I barn-hopped all over North Jersey for almost 12 years before I met Sarah. She was teaching…read morelessons at another barn in the area and as soon as I spoke to her, I knew I would never look back. Sarah has an unparalleled talent for coaching riders of any age/skill, as well as a natural gift for training horses. She has a wonderful way of tapping potential in her riders and horses, and bringing out the best in them. I couldn't find anyone better to learn from! I happily drive 40 minutes to get to the barn because there is absolutely no one who compares to Sarah. I would never dream of boarding my horse anywhere else :) The barn truly acts as a family, perfectly balancing fun, relaxation, and competition. From children to adults, everyone is supportive, friendly, and kind. If you want a great place to learn, with a great trainer and awesome community, check it out!

You will not find a person more passionate about their work than Sarah. She was born to ride,…read moretrain, and care for horses and has true talent as a teacher. She works tirelessly to provide the highest level of care and training.

After having been at several barns in the last 20 years, I finally brought my horse to River Vu…read moreFarms 10-1/2 years ago. Finally we found our forever home. Excellent facilities, indoor and outdoor arenas, expansive pastures, wholesome feed carefully selected for each horse. Clean stalls and very happy horses. As my horse aged, and I was pulled away by work and family issues, Jodi Meyer quietly saw to it that my horse's care was modified to his aging issues. Always I was alerted of any problems, but his feed was changed when he lost teeth and couldn't handle hay anymore etc. Every horse is treated as though they are owned by the farm. I had to put my 33 year old horse down in Jan 2019, and Jodi was by my side and helped me reach the vet after we could not get him on his feet anymore. He had had a stroke. I will be bringing my younger horse down from upstate NY to River Vu Farms as soon as Spring breaks. There is no better place and I've been to most of them. Also, there is summer camp for kids which I have observed personally and it is exceptional. Great education on equine everything and a lot of fun with plenty of riding. What more can I say. It's quiet, peaceful and filled with GREAT Friendly boarders. Heaven.

Looking for a school that my daughter can go to wasn't an easy process, but when I took a tour at…read moreLightbridge Academy, my mind was made up. I found the staff to be very pleasant and accommodating, especially with their hours, the enrollment process to be easy, and the security that is set up put my mind at ease. When my daughter started, it was hard on her, but the teachers were truly amazing. They were caring, understanding, patient, and hands-on.

Can not say enough good things about this Lightbridge Academy. My son is now 2 years old and has…read morebeen going there since he was 10 months old. All the teachers are so professional and caring. My son comes home all the time with new words and counting higher and even learns sign language. Always clean and such a great community, where everyone knows my sons name. The active camera access and the constant pictures being sent to you throughout the day of your children is just icing on the cake.

Business is incredibly clean and the staff are extremely helpful. Instructors are so good with the…read morekids!! Highly recommend for all swim levels.

The staff at Stewie the Duck do a fantastic job. The manager Alexis has been so kind in scheduling…read moreour private lessons and helping us when we need to make one up. The teachers have all been sweet and helpful and I see my children progressing quickly. The facilities are clean and well maintained. It's a fabulous school.

My mom takes lessons here and loves it. I've gone with her a couple times. If you own a horse, you…read morecan make arrangements for him/her to stay here and they have different options for caring for the horse. If you don't own a horse, you can take lessons or ride one of there's no matter your experience level. They have a few different areas for riding both inside and out. I had a great time going for a ride down the trail outside with absolutely no experience. The horse I was riding followed the guides horse so I pretty much just got to enjoy.

PARENTS, BEWARE. I…read moredon't know all the fancy horse terminology or the ins and outs of horse care, and quite frankly, I shouldn't have to. These are simply my observations. When you pay professionals to teach children around 1,000-pound animals, you trust them to know what they're doing and to take safety and animal welfare seriously. What I witnessed at Saddle Ridge made me sick. While my child loves many of the horses she got to experience there it is clear that the dollars we spent were not being used to take care of those horses that clearly worked very hard. Some horses appeared extremely thin and exhausted while still being used for lessons. Several appeared to limp or just look uncomfortable while moving. Again, I'm not a horse expert. I can only describe what I saw with my own eyes, and it was concerning enough to make me question what I was being told was "normal." And then there is the FILTH. The barns and pastures were absolutely disgusting during my experience. Mud and manure everywhere. The barn has white walls that only make the brown splatter and stains covering portions of them even more noticeable. Those brown stains appeared to be old, built-up feces and manure that had been left to accumulate over time. I genuinely don't want to know how long it had been there. And the flies were completely out of control. They were everywhere--swarming around the stalls, walls, manure, and animals. The sheer number of flies was impossible to ignore and made the already filthy conditions even more disturbing. And the smell. The ammonia odor in areas of the barn could practically knock you over. This is a place where animals live and children spend significant amounts of time. How anyone walks through that smell every day and considers it acceptable is beyond me. Rodents were not an unusual occurrence either. And somehow, the facilities for the PEOPLE weren't much better. The bathroom was disgusting. I understand that this is a barn and nobody expects a luxury restroom, but there is a huge difference between "it's a barn" and basic cleanliness being ignored. If this is the standard for an area specifically meant for customers and children, it certainly doesn't inspire confidence about the cleanliness of everything else. Then there is the constant staff turnover. This place seems like a revolving door. Instructors and employees come and go so frequently that at some point you have to stop wondering what is wrong with all these employees and start wondering what is wrong with the place they keep leaving. That should concern any parent. Children need consistency with the people teaching them, especially in an activity involving large animals and real safety risks. When a business seemingly cannot retain staff, customers deserve to ask why. What bothered me most was realizing how much trust customers put in management simply because we don't know any better. Most parents aren't horse professionals. We're relying on the people we're paying to educate us, not take advantage of what we don't know. My advice to other parents is simple: DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Visit other barns. Ask questions. Look around. Smell the barn. Look at the horses. Use the bathroom. Ask how often the horses work, how they're cared for, how long the instructors have been there, and why so many people seem to leave. You don't need to know horse terminology to know when something doesn't look, smell, or feel right. I would not trust this operation with a child or a horse. BEWARE.

