Western / Reining in Connecticut

Connecticut packs a lot of horse country into a small state. Litchfield County's stone-walled hills, the barn-dense suburbs of Fairfield County, the farm roads of the Connecticut River Valley, each holds its own riding scene, and none of it is more than a couple of hours from New York or Boston. Dense woods, open pasture, tidal rivers: the terrain changes fast, and the stables, training barns, and lesson programs change with it.

The riding tradition here is old and it shows. Boarding barns and academies have operated on the same properties for generations, and the trail network runs deep: through Sleeping Giant State Park in Hamden, Cockaponset State Forest in Haddam, and dozens of smaller preserves suited to pleasure riding and conditioning work alike. Hunter/jumper, dressage, and eventing barns cluster in the western and southern towns; head north and east and you find more Western tack, more trail strings, even the occasional pack outfit.