Freedom Woods

Best barn in Chicago! I have the same story most adult riders do (and by ""adult"", I mean 30 years old) -- I started riding when I was 5 years old, rode through high school and stopped right before college. Almost 8 years later, I was working in the city and wanted to pick riding back up. My childhood trainer was no longer around, so I started looking for a new barn. I ended up traveling to the south side to a saddlebred barn, because that is all I could find near the city. The saddlebred barn was nice, but they weren't exactly trained in jumping, but I didn't care - it was nice just to be on a horse again. After a year at the saddlebred barn, I started my search again to find a hunter/jumper barn and I randomly found Freedom Woods. Not only is it 11 miles from my apartment in Lincoln Park, but its also conveniently located a few blocks from Old Orchard mall! So on my next visit to the mall, I stopped by to check out the barn. I was amazed - its beautiful, two large indoor arenas, a heated viewing area, huge outdoor arena, clean - nice bathrooms! I started taking lessons there about a year and a half ago with the owner, Ashleen. She is the most talented, knowledgeable trainer I have ever ridden with. She has already corrected a ton of my bad habits and I'm starting to feel more like the rider I was when I was 15. Ashleen pushes me but also makes us laugh every lesson. She has a great personality and you can tell her young students adore her and look up to her. I wish I would have started riding here when I was a kid - I would have been a much better rider now! The young adults that she's taught from the ground up are nothing short of amazing to watch. more

This place is the best! Started riding here 10 years ago, half hour/week at middle age with no history of previous riding. They kept me safe, challenged and driven--what more do you want? I now ride multiple times a week, jump, and am still safe, sound and challenged. 20 minutes from Downtown. Trainers are amazing pros, staff helpful, horses well taken care of. I love this place! more

A uniquely convenient location combined with an extremely knowledgeable and personable staff has retained my tenure at Freedom Woods. The facility offers well-maintained arenas and stabling along with an attitude that supports beginners to advanced riders with outstanding instruction and experienced trainers. Ashleen is an inspiring professional who has created a brilliant collaboration between her riding and teaching abilities. Her criticism always remains constructive and her attention to detail is impeccable. Whether she is teaching or occupied with the duties of maintaining an equestrian center, Ashleen is organized, responsible, encouraging, and it is obvious that she loves her job. She is able to tailor her teaching to a multitude of riders and their varying abilities but her goals of instilling confidence, improvement, and understanding rider?s needs are always apparent. Her concern for the overall well being of her students, horses, staff, and facility is marked by the resulting enjoyable equestrian environment. The other trainers at the barn are remarkable as well and have varying backgrounds and experience suitable for all levels of riding ability. The aisles of the barn are consistently clean and staffed by employees always willing to offer a helping hand. The pricing structure for boarding and lessons remains appropriate and clearly explained to customers. To further buttress my support for Freedom Woods, the barn is within the immediate vicinity of Chicago, is easily accessible from the downtown area, and also is adjacent to trails accessible to horses. The horses are loved and the staff does an excellent job in their caretaking. I cannot advocate this facility and its staff enough and viewers of this post must come see for themselves how Freedom Woods fosters an environment indicative of success and learning. more

Though I could fill up an entire novella regarding how this particular barn is mismanaged, I will refrain from doing so. Instead, I will relay what happened to me tonight, and provide a very wise tip to those thinking of riding here, along with some insight. more

Freedom Woods is AWSOME! It is a very professionally run family owned business and it more

To comment on jennaahhhh (whatever her name is) comment: Ashleen is one of the best trainers I have ridden with. I think you're just venting because you're so spoiled that because Ashleen couldn't give you the attention you needed you felt it necessary to rag on just her. Get over it, you're not going to get people to not go there just because of her and if you do, you can get sued for Defamation of Character because the success of the business would override your comment on a site that doesn't even focus on people looking for barns to ride at and the praise her clients give her more

