Fitzjoy Farm Riding Academy

Can’t say enough good things about Fitzjoy. My horse’s stall is cleaned daily. The hay is excellent. The arena’s are turned over daily. Schedules are posted and kept. Place is kept clean. The entire staff is professional Courteous, and Friendly. I have seen classes with little ones to adults. All having fun and learning. Trails are right next to barn. NO STREETS TO CROSS. Can’t say enough good things about Fitzjoy

I’ve been sending my daughter here for riding lessons for 5 months now. She has improved significantly since she started here. She had to unlearn bad riding habits she learned from another stable she was at for 4 months.
They rotate the kid between the easiest well behaved horses to ones that are a little more stubborn. In my opinion that is good, because a good rider needs to have enough control to be able to handle a stubborn horse.
I also love that they max the classes out at 8 people.
My daughter has been training with Michelle. I know there is another trainer, but we haven’t tried her because we like Michelle. She’s a tough-​love trainer and doesn’t let you get away with sloppy or dangerous habits. She will yell at your kid for doing something wrong, but tells your kid why it’s important to do it right. My daughter was originally intimidated by her, but now she pouts when she has a substitute for the only fact that its not Michelle. We’ve taken my neighbors daughter a few times too, she also was a little intimidated by her, but has since grown to like and respect her style of teaching.
Overall my kid has learned to ride different gates, different dismounts, how to groom, how to saddle an bridal, how to balance well enough she doesn’t have to hold onto the horn of the saddle, and gained a ton of confidence in her ability to control a 1000 lb beast.
I highly recommend this stable for riding lessons.

I just spent the winter boarding my daughter’s horse at Fitzjoy. My daughter and I have a long history with them. My daughter, now 22, learned to ride there when she was 9 or 10; taking lessons and going to their summer camps. My daughter’s trainer was Dawn and she was amazing with the kids. There are two other trainers there now, one that was a student when my daughter was there. I have watched them give lessons and it looked like they were doing a great job. This year we boarded over the winter. I found the entire experience to be exceptional. Her stall was always clean. She had been a little overfed last summer and I expected her to lose a little weight over the winter, but she did not. She was just as well fed there as she was at home. We have boarded at a variety of places as my daughter has moved around and came back to Fitzjoy because other than our own backyard, we haven’t been anywhere better.

I went for a trail ride with my boyfriend a few years ago and had such a great experience we went back this year. To our surprise, this trail ride was different. It started late and ended early. No instructions on how the hell to ride a horse and when mine veered off, I was yelled at to do stuff I didn’t understand. The tour guide was friendly and introduced herself a few years back. This time we didn’t even get her name. She pretty much ignored everyone the whole time. I was thinking it was just an off day, but it seems other Unilocalers had the same experience. We were so disappointed. A few years ago we tipped our guide $ 20 we liked her so much. This time nothing. How do you not even acknowledge your customers?

Horseback riding in the park, less than 50 minutes from the city. It was $ 70 for two people for just about an hour trail ride. Straight out the barn, we saw coyote and deer, eagles, and pheasants. My horse, Pete, was beautiful, but so stubbern. The other horse, Missy, was more behaved, but we had to go slow since mine was being such a donkey. They offer ½ off your first lesson. I am hooked.

I took my six year old there for a lesson last week… no instrustion or saftey warnings for the kids. They put on helments and walked the horses around the arena. Fine they instructors were all very nice, talked to the kids walked them around for 20 minutes… the the 2^nd part of the lesson… groom the horses… no instructions give to the kids 4 – 6 year olds. Well one of the little girls walked behind the horse and got kicked. No one told the kids not to walk behind the horse… our son knew because my husband is a horse person and had talked to him on the way there about the rules. But the instructors did not mention this to the kids and wahm… the little girl got kicked. So it left something to be desired in the way of saftey instruction.

I was really disappointed in this barn. I used to ride seriously when I was younger, and I have just gotten back into it. I went to try out a lesson at Fitzjoy. Everyone was very friendly, but when I walked into the indoor riding arena I was really surprised. It was very crowded, and there was a woman riding around barefoot and with no helmet. She appeared to be an experienced rider, but I was shocked by the lack of concern about safety. When my horse was led out, I thought he was a paint from a distance, but he was actually just really filthy. Nobody asked me about my riding experience, but they were perfectly happy to let me trot and canter. The instructor focused almost exclusively on one student in a lesson with 8 people. An inexperienced rider was put on a horse that apparently kicks a lot, and this horse kicked 2 other horses during the lesson. The instructor did not talk to the 2 riders who had allowed their horses to come up close behind this horse, but instead yelled at the person riding the kicking horse, The instruction was also bizarre, and seemed to be a nonsensical mix of English and Western. My horse had all Western tack and neck reined, but others had English tack. We were all told to neck rein, and also told to go into a halfseat. It didn’t make any sense, and maintaining a halfseat in a Western saddle is not exactly comfortable. Overall, I have no idea what’s going on at this barn. The horses didn’t appear well cared for and the instruction was bad. They have a nice outdoor arena and the horse I rode was very well-​trained, but I would never go here again.

