Glen Grove Equestrian Center

I live very close to the Glen Grove Equestrian center and decided to try it for the first time with my son and his 3 cousins. We decided that the pony rides would best fit our needs. I paid with a card (which is a hassle at this location), while I was paying my son was standing beside me. I asked how long each pony ride lasted, so I could best estimate how many rides to purchase. The girl told me 5 — 10 minutes, so I bought two. Once we walk to the opposite side of the property to get on the ponies we are greeted by two very young teenagers. They told me that my son couldn’t ride because the ponies that are in use today are small and can’t carry more than 40 lbs, fine, no problem. We don’t want to endanger an animal, but WHY didn’t the first teenager who took my payment not ask me if the rider I was paying for was 40 lbs or over??? Make too much sense? Second, my brother loads his daughters onto their pony and one of the ponies had a bandaged eye. We asked what was wrong with the pony and the teenagers said, «He’s sick, he has an eye infection.» Maybe I’m crazy but isn’t that animal cruelty? If the animal is sick let it rest until it is well. Third now the angry teenager leads the 5 –10 minute pony ride. They were back in two minutes, When we questioned why the ride was so short she became incredibly snotty and said she didn’t know what we thought 5 minutes felt like, but that was clearly 5 minutes. So I said, «I’m timing the next ride, because this is ridiculous.» The second group goes out and they quickly disappear into the woods and appear at the other side of the trail, waiting, just sitting there, When she officially stopped wasting time and appeared out of the trees 3 ½ minutes passed. That included all of her stalling. I would never recommend a place to my friends with young children who apparently only hire teenagers with angst. All the adults that worked their were either in the store or giving horseback ridding lessons. Waste of time, waste of money. If I want to be around teenagers with an attitude problem I will return.

I’ve been riding here for a few months now and the absolute best part about Glen Grove is my trainer, Jen Diaz. She is incredibly talented at explaining the intricacies of riding and I’m quickly progressing to where I want to be. I highly recommend Jen as a trainer and most of their school horses are super sweet and fun to ride. Say hi to Marbles, Moose, and Fred if you stop by! :)

I purchased a block of three lessons almost two years ago and I am so glad I did. It has been a childhood dream of mine to get back into English equestrian riding and this has been a great journey for me. Paula is a wonderful instructor and I have many new friends here.

The horse seem very happy and well cared for, very conveniently located close to the city, prices good, teachers attentive.

I do not ride horses but I like walking the trails. Just watch my step ;)

We took the introductory lesson, we had a very affable and professional young lady named Hope for our instructor. It was a really fun experience. Everyone we interacted with was friendly and pleasant, including our horse, Moose.

Let me start out by saying that everyone was very friendly and the barn was nice. I have been riding for a long time and after taking some time off I decided to start riding again, this was not the place to do it. I have no doubt this is a wonderful place for beginners but for anyone that is an experienced rider it is extremely overpriced and you will leave completely unsatisfied.
The horses seem a bit overused and it seemed that they only do the bare minimum of jumping if you enjoy jumping like Ido. Another issue is that since there are about five «trainers» the ring was packed with other kids and it was hard to do anything without worrying about running into people.
Long story short
Beginners-​yes
Experienced– absolutely not

I cannot say that my experience was perfect but satisfactory would be best way to describe. I saw improvement after lessons.

I’ve taken 5 years of horseback riding lessons at various other places, had my first lesson at Glen Grove and I’m a fan! I had a private ½ hour lesson for $ 40 and loved it. Prior I had taken group lessons at other barns on the southside and it always annoyed me when another rider was slow on the up take of what the instructor wanted and the rest of the class suffered. This was great! My trainer gave me tips while letting me ride at my level. I rode for the full half hour and can’t wait to go back next week.

While this barn has gotten some bad reviews (usually all do) I am very happy with my instructor here. I used to ride Saddleseat and am now learning Hunt Seat. She has been great in providing direction in how to change my form for the new style of riding. I love how detailed she is in correcting my form, this is the most important thing to me.
I am not sure how this barn measures up to others, I have only rode at a total of 4 different places, but it looks to be fairly well run.
Many reviews have mentioned instructors on their phones not paying attention. I have not had that issue personally. I have noticed one in particular who comes to mind. I would say this place is worth a try, but if you find your instructor, or your child’s instructor is on the phone all the time… find a new one. Learning to ride is technical and if your instructor is on the phone/​texting, you are likely not learning proper riding.

I tried so hard to make this place work, but they disappointed me so often that I decided to stop riding here. First of all, charging $ 40 for what Glen Grove calls a 30 minute riding «lesson» is ridiculous. There is barely any teaching going on. From my experience, and from what I witnessed, the instructors are disinterested and mostly watch the riders they are «teaching.» Secondly, every one who works here is unfriendly. The instructors are generally apathetic, but they are better than the young «working-​students» who hang around the barn. They are at best unhelpful and standoffish, but at worst rude, bratty, and totally unprofessional. They ignore everyone else at the barn and act like they own the place. I have even overheard them talking about inappropriate things and wild nights out in front of children taking lessons.
I paid for my lessons myself, and chose to leave Glen Grove. But as a warning to parents sending their children: I noticed instructors virtually ignoring kids when the parents weren’t present. They have them walk/​trot around the arena with out saying anything more than «heels down» in the span of 15 minutes. If you are paying for a riding lesson, I would think there would be teaching involved.
It is really too bad, because Glen Grove is one of the only barns located close to the city and the Northern suburbs. Yes, the barn is old, and it could be much better taken care of, but I could deal with all that. I just wish the people who worked there were nicer and at least pretended to care!

Although we have only gone there for pony rides for my kids, I have found the place friendly and accessible. They let you in the barns and often people will stop to talk to kids and get them to understand horses and about what needs to happen in the barn to make the horses healthy and safe. The pony rides are for kids younger than 7 and are very reasonably priced ($ 5).

This place is not my choice of stables. The lesson horses are all overrun and the «trainers» are hardly professionals. The hay here is something more qualified for bedding, not food. Horses are not turned out with the board fee. You have to pay extra and even then the horse is barely out for a half hour. You cannot keep 40 animals on 5ish acres (if that) without any land. A lot of horses get sick a hurt because they never get out! Their pony ride ponies are kept in a nasty dirty pen outside. On the plus side, the barn is heated and Sue, the desk lady is AMAZING. The owner is a bit bipolar, disorganized and straight up rude. There is also a serious drugging issue here. If you can’t handle a horse, drug it! That is their method. It blows. Find another barn.

A family friend gets private lessons so we were able to observe from afar and walk around the facility. There’s an indoor and outdoor riding ring. That indoor one comes in handy unless you want to be riding in 5 ft. snow come winter! They offer a 30 min private session that beginners are encouraged to take before buying the hourly packages.
The space surrounding the equestrian facility can be used for picnicking on gorgeous summer days. Lush greens and trees to shade you from the Chicago sun. Beware! The instructors take some of the horses through the trails close to where the picnic goers are.