I have both ridden and boarded a horse at Freedom Woods for the past 6 years. The only reason that I left is because I moved out of state, but even now I still come ride there whenever I can. Everything I learned about riding and horses I learned here from the ""real"" trainers. By ""real"" I mean trainers such as Ashleen and Betsy, who have actual experience in the horse industry and are actually professionals. Not someone who took lessons as a child and now pretends to be knowledgeable about horses to make money, as some of the other trainers people have spoken highly of in their reviews do. As for Ashleen it is very upsetting to see these false accusations made about her. Most of the people that made these comments came into the barn very ignorant of the horse world and often blamed Ashleen for issues that were beyond her control. Knowing from experience, As I was one of her students and on the show team, Ashleen will go above and beyond what is expected of her to help her clients because she actually cares. Whether it be helping a client find a horse, training their horse, helping a student find a way to show or anything else, She will do her best to help them succeed. She is very talented at what she does and has a long future in it. As for the facility itself it is a great barn. After seeing many other barns over the past year Freedom Woods is definitely above average in comparison. It is heated, has big stalls, big arenas, is very clean, and a great environment to be in. On top of this they are constantly making improvements to the stalls and arenas to make them more accommodating to the clients and their horses. The only major downfall is the lack of turnout area for the horses, but this is a sacrifice that is made for its good location, which goes for other barns in the area also. Overall Freedom Woods is a great facility to ride and board your horse at. If I did not have to I would have never left. Unfortunately I know from experience that there are some crazy people who slip in every now and then, usually being very ignorant to the horse world, and when they finally leave it often leads to negative comments you see below. more

Interesting that more people left Freedom Woods. Why are the borders leaving? What's going on over there??? more

I had been riding at Glen Grove for maybe 2 years and they had incorrectly taught me how to use a crop and ask for the canter, without even teaching me the proper way to tack and lead a horse. After coming to FW I was amazed at my trainers patience in re-teaching me the correct ways to ride. It's been 3 years since then and I still love this barn! I've learned so much about not only riding but the basic care of a horse and can now wash, groom, and lead a horse with confidence. The trainers and staff are friednly and I have had few bad experiences here :) more

I just started riding here, but so far have nothing but good things to say about this barn and the people who work there. My instructor has been very patient and helpful, and the facility is about as clean as you can expect from a stable. Please note that ALL the one star reviews below were written on 8/17/09 and are ALL by the SAME PERSON, who went through the trouble of creating SIX different log-ins just to write the same, badly misspelled, and illiterate review for Freedom Woods, and then give a glowing (though still illiterate!) review for Glen Grove Equestrian Center. Either this person works at Glen Grove, has some agenda against FW, or is just a wack job with nothing better to do. I do wish he/she would take some grammar lessons, before subjecting us to more of his/her pointless ranting. more

Hey there! Growing up, I rode at many different places. Believe me, there are pros and cons to any barn. However, Freedom Woods is THE place that I grew up in. I spent every day at this barn-morning to night, every moment and memory is treasured and held very dear to my heart. Some of the most meaningful relationships of my childhood were forged in this place, and I learned so much with these people. I believe Jeff, Ashleen, Alex and Russell (and whoever happens to be employed by Jeff Lee) are far more competent that most. It's easy to hold resentment in your heart, and to write a bad review for something that is small and meaningless... However, these people mean too much to me to not try to set the record straight. They may be loud, but they are definitely not mean. They are not the type of people who do everything for money-if you knew anything you'd know that Jeff Lee started one of the most inspired riding programs for people who are mentally/physically challenged... I find this to be so honorable, especially since my cousin was part of this program for quite some time. Some people really should be ashamed for saying so much yet knowing so little. shame on you. more

people stop all the rude comments!!!!! the owners childrens are great trainers..... i really like ashleen shes a great trainer and she does her job!!!! our barn is great and weve been building new things and have been improving the barn!!! i have a pony there named bonfire and she loves it ive been riding at fw for almost 5 years and i love it!!! so stop all the rude comments!!!!!!!!!!! more

wow... really people? all of you who have written negative reviews here obviously had a bad experience with this barn. of course not everyone is going to have a good experience at fw or anywhere else for that matter. that does not mean you have to come here and cut down the barn and the people there just because it didn't work out for you. yes, i will admit that this barn does have it's flaws but it's really a great place to be if you look past those flaws. i've been riding there for basically my whole riding career... almost 10 years. for all of you who say the trainers, especially the owner's kids, don't teach well or don't know how to ride, you're once again just cutting down the place because of your bad experience and your need to make it known to everyone. i have improved so much over the years training with them and continue to improve. fw takes their students to many horse shows and clinics and they always do great. as i was reading through all the reviews i came across something that really just shows how naive some of you really are.. ""o also remember thinking how bad the show trainers (the owners kids) are at riding for being pros, if they were so good you would see improvement in you horse (which i didnt) and they wouldnt have a pro trainer come and train them. professionals should already know what to do..."" for one, the owner's kids are great riders. and yes, while they are professionals, EVERYONE is always still learning and everyone can improve. the fact that they are training with trainers even better than themselves just shows how much they care about their riding and about bettering themselves so they can train their students as well as possible. no matter how good you are, you are never good enough to stop learning. and the people there are not mean as many of you have said. my friends from the barn are some of my best friends and are some of the nicest people i have ever met. so basically, people, before you're so quick to judge this barn because of your bad experiences think about this.. you liked it there at one point, especially if you're one of the riders who rode there for years. what if you end up having a bad experience with the barn you're at now? are you gonna come on this website and complain about all the bad things about it too? more

the owners a wack-job, he only cares about money. a lot of the trainers just yell. the only nice and good trainers left or were fired for some reason. the paddocks have no grass, only 1 shower stall works well the trails are ba because you always have to cross the street. some of the borders and kids there are rude (but others are nice) they push to shareboard, own and show. WHAT MOE DOES IT TAKE TO SAY NO! Pros: only good for beginners Cons: dont get me started! more

