There be Dragons Farm

Mary Rose Scozzafava _{on Google}

Dec 23rd, 2021

Just read Melissas review from 6 years ago and couldnt agree more. Tommy is an amazing instructor who really cares about her students and her horses. Shes taught me how to control my own body and listen and communicate with my horse. Cant speak highly enough about her.

Liz Blacksburg _{on Google}

May 11th, 2021

Love riding here

Alie M. _{on Yelp}

Dec 6th, 2017

I actually found this place through my mom who started boarding here with her older Arabian I think about six years ago. Tommy gets to know all her students and horses quite well; and she's helped me work through some blocks with all three of my horses. She even got me back on my horse who had had me terrified for years after finding out where the communication disconnect was in our relationship. Tommy observes and adjusts her teaching style per student and horse. Whether you are boarding there with your own horse or on one of the school masters.Everyone there, both those who work there and those that just ride there, pays attention to detail and helps make it a great community to be a part of.

Melissa Mahoney _{on Google}

Jul 21st, 2015

I'm sure you've heard it before -- Heels down! -- and I had too, countless times. But all pushing my heels down got me was shooting pain extending from my knee down the side of my calf, and prevented me from a truly connected seat. I thought that was just my anatomy, or that riding would just hurt and I'd get used to it. Pushing down through my heels was all I'd ever been taught and the lack of connection in my seat didn't bother me (since I came from a hunter background).
Within two weeks of lessons with Tommy, my knee pain was gone, and I can't believe I ever thought that it was normal. She was the first person to actually explain my seat to me through biomechanics, teaching me which muscles to compress and release and how to support myself in my core and not by (essentially) standing in my stirrups. In the year that I have been training with her I feel that I have made incredible progress. Tommy takes the time to really get to know her students and understand their individual needs, and in lessons pairs them with horses that either build confidence or provide a challenge as needed. Tommy's lessons often incorporate bareback, lunging, and in-hand work too. I think the opportunity to learn techniques for lunging and in-hand work is pretty unique in lessons where you don't have your own horse, and I feel like I'm learning a whole side of horsemanship I missed out on before.
Tommy has helped me work through some serious anxieties (stemming from a bad fall), pushing me to be a better rider without me ever feeling unsafe. Becoming a better rider has really been a side effect of her priority in helping people build relationships with their horses. This is one of the biggest differences about Tommy and one of the things I value the most: the end-goal isn't a blue ribbon (though of course, that'd be nice). Its the journey to achieve a relationship where horse and rider consistently work in concert to produce connection and lightness for me, that's the prize.