Klear Mont Farms

I have been riding at Klearmont Farms for about 10 months now and it has been a wonderful experience. Kim Pratt is the trainer and she does a wonderful job at taking care of all of the horses. You can tell that she loves her horses and she is deliberate and thoughtful in the care that she gives them. She has been showing in the Northwest for over 30 years and for over 25 years has trained horses and taught children. Klearmont Farms is primarily a hunter/​jumper barn and we have riders who do both. She also teaches dressage if you would like a background in dressage.
I started riding at this barn for two reasons. One is there is not a lot of riding options in the Lakewood area and most importantly when I walked into the barn the first time to check it out almost everyone I ran into said hi. I was greeted and introduced to almost everyone in the first 10 minutes and everyone was genuinely friendly and since then I have made some wonderful friends. I find that it can be difficult to find a friendly barn that within just a few short months you feel like family.
My first 7 months, I did not own a horse and took lessons on her string of school horses. Not once did I ever ride a horse that was not well behaved and able to teach me. I am jumping 2’9″ and a lot of barns do not have horses that will jump up that high on schooling horses, but hers were able to. She also has a couple of great beginner school horses that are perfect for the first time rider as young as five.
I now have my own little chestnut Thoroughbred at her barn and she has taken wonderful care of him. He gets turned out 6 days a week and fed 3 times a day. The stalls are in good condition and are modified so even the craftiest horses can’t get out. The property is fenced in so that if a horse does get loose they are safe. There are two arenas, one larger outdoor arena and a smaller indoor arena, both are large enough to jump in with good footing that is drug everyday. They back up right against Fort Lewis so there are awesome trails that you can spend almost all day on for those days that riding in the arena just isn’t good enough.
Riding is an expensive sport, but I looked all around the area and found that Klearmont Farms charged the lower end for board and lessons. The best deal is to by your lessons at the beginning of the month for the whole month because that is the when they are the cheapest. I try to take two lessons a week because that is what I have found makes me improve the fastest, but there are all different levels at the barn and many only take one lesson a week.
Overall, I have loved my time at Klearmont Farms and am so glad that I chose to ride there. It is a wonderful barn with great people and lot of learning. Perfect for the beginner and advanced rider.