Dom, a warmblood she was training who had a terrible bolting problem.
Ali is "sponsored" by Custom Saddlery, but really what she means is she is a representative of the brand. If people buy a Custom Saddlery saddle from her, she receives a free saddle after so many sales. This has resulted in her pushing this brand on people, even if it does not fit their horses. The representative as well cares not for whether or not this saddle will fit the horse. Mentions of a boarders horse being severely sored and permanently injured in his back because of Ali pressuring her to buy a Custom Saddlery saddle are well-known at Indian Hills Ranch.
Although she has her hands in many disciplines, she is limited to unsuccessful in all of them. As a trainer who boasts about her ability, skill, and talent, I was greatly disappointed with her presentation. None of her promises materialized, and although I enjoyed having her use my horse as a lesson horse, I would never have him in training with Ali if I had any hopes of high level competition. She does not take furthering her education as an instructor and rider seriously, and has seemed to settle for a sub-par lesson program that is comfortable and marginally profitable. However, she has only done this successfully because she has the ability to monopolize the barn through politics and becoming the only trainer on the property. As stated, her dressage scores are terrible, as shown in the photos attached. read more
