We love Fox Chase Farms. My son has taken lessons from the barn manager, Susan, for years now…read more She is very in tune to his needs and moods. She is also in tune with the horses, and will not risk a horse or a rider's safety. Barns are barns and horses are horses. With barns comes dirt, but Fox Chase overall is very clean most of the time. Horses are well cared for, and a number of the families who board there allow the use of their horses for lessons and HorsePower Therapeutic Riding. Most of the people there are down to earth, horse loving individuals. I'm not interested in a perfect barn, shiny stalls and halls, and people who think they are too perfect to help people new to horses. This is a riding stable, not an event stable.

I have boarded my horse here for the last 7 years and I never have to worry about my mare being…read moretaken care of. She is happy, healthy, and gets loads of turnout. The staff is friendly and the facility is clean. It's an older barn, but has loads of character and charm.

Apparently my almost 7 year old daughter only likes to excel at expensive extracurricular…read moreactivities! Lucky us. lol She is currently into the very expensive activity of horseback riding. She loves it! Her trainer is Kate who has been around horses all of her life. She is an excellent trainer and recently talked us into letting our daughter enter her first competition which she placed 3rd in only after having 10 lessons with Kate. A lot of kids take lessons here and all seem very happy. Some children take lessons several times per week, some once a week. They have a horse leasing program for you to share a horse and do boarding there. When my daughter arrives, she goes and gets all of her horses gear and pretty much does everything herself with a little help from an older girl. She is trained for a half hour by Kate than takes the horses gear off at the end, brushes him off and gets help putting him in his stall. All of the horses are taken care of and happy at this barn. There are no saddle marks, they are clean and in happy dispositions. There are many sizes so your child can start off on a pony and move up. Classes are $40 per class.

My son and I dropped in to ride here when we were in town - and we'll be riding here every chance…read morewe get. Nice, new facility at Grand Prairie Equestrian Center. We could see their very well-cared-for horses in the pasture as we were driving up. The horses we rode were wonderful: balanced, responsive, smooth; and we saw a few other lesson horses being ridden who looked equally good It was extremely hot, but our horses were forward and had plenty of energy for a nice jumping lesson. Our instructor, Kate, was fantastic and all of the staff and helpers there were very friendly.

Wonderful facility to board your horse. Great care and very friendly staff…read more Indoor and outdoor arena, round pen, heated lounge with viewing. Beautiful well mantained bridle path to ride as well. All boardesr seem very friendly and respectful to each other.

This is a beautiful facility. The trainers are top notch, offering incredible customer service with…read moreprograms tailored to each individual rider and horse. The equine athletes coming out of this barn are of the best quality you'll find at any horse show. If you are looking for your next barn family, you should definitely check out Messenger Hill!

Amazing barn and team! I boarded my horse with Messenger Hill for many years and trained/showed…read morewith them as well. Everyone is so professional, talented, and thorough. The horses are very well cared for and attention to details are evident. The facility is beautiful and clean too!

The good folks at Woodland Meadows really know their stuff. I highly recommend them. They are good…read morewith communication and great with care of the horses. Highly recommend!

The woman who runs this barn is an absolute angel. My daughter has struggled this year with…read morebullying at school, and we couldn't find her a niche. She found it with Heidi (barn owner) and her horses. I've never witnessed my daughter so happy, so excited to partake in something. She's only been riding here a few months now, and the improvement of her riding is just incredible. She comes home to clean her boots every day she rides. It's taught her some responsibility as well. Heidi is so so nice, she has wonderful horses and a beautiful plot of land. I personally love to be greeted by her dogs and chickens and just absolutely love the vibe at Woodland. Thank you Heidi. You are an amazing lady!! We love you!!

We've boarded our horse for two years now. The self waterer, the heated barn and the care have been…read moreexcellent. Our horse is thriving there. The facility is well cared for and the care schedule is great. Horses are turned out everyday except Sundays and holidays with the option of paying guys extra for Sunday turnout. Blanket, mask, boot service available. Several trainers available for lessons on multiple days a week at various times. Multiple levels of disciplines.

