Legacy Hunters and Jumpers

After taking 10 years off from riding and showing competitively, I was ready to get back into riding. I was very lucky that a friend directed me to Legacy. Shelly Kerron and her team have taken my riding and advanced it immensely over the three years I have been riding with them. They care deeply for the horses and horsemanship is put as the main priority. This is true if you are competing over 4’3″ or learning to tack up a horse. Legacy is one of the very few places that give you the same high quality riding and access to horses regardless of your level and desires to advance. Shelly and Lizzie, the assistant trainer, are fantastic at helping you set goals then making sure you are given the tools to succeed and accomplish them. I’m constantly impressed with the depth of their instruction and insights to make me a better rider. I would highly recommend them as a barn for the serious competitor through the person just wanting to start out.

I’ve been riding in Legacy’s training/​competition program for almost 8 years now. I came to Legacy at 14 and head trainer Shelly Kerron worked with me to help me truly understand and be able to execute the fundamentals of proper riding and brought me through the ranks to competing at a national level. Shelly’s teaching style is a combination of explaining concepts of riding and then creating exercises that encourage riders and horses to demonstrate the concept she is teaching, weather that be straightness, smooth turns, or proper position.
Shelly is an excellent horsewoman and Legacy horses all receive impeccable care and training. One of the most notable aspects of Shelly’s program is how she teaches proper horsemanship and leadership qualities to young riders and encourages everyone to be involved with the local equestrian community. Many of us who rode with Shelly as juniors became captains or presidents of our college equestrian teams and served on the board of the Washington State Hunter Jumper Association, which puts on shows in the area.
Lizzie Kerron, Shelly’s assistant and younger sister, is also an excellent instructor and is wonderful with younger kids as well as adults. Lizzie’s teaching style compliments Shelly’s by her ability to help a rider mentally break down an exercise and explain what riders should be feeling their horses do through each step of the exercise. Legacy also has a lesson program with some of the nicest and well trained lesson horses I’ve ever encountered. The lesson program always has top quality instruction to teach the basics and offers summer camps and fun shows throughout the year.
Horse care at Legacy is a top priority, and many of us call the barn «Spa Legacy» because of all the services and amenities offered (equine massage, chiropractor, therapeutic equipment, equine treadmill to keep horses in shape, just to name a few).
If you’re looking for a place to learn to ride, take lessons, or compete at the highest level Legacy is the best in the Seattle area.

I have been riding at Legacy for the past seven years and love it. There are a several reasons why I decided to start riding at Legacy:
1. They care a lot about the safety of the horse and the rider. The horses are treated GREAT here. They have chiropractor, acupuncture, and massage appointments, are shoed regularly, groomed, turned out every day, fed high quality food, and are kept in incredible condition. The retired horses often go to the Northwest School of Animal Massage for students to practice massaging on.
2. If you don’t have your own horse, they have lesson horses. This was one of the hardest things to find when I moved to Washington because I don’t own a horse. The lesson horses are super high quality and not over worked at all.
3. You have to take ownership in what you do here. Some other barns will tack up the horse for you and have it waiting once you arrive. At Legacy, you’re responsible for retrieving your horse from its stall/​paddock, grooming, tacking up, untacking, and cleaning the tack. This is great for some of the younger kids because they learn the basics to taking care of a horse.
4. They host their own fun shows, giving the riding academy and training program students opportunities to compete in a fun environment.
The training program is really successful and the students involved are often traveling for horse shows in the warmer months. The facility itself is located at the old Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center in Woodinville with some trails behind it. There’s an indoor and outdoor arena for when it’s a nice day out. I would highly recommend Legacy!