-
October 2023 by Jen H.
My daughter did the summer camp here for years. What I loved about La Fleur was that it was clear to me that the focus was the horses. My kid spent much more time learning to care for the horses than riding. We never could afford competitive riding, but she learned everything about taking care of horses. The owners' priority was horses, and teaching the kids that the priority was horse care. Not riding. I loved that that the kids were expected to entertain themselves with barn kittens after camp. I appreciated that the owner wasn't there to make nice with me. Her focus was the horses and teaching the kids to focus on the horses. My kid learned so well that she is helping to pay her way through college by taking care of horses out east. Maybe if you want someone to give your kid a fun horse experience, maybe this isn't for you. But if you want someone to teach your kid how much work it is to properly care for horses, then it might be a good fit. My kid came home dirty and exhausted every day, and loved it.
-
July 2023 by Liz DeHaan
Congratulations on your upcoming new business plan! Doggy daycare for 100 dogs plus additional pets. La Fleur’s will provide a valuable service for people that cannot care for their pets. Thank you!
-
December 2022 by Mary Jo Harper
Atmosphere really nice but they no longer have horses backriding services on trails anymore :(
-
December 2022 by Colleen Waydick
We have been coming here weekly for 4 years now and have never had a bad experience. It’s the highlight of my daughters week and she has developed a love and skill that will serve her throughout her life. Neva is no nonsense with her instructions but she is by no stretch of the imagination mean or have I ever heard her swear like another reviewer stated. She cares about the horses and she cares about the riders, especially if they want to learn. Pictures of my daughter at her first lesson and a more recent. You can see how far she has come thanks to La Fleurs excellent coaching.
-
December 2022 by Pete Roth
My daughter has been taking lessons here for 2 years and it has been an amazing experience! Neva and the staff at La Fleur are extremely knowledgeable and have been instrumental in the growth of my daughter as a confident rider. I highly recommend Neva and La Fluer Stables!
-
December 2022 by Gracie Parisi
I love la fluer stables. Such a great barn! Very clean, professional, super nice staff and trainers. I immediately felt welcomed by La Fluer, which I really needed at the time. The horses are so sweet, i immediately fell in love with a lot of them. I am so grateful for all the lessons I took here and hope to come back soon and ride :)
-
December 2022 by Kellie Kienbaum
We did the pony & horse experience at La Fleur Stables and it was a fantastic experience. The kids learned how to proper care and groom the ponies - even try themselves! They also enjoyed riding by both saddle and cart! Everyone at La Fleur Stables was extremely nice and friendly. Highly recommending doing the pony & horse experience with your kiddos!
-
December 2022 by Troy Jastromski
La Fleur Stables has been absolutely wonderful for our daughter! She has riden there for many yrs & is incredibly comfortable there & riding is the highlight of her wk. Neva is a great trainer & instructor & her knowledge of the horse world is immense! I personally learn something new every wk. The instructors who help Neva are also very knowledgeable & the environment is very safe & the stables & arena are immaculately kept!The horses are healthy & taken care of very well & my daughter loves spoiling them with lots of care & attention & a carrot here & there.You will learn every aspect of care for a horse. You'll muck the stall, brush them & have a blast riding them as the reward for your hard work. You'll need to put in some work to enjoy the benefit of riding but definitely worth it.You won’t go wrong by picking La Fleur Stables as the place to ride & fall in love with horses!
