Tucson Equestrian Center

I love this place. This place teaches real horsemanship and Laura is a great instructor who tells it like it is. They value safety above all, and know how to help you improve and develop good habits with each lesson. Their Communication is good too. Also, They've had me ride several different horses over 2 months of lessons to keep me riding consistent, which helps and is a lot of fun.

We had previously purchased a horse in May 2014 from Linda and Laura and he was wonderful. We were told we could bring him back if he did not work out. We still have him to this day We had such a great experience and felt confident that we would get the same by going back to them when we decided to purchase another horse. We went back and as we were making the deal the horse acted funny and we were promised that if he didn't work out we could bring him back. He was just having a "horsey moment" Due to our previous experience and being told "You can always bring him back if he does not work out" we went ahead with the purchase. We had issues with the horse and attempted to work with him and these issues never resolved, so we contacted Laura and were told we would have to pay boarding fees while they tried to sell him and we waited for them to find another horse that would work out. We then decided that we would keep him at our place and take him back once they found us another horse to trade him out for. After several months had passed and no contact from them unless we called or texted. and then it was we are still looking. we decided to sell the horse. When a prospective buyer had the horse checked out by a vet we were told that the horse had Navicular Pathology and has had it for at least a year. We sent Laura an e-mail offering a chance to make this right and still have not heard anything back. we will no longer recommend them as we used to. we used to think very highly of them not any more!!

Beautiful facility, quiet, and always very clean. I have boarded horses here since 2016 while I was in college, since graduating I will stop here to stay between rodeos. Linda and Laura are always very helpful, they truly care about you and your horses!

Its taken me 5yrs to write this. Why? I don't like drama. In 2017, after 9 mos looking for a blackwhite 16hh horse for Eng dressage, i was directed to Tucson Eq by a broker. I found when inquiring about another horse. Having tried many paints she said she found my unicorn. Seeing another horse from TEq she said they will post a video of this bw paint, I waited. Saying, itll go quickly you should go look quick. Being 1.5hrs away from Tucson, &over 2 hrs from TE, it was daunting. I called several vets in Phx area, & not one would go w/me. Called a couple in Tucson & same, none would go onSat. Taking someone w/me, I headed out after barn work at 10am. Wo food & a bottle of water, July in Az, the day was going to be 118. I arrived at 1pm. The beautiful paint was bathed, he was still wet. I asked why, they said it was hot. I noticed the horses eyes looked sleepy. Again said it was hot. The barns nice & other than the girl I brought, were 2 ladies, and a man. One lady said she was Linda. Asking if I wanted to ride him, I said sure, you go first. Linda said, no you need to ride. Saddling in a western saddle, I asked if he was level 2 dressage & he was 16hh. He looked small. She said yes, dressage a lesson horse for kids. She didn't have a tape, were pretty sure he was at 16hh or 15'2. I got on in a covered round pen, linda sat on a box in the middle instructing me to walk, circle back, jog & lope. After both ways, she said that's enough, its too hot. The horse didn't look winded, but he did what I wanted. She tied him up. I said he really looks sleepy, is he okay? She said yes. I asked if I could trailer to vet check w/a deposit. She said no, I don't hold horses. I asked if I could see the video the broker spoke of. She said, it wasn't ready. I asked his age, she said 8. I asked to see his papers. She said the guy would get them. The guy disappeared. Looking at the horse he seemed sad.She wanted $6500, I offered $