UGH. no. the people only care about money and theyre all stuck up and really mean. the main trainers cant ride. the owners really insane and nutty. they charge you for every little thing. the lesson are way over priced... 45 for a private, 60 for a group! too much! if youre a border they charge for a heating bill and fan bill when some of the horses dont even have a fan, and there isnt even heating! its just not a good place! just dont go! > > just dont! Pros: SOME nice parts in barn. friendly borders Cons: EVERYTHING ELSE! more

let me be COMPLETELY honest. I would say that the barn is only a good place to ride if you are a beginner and if you dont plan on becoming a serious rider for the future. when i started riding i loved it. i thought that it was the best place ever, until i started getting serious about it. what happened first was i started shareboarding the barns horse there. at first the price was really reasonable, but then they kept changing it almost every other month to a higher price of more than 200$ more!. and sometimes i wasnt even allowed to ride the horse i was sharing so someone elses could ride it! then i decided to buy a horse and they asked for A LOT of money just for a horse! it was crazy! so i got the price down and bought it. (i love him so much!) then they wanted us to pay commision and i guess they came up with this really high price! my parents refused to pay so the really nutty owner got really mad and all of his kids that work there sided on his side so i FINALLY decided to leave (thankfully). i dont know about you, but to me they sound like they only care about money.when i was there i remember that about almost every trainer (except for the owners kids) left after about 3 or 4 months (no one knows why). o also remember thinking how bad the show trainers (the owners kids) are at riding for being pros, if they were so good you would see improvement in you horse (which i didnt) and they wouldnt have a pro trainer come and train them. professionals should already know what to do... now i have a lot of friends that ride there and they always complain about how the board prices always go up to a really insanely high price. im sooooo glad that i left. but i must say that i enjoyed it there before i got serious in riding. Pros: good for beginners. nice borders Cons: all the people care about is money. more

first of all the owner is really crazy and nutty... he doesnt even know how to ride! he fires like all of the trainers (except for his kids) and he only cares about money. the trainers (some are the owners kids) barelly know how to ride well and they dont know how to instruct either. they try to get you to buy a fancy horse for money and they ""train it"" when really they have someone come in to teach them how to train. the only good part about it is that some of the borders are nice, and so are the desk ladies. (if theyre even there still!) soo.... does this sound like a good place to go?...... Pros: nice borders Cons: everyting else more

BAD place. mean trainers that only care about money. trainers dont know how to ride. (I know much better riders) crazy/ coo coo owner. (the only thing thats good is that the borders are nice people) Pros: SOME OK stalls Cons: Everything else more

I'm not a horse person but my daughter is horse crazy. We started lessons at FW 3 yrs ago with Sandy - the perfect instructor for serious beginners. She was able to adjust her lesson plan to my daughters learning style. Safety and horse knowledge is a priority for Sandy. She was careful to explain to my daughter (and the eventual group lesson students) that in order to progress a rider needs to have the basics down pat. She also took the time to explain the details to the parents as it sometimes looked like they weren't ""doing"" something constructive. Some friends had daughters who started jumping (at other barns) earlier, but many had falls and broken bones. One would play sick on lesson day because she was scared. Also, FW uses a variety of lesson horses which is a positive because it teaches the student how to handle different horses even the ones with quirks. My daughter is now in the beg jump class w/Debbie and is very happy. A negative would be the lack of ground lessons. Students are responsible for bridling the horses but because of the schedule they don't get much time for saddling, grooming, etc. at the beginner level. Pros: Conscientious trainers, friendly boarders Cons: The Edens more

Let me start out by saying that these are some of the nicest horse people I have EVER been around!! And I have been around a whole lot!!! From the trainers all the way down to stable hands who take care of the mucking, they are all respectful and make you feel right at home. I have no idea what some of the other people who rated this place were talking about...Have they seen what theese trainers can do??!! I love to just sit and watch these guys ride! I will also say that this place is well taken care of, caretakers are always sweeping and cleaning. But hello...horses eat sleep and you know what here!! You cant expect to eat off the floors! more