Echo Lake Stables is truly a home away from home. Kathy and John are wonderful owners who genuinely…read morecare about every horse in their care. Blaze has been so well looked after, and it gives us complete peace of mind knowing he's in such good hands. The trails are beautiful, the horses are healthy and well cared for, and the atmosphere is friendly and welcoming. We've even brought friends riding, and they've all had a great experience. Whether you're boarding, taking lessons, or enjoying a trail ride, Echo Lake Stables is a fantastic place. We highly recommend it!

From the initial phone call, and greeting when we arrived at 5pm for a night ride, I knew we were…read moregoing to have a great evening. Kathy, John, Bob. and the staff were exceptionally accommodating and friendly. Vanessa our trail guide was excellent.Allie, a young lady volunteer is a real all round star! She was a great line dance coach!

My daughters have been attending Apple Montessori School in Oakland for almost 3 years (oldest) and…read more2 years (youngest). We transferred my oldest from another school because the other school did not mesh well with her personality. The moment we moved her to AMS, almost instantly, my daughter fell in love with the environment and the warm staff so much that the struggle of getting her to go to school was no longer an issue. We find the activities and curriculum to be engaging, logical and incrementally challenging. The math bead system that they have introduced to my daughter is a gold standard for education. I know my daughters will be very well prepared for later years in school. I think, overall, the best aspect of AMS is the fact that Ms. Ferentinos knows exactly where both my daughters stand in their learning journey. She has a great plan in mind for both my daughters and I'm confident she will continue to challenge them. The assistants are equally as amazing. Its the little things they do that makes the experience even better. Ms. Buckley braiding my daughters hair makes my daughters feel so special. And its an absolute comfort to drop them off every morning because of Mrs. Dermos' and Ms. Rolos' warm bubbly personalities. During these difficult pandemic times, we've seen the school really step up their game and implement world class safety precautions. This really makes us feel comfortable with sending our girls to school. Even before the pandemic, they had all ready upgraded the schools with the large UV sanitation cabinet equipment. We're very pleased with the level of education provided by AMS and we're so lucky to have found this school!

While the curriculum is great, had some unpleasant experiences and I reported three complaints,…read morewhere the staff did not pay enough attention to the child, some teachers were partial in treatment of children. There were some good teachers too that had a positive impact. Overall a very mixed experience, if all children are treated the same it would be a great school for kids.

Cheryl McGinnis owns an art gallery and has an interior designer/contractor business as well. We…read morewere renovating our apartment and she was recommended by a member on the board of our coop, which was a big part of our decision. You wouldn't recommend someone unprofessional to someone who lives in your building, right? Well, maybe they didn't realize she wasn't as good as they thought because it turned out to be a nightmare. First off, Cheryl McGinnis is not an interior designer. This became very apparent in the first few weeks of working with her. She didn't know a screw from a bolt and had very rudimentary taste in design. When your client knows more than you do, it's time to go to school or quit the business. I already had inspiration photos that I had pulled and didn't really need her for her interior design skills, but it would have been helpful if she knew how to at least source materials. I ended up having to research most of it myself. So, maybe she's not a designer, how about a project manager? We went through several contractors because she would fire them mid project over personal issues that had nothing to do with my apartment. She wouldn't tell us, just one day there would be an empty apartment. The contractors she hired were total hacks, putting walls in the wrong places, electrical wiring done wrong...it was frustrating. Given that I was living in the space at the time made it even more frustrating. In the end, she and I had a disagreement over the cost of one piece of the project and instead of sitting down and talking through it like a professional, she told the contractors to not come in the next day and didn't returned my phone calls. I couldn't believe it. I had already paid her money upfront. I had to get a lawyer. After all of the wrong she had done, she still felt like she needed to threaten to sabotage finishing my apartment. After finding someone else to finish my apartment, I got a phone call from a plumber that told me McGinnis had not paid him for work he had done on my apartment six months before. He threatened to put a lien on my apartment if he wasn't paid. I had already given her a check for over $4,000 to pay him right after he did the work. A week later, I got another call from a vendor that supplied materials saying he hadn't been paid by her either and she had given him my number. Apparently, she pocketed the money I had given her for expenses instead of paying the vendors. I am beside myself as to how this woman can face herself and those around her everyday. She's a shady character that needs to stay out of the business instead of playing with people's homes and lives. Do yourself a huge favor and stay clear!

Bought a piece of art from Cheryl McGinnis Gallery. Couldn't be happier. Great art. Cheryl came…read moreover with the artist and personally hung the piece. It was great meeting the artist.