-
December 2022 by Stephanie Walsh
I cannot begin to express how appalled I am at the treatment my four year old granddaughter received at these stables this week. The treatment she received here is something that if a child is exposed to for too long can create mental obstacles that are really difficult to recover from. My granddaughter has mainly grown up in the time of COVID where a lot of kids this age have experienced a type of socializing that many of us never had to experience because of the isolation. She is brave and courageous and went out to try something that she found she truly loves. This week, she fell off of her horse for the very first time. When she fell she started crying. That is pretty standard and she was reprimanded severely by Niva for crying. She was bullied, told she didn’t belong here, and told her parents she needed to leave the lesson immediately. In fact, she started to walk out. She then proceeded to call my daughter in law emotional and said she’s coached 5500 kids and was 51 years old and didn’t need to listen to crying. I’m sorry- that is what she signed up for when she decided to teach small children. My father raised and trained quarter horses. When we fell off a horse, he knew it was a crucial moment in our journey. He would softly tell us that we just had to get right back on and that we could do it. And we did. That is how you speak to HUMANS when learning something new and helping them get through the shock, embarrassment and fear of a fall. This woman needs to read the room. She needs to develop empathy and the courage to be kind. She needs to develop the real strength that is required for coaching kids through difficulty. She should not teach children at all. The sad fact is that my granddaughter left crying and saying she wanted to tell Niva she was sorry for crying so she could try again. It’s heartbreaking and disgusting. When my granddaughter got enrolled in another local riding facility, they were not at all surprised at the experience had here. It is common. Once again, she braved something new because riding is something she now loves. So my granddaughter is the real hero here. Advice to Niva- read the room, grow a heart, learn to teach, gain some compassion, get the backbone required to do the hard stuff because being softer gets it done, learn to embrace courage and welcome the experience of failing as a learning opportunity, and don’t bully four year olds. Advice to everyone else- don’t come here your kids could really be damaged. Also, I don’t write reviews and back down from the conversation. I will be calling her to discuss how she treated this child and family. I’m writing this so no one else experiences the bullying behavior doled out at these stables.
-
December 2021 by Taylor Pataska
Horrible experience. From the moment we arrived the owner was very disrespectful and unorganized. As she was explaining her policies my 5 year old kept repeating she had to go to the bathroom. The owner sighed and stated " whatever I told you everything anyways." Then she asked if we had helmets, I stated no I was told they were provided. She again was very rude and said "we rent them" pointing at the sign. The whole time very condescending talking about how it is my responsibility to show up on time because she wont be there and only cares about her horse shows. I never get upset and this was very upsetting and uncomfortable especially right in front of my daughter. We went there with the purchase of a groupon and I left with the advice from the owner on how to get a refund is to "call groupon".
-
December 2021 by Lindsay Williams
I have heard nothing but horror stories about La Fleur Stables. The owner is blatantly rude and condescending to both parents and children.
-
December 2021 by Juli Aulik
We had a "beyond our wildest dreams" quality experience yesterday at La Fleuer Stables. I scheduled a private party for my granddaughters ages 4 and 6 and indicated I might ride too (if they didn't want to). We arrived to find three extremely experienced and kind staff (Teresa, Dawn, and Finn) working with us. I expected one horse, one hour, and one person. So wow!We each had a horse assigned to us to groom and tack. The 4 year old was scared of her big horse so Finn took her out to the pasture to get a little horse! Wow again! The grooming and tacking experience was educational and a great chance to be with the horse while learning from the trainer.The riding experience was like nothing I've ever done. We truly learned insights into how to to relate to the horse and balance in the saddle, hold the reins, guide the horse, and we all got to trot! I really expected we'd just be led around the ring. The trainers were so attuned to each of our unique needs.This became a truly meaningful experience for us all and a wonderful, safe, and insightful way to introduce two children to riding. And grandma learned a lot too and had a ton of fun. Thank you Teresa, Dawn, Finn + Tiffany, Sport, and Mouse our horses!
-
December 2021 by Molly Moran
I took my daughter and a friend for a beginner lesson, and we had a terrible experience. I reached out to the owner privately to let them know how disappointed we were with almost every aspect of their business, and they didn't respond. The people working were incredibly rude. They left one of the girls alone in the arena on her horse and muttered about who was stuck having to teach them (as they walked right by me). I don't typically write negative reviews, but I think everyone needs to know that their money would be better spent elsewhere.
-
May 2021 by Margaret K.
