I recently moved to Southern New Hampshire (from NYC) and so I am in the process of getting the lay of the land. I am looking for a local riding stable to get back into my childhood horse passion. I'm wondering if there might be any local people on this forum who can direct me to a place.
As a child and through college and my early 20s I had a passion for and rode every chance I could get. I used to show now and again (hunt seat, jumping and a little eventing) and otherwise found every opportunity to be around horses (grooming, taking out tourist trail rides and teaching lessons to kids in the Summer while I was in college, etc.) Growing up, I assumed my life would always have a horse in it. Of course, in reality, I ended up working in NYC as an adult where only the very rich can afford to even just ride (forget about owning a horse).
I have recently moved to New Hampshire where riding, and maybe even someday owning a horse, is a possibility in my life again. The problem is, I haven't even been on a horse in probably around 20 years, although when I used to ride, I think I was quite good -- won some classes at various horse shows and events (one championship), had a rep at various places I rode of being able to handle difficult horses, etc. (I've also gained a good bit of weight that I would like to lose if I've going to pursue an equestrian hobby). I am now in a position where I could afford to own a horse, but I need to get my riding legs back and so would like to ease back into riding a bit. I also work full-time, so I would have to find a way to work around my schedule.
Anyway, I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good riding stable in the Bedford/Merrimack New Hampshire area where I could take some lessons and maybe ride an occasional trail. It would preferably be a stable that had more of a slant towards english/hunter/eventing-style than western (nothing against western, it's just never been my thing) and maybe be casual enough where I could participate in grooming, maybe hang out at an event/show once in a while.
Any advice would be welcome.