McCarthy Farm is a privately-owned stable located on 25 semi-wooded acres in Elgin. Directly across…read morethe street is a beautiful forest preserve with trails for riding. It's 400 acres! And approximately 5 1/2 miles of paths. The facilities feature a heated barn with large stalls and two arenas (one indoor and one outdoor). Amenities include large tack rooms, wash stalls for horses and wash rooms with showers. My friend boards her horse here and we went one weekend. The grounds and stables are immaculate, the horses very happy and well cared for, and the people there look like they just enjoy every minute of their time there. Even though I am generally not a fan of this area, if I could work here I would leave the city in a heartbeat! It's that great.

I toured Windridge Farm a couple months before I moved into the area. Jennifer was really thorough…read morewith walking me through their process and what day-to-day would look like for my horse. I was nervous about moving my horse a couple weeks before I moved myself, but the Windridge Farm team took care of him and made sure I got updates. Windridge does its best to work with what you need and your budget. I love taking advantage of full service and training, but there are a la carte options as well. My horse has been the most confident that I've ever seen him through his first month with Taylor and Lilly. I'm excited to see his continued progress. I'm enjoying lessons with Taylor - I think she's very technical and communicates well about the things I need to work on. We do a lot of flatwork, which helps a lot with solidifying those fundamentals. As an adult amateur, I'm so grateful to have fellow adults at the barn to chat with. Everyone has been super nice so far and inclusive.

I used to ride here, and my experience was great until I started to share board a horse there…read more It was $650 a month for 3 rides a week. 1 lesson and 2 free rides that must be inside. I was in level 3 out of 4 levels. They had a problem with me doing trot and canter poles when others MY LEVEL were doing it. Moving on, the head trainer, who left, told us Crosby ( the horse I was share boarding ) would get clipped ( he really needed to get clipped ) if my family bought him a blanket. We bought him a $120 blanket and guess what? He didn't get clipped. And they ended up giving the blanket to another horse. On top of that, the old head trainer was cranky and would yell at me for everything. When the head trainer left, they had this one trainer who would ALWAYS tell you "stick on thigh" which you don't even NEED to do that. She didn't even help you with your riding. Jennifer is pretty nice, Taylor is a little rude. The only really good trainer there is Vikki. Oh and I forgot to mention, more than 5 trainers have come and left that barn. Overall, I had a great time in the past, but I have now left this barn.

Update: Betty and Joe recently added more sand to the indoor arena. The footing is wonderful. The…read moreoutdoor arena footing is pretty close to perfect. Both arenas have been getting dragged multiple times a week. The new owners , Betty and Joe, are wonderful horsemen. They know what they are doing and are very helpful if you have any questions. They have made huge improvements in the barns and the property which include sky lights in the aisles and indoor arena ,new paddocks and a renovated club room. They are supportive of boarders who want to learn and take care of their horses the proper way. Rustic woods currently has 3 independent trainers in various disciplines but all are willing to help everyone in the barn. The hay has been great since they took over. The owners did the right thing by " weeding out" the individuals who chose not to follow the rules and that were inappropriate to other boarders. Every single boarder and employee of rustic is caring and easy to get along with. The barn is a large, supportive family now. The horses nicker at Betty when she walks in the barn and if you ever need help, you can bet Joe will be there to help you. They take wonderful care of the horses and this is the happiest I've been at this barn in over 10 years. I know my horses look great and are happy as well. Come and visit rustic for yourself, before you believe the negative reviews from the people who were asked to leave.

I just asked on FB what happened to this property. I was told that whomever took over after Pat and…read moreLinda passed they let the barn go to crap. As of today horses are no longer boarded there. This place was really nice back in the day. Not sure why the new owners did not keep it up and keep it as a boarding barn.