Brigadoon Farm Reviews

Never have I written a review for a place before. Been training horses all my life for multiple people. Went to school for Equine Science at SHSU.

Went in for an interview for the colt breaking/assistant trainer position....10 minutes into the interview, I was asked to get down on my hands and knees in the middle of the arena in my nice clothes and act like a horse and demonstrate how they should look during training...1. Extremely awkward and uncomfortable. 2. Highly unprofessional. 3. I had to demonstrate bc none of her top-saddle-money-winning horses could do simple reining maneuvers. The first horse she put me on that was an FEI World Champion couldn t even back up when asked and only knew how to trot in circles.

EVERY. SINGLE. HORSE. THERE. IS. LAME. Every single one. Before I rode I examined each one physically (back soreness, teeth, feet....). She ADMITTED that her on-site farrier has crippled multiple horses and is not good...but shot down my offers to try and help hire her a new one. Also, when firmly asking her when the last time any of their teeth had been done, she got upset and refused to answer me when I continuously kept asking. Same when I asked when the last time any of them had seen a chiropractor. Every single horse had overgrown sharp points all over in their mouth. Every single horse I rode (8 total. The others are lame or crazy or crippled broodmares) would pin their ears back and either had sticky feet and some bucked with me out of control when asked for a simple trot or lope. When I was able to stop the horses from bucking, and pointed out they are hurting terribly, she was verbally abusive and said I didn t know how to ride because I stopped them from bucking and should ve just rode them through it .

Her horses also bit me. Hard. Every single one. Because she trains them with a clicker and treats. Multiple treats. Everyday. For every single movement. So they re spoiled beyond belief. Her interns carry remote control clickers and cookies with them at all times.
Every horse is already dead-headed trained to ride in circles in this pre-made pattern made by cones and buckets. That s all she makes her interns do is ride them in the same pattern. Every day. So that s all they know how to do. Horse and rider. When I got on and attempted to do something different, the horse got rattled and Martha would challenge my knowledge.

Martha is pessimistic and does not like to be told when she is in the wrong. She doesn t give credit to other s knowledge and attempts to help. She said she wants to start a therapy riding program at the facility....y all....do NOT put your kids on these horses. They won t learn anything but how to go in circles and every single horse there is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode with all the pain they are in.



The trainer camper I would have been staying in if I got the job was fullllllll of dust, dead bugs, a rusty kitchen that didn t work, and reeked of dog poop.

During my interview that day, she never asked about me and my past training history. Didn t care. Only based it off of me riding her lame, crippled horses saying I basically was the problem when I tried refusing to ride them longer than 5 minutes. And kept me there from 7:30 am to 7:00 pm while having me ride nearly all of her horses and then stay to clean the barn at the end....
Brigadoon farm has potential. The horses there are all greatly papered and have so much potential. The person in charge however, has this place running like a nightmare with unhappy, unsound horses who has no other legit horse knowledge than how to get them to respond with a clicker remote and cookies. That is the last time I will go there.

Martha (the owner) has good intentions and she is really kind to her horses but you are not going to learn a lot about reining at this barn. Yes as a intern you get to ride 2 to 6 horses a day but with most of them you just do a warm up pattern around cones that those horses already know by heart. Dont expect that you get helpfull advice to improve your riding skills. If you are a person who really tries to understand things you probably will have a hard time there because if you ask you either get a different answer or she gets upset or even mad at you. Martha tends to pick favorite interns she even talks about stuff she doesn't like about you to other interns but she is not going to talk to you about it.
Martha let's everyone know when she has a bad day so you can never really be sure if what you're doing is right or wrong.

They have the nicest horses and funniest. Martha (the owner) is really nice and i had a great time riding! But now its time for me to go and i will absouluty vist!

Brigadoon Farm is an incredible facility with well bred horses and an owner that truly cares about the well being of all her animals! I started there as an intern in Feb of 2015. I had started colts before and was really just wanting to ride horses and learn a little about the horse business. What I learned there, has helped me reach my goals of becoming a horse trainer. Martha is incredibly knowledgeable and willing to teach her vastness of knowledge on to the people that work there. A unique part of her program while i was there was that she has been willing to let interns and young trainer go off and show and get coached by top professionals(something that you won't find at many places) She truly has an incredible program for someone that is willing to learn. I adore Martha and Ken and her love for her animals and her continuance to breed top reining horses. If you are looking for a place to learn about the horse business, ride very nice horses, and expand on knowledge you may have already accumulated, I would highly recommend Brigadoon Farm. I owe a lot of my foundation in this business because of Martha and Brigadoon Farm!

Martha is my daughter Issy's Horsey Grandma. :) Issy started riding at Brigadoon 4 years ago when she was 8. She had been taking hunter/jumper lessons and we wanted to transition to Western. Issy was timid and Martha took her time with Issy helping her gain her confidence, yet continuing to push her. We bought Poppy from Martha for Issy's 9th birthday and those two have been quite the show team! They won 5 buckles (NRHA, 4H, and a local show series) and more ribbons than I can count this past year. Martha is always there supporting them and does not hesitate to help us when needed. I can't say enough about Brigadoon, Martha, and Ken. Thanks for all you do for Issy and Poppy!

Great facility with tons of amenities, some super nices horses, and knowledgeable farm owners.

I interned here for a couple months while i was in college in 2011. My major was Equine Business Managment, but I wanted to get some life experience and try my hand at training. I had never been away from home like this before, so it was a huge deal to me.

It was nothing like I expected. It was so much more.

I thought I would be thrown on finished reiners and get to do all the fun stuff like sliding stops, spins, ect. (Dont get me wrong, once we proved our merrit, we did get on a finished horse every now and again)

Instead, I learned the art of Positive Reinforcement Training and how to apply it to problem solve issues and every day training; I learned how to properly start a 2yr old; I learned what it takes to ride 6+ horses a day; I learned how to come up with a lesson plan; I learned how to coordinate an event; I learned what it takes to run a barn of 20+ horses; I learned that my opinion mattered, but its not the only way; I learned how to make life long friends.

What I took away from Brigadoon was so much more than riding reining horses. I came away with a unique training skill, some seriouse riding experience and best of all, life long friends.