This was the single worst lesson/activity experience for me and my child (I have 3 kiddos in activities). They couldn't have been more unwelcoming if they tried - especially when you're in a new environment, trying a totally new experience (with a large animal!). They never greeted us, never introduced themselves - nothing. They the owner proceeded to shout directions at my 8 year old, all the while not looking at her/what she was actually doing. She'd say stuff like 'control your horse' - i'm sorry!? she's 8, give her some actual specific direction she can follow or try. The whole experience from start to finish was horrible. We gave it one more shot, and it honestly the 2nd lesson was even worse (the owner kicked our nanny out of the arena for trying to comfort my daughter - verbally from a far - and threatened to make my daughter cry). Please do not spend your time or money on this place, or honestly - subject your child to this kind of treatment. I'm shocked they're still in business.
-
April 2021 by Audrey E.
PLEASE DO NOT GO TO THIS PLACE. the whole experience was an absolute nightmare. my mom had purchased the groupon for 4 lessons there, so we scheduled them and i was very excited to be able to do lessons, since the barn i normally ride at isn't doing lessons right now because of covid. but when we got there to check in on 4/5/21 the owner was extremely rude. she never even introduced herself, and it seemed like all she cared about were her competitions. i brushed it off, thinking she was just having a bad day or something had just happened. i had never ridden here before, so she briefly told me what i should do and then went on to to other things. so i groomed and tacked up the horse i was riding that day, his name was charlie, and lead him into the ring. unlike the owner, my instructor, theresa (i think that's how you spell her name, i'm not exactly sure), was very kind. so we get in the ring and everything is fine until we're told to trot. so i start trotting, and i fall off (which by the way was completely on me, charlie didn't do anything wrong). i got back on and theresa was very sweet, helping me gain back my confidence a bit. that day wasn't nearly as bad as today's lesson was. so, today (4/12/21), we get there, i see who i'm riding today, and im riding tiffany. so i go groom her and tack her up. then the owner comes to lead tiffany to the ring, which was fine with me. however, they do have a couple kittens there, and one was in the way of her leading tiffany to the ring, and so she just kicked the kitten out of the way. today, the owner and theresa were the instructors, since the group we were riding in was bigger. we mount and everything seems okay, except for the fact that i'm a bit anxious because i'm not very comfortable around the owner. the energy in the ring seems to be very tense and uncomfortable. everything's okay, until one of the horses (i believe it was charlie) spooks and starts trotting. there was a little girl on him, probably around 6 or 7, and this was only her second lesson ever, so she doesn't know how to sit the trot or post. she starts panicking and yelling stop at the horse, because she's obviously afraid. unfortunately she falls off, but then the rest of the horses spook because of the yelling, which wasn't necessarily a problem for me, however it is a bit concerning considering the fact that there were a handful of new riders. the owner completely under-reacts and just says "remember, horses have a mind of their own" yeah but that doesn't mean your horse should spook over a bird. especially because you have a very new rider on them. the horses continued to spook that whole lesson. after that, owner sets out cones for us to weave, so we can work on steering. which then the horses keep knocking down cones and spooking even more. it then gets to the point where i get extremely stressed out and i start crying and having a panic attack. the owner did absolutely nothing (surprise surprise!) theresa immediately came over and started talking to me, trying to figure out what was going on. she helped me breathe and regain my composure. there was absolutely too much going on in that ring. mind you, i've been riding for about 5 years now. i have never seen horses spook like this. i never even imagined that i would start crying while riding. that was a thought that never crossed my mind. they had kids riding in tennis shoes!!! if you ride you KNOW that you need smooth soled shoes with a bit of a heel. also!! another big thing was that they never taught you about equitation, which wasn't necessarily a problem for me since i had already been taught it, but for the new riders, they should've been taught that!!! why weren't they?? i have never been scared to get up on a horse until i went here. i never dreaded going to lessons until i went here. i'm not being dramatic when i was this was traumatizing. it really was. the owner didn't seem to care about the safety of the riders at all. really ma