Let me just start out by saying that I went there on a trail ride not for lessons. First of all a person who clearly states «it’s my first time on a horse» SHOULD NOT BE LET NEAR A HORSE MUCH LESS ON IT NOT TO EVEN MENTION GOING ON A TRAIL RIDE WITHOUT ANY INSTRUCTION ONCE SO EVER!!! Basically it worked like this: got there, signed paperwork, was told to wait. There were five or six people including one of my friends who has never ridden before. At some point some bored looking girl said «Trail ride» and walked out. Assuming we were to follow her we all left the office and went to the barn. There was no introduction at all on her part… no «Hi my name is … and I’ll be your trail guide» NOTHING! So as we got to the barn we were told to grab a helmet and wait. My horse came out first and oh boy … Poor thing was NOT GROOMED AT ALL!!! I was told to get on the mounting block and get on the horse. I did. Everyone pretty much looked at what I’m doing since it was their first time and they had no idea how to mount much less ride! Now as stated before, my pony was not groomed. He had bits of hay in his dirty looking mane and when i bent down to pat and scratch his neck, as I tapped him dust actually came off as a big cloud… He simply looked horrible, as did the rest of the poor things aside from two– the ones used by the guides. If that was not enough the saddle and tack overall were in the worst condition imaginable! Worn, dry, and damaged! The bit on my friend’s horse was actually rusty!!! So we all finally get on and to my amazement there is absolutely no instruction once so ever! Not even the basics of how to halt, walk, turn… nothing! My friend, who has never been on a horse looked at me asking what to do when her horse started wondering off bitting another one… (the biggest reaction to this safety risk she received was from me. not from the three staff members who were standing around busy talking). So we set off… I was the second to last and I don’t think I need to describe the aimless pulling, kicking and so on that went on in front of me… The guide behind me was yelling out instructions such as «give more rein» or «steer her to the middle of the trail’ at people who had no idea what that meant or how to do it since they have never ridden. Some horses trotted to catch up, with their «riders» bouncing on their backs so loudly it had me saying «ouch» and not knowing how to stop them… aimlessly pulling on the reins with all their force… One person had their saddle sliding to the left not knowing how to correct it… with no response from the guide… guess she was too busy minding her own business. Either way we came back to the barn… As we got off (no need to describe the horrors I’ve seen than) I walked into the barn to say bye to my horse only to see a girl who looked about eleven bridling a horse in flip flops… (???) My horse was in his stall still saddled! Apparently he was just left that way and very used to it! The rest of the horses were sitting in their stalls with the saddles on as well… in hot humid weather… There was no one who said «bye, thanks, come again!» All of the «employees» just left! The only positive thing that I can say about the whole thing is that the barn was actually not too dirty… As we walked around I noticed that the other horses actually do look good only to find out moments later that these are ones that are boarded there by their owners… Shame on Fitzjoy for taking better care of other horses, but not their own… but what don’t we do for money… I guess I could handle the fact that the people there were not that nice and polite… what I can’t handle is the poor horses being dirty, not groomed, sitting in their stables with gear on their backs… and that they allow people who are inexperienced to abuse horses on trail because of lack of any information, introduction, or instruction on their part. Other places I’ve gone before require their trail riders to go at least through the basics. I will repeat myslef again PEOPLE WHO HAVE NEVER RIDDEN SHOULD NOT BE LED ON A TRAIL RIDE WITHOUT ANY INSTRUCTION ONCE SO EVER!!! They are unintentionally hurting the horse flopping on its back, pulling on the reins, and kicking… The whole experience overall left me disappointed but, more importantly, feeling horribly sorry for the mistreated horses. Will NEVER go back…

I’ve been share-​boarding here for the last year and I love it. Fitzjoy is a great place to ride; everyone is really friendly and not at all snobby. It doesn’t matter if you have been riding your whole life or if it is your first time on a horse, the folks at Fitzjoy will help you have a good time. I work downtown and the barn manager has been really flexible with ride scheduling, which is a major benefit for me.

This is the best riding stable within the Chicagoland area.
I started taking riding lessons here at age 29. Late bloomer. Within 2 years, I learned Western, English, and eventually bareback. The instructors (especially Dawn) genuinely care about the riders, and you are not just a number to them.
Personal relationships and friendships are established here, and the owners also love their horses. I know of a specific story where a horse was abandoned there, but the owner continued to feed it & care for it, despite the fact she wasn’t getting a cent from the owner. The horse ended up getting sold to one of the tack-​up girls when the original owner was nowhere to be found (after more than 6 months).
Weekends have a tendency to be a busy, and plan on waiting a bit. But it’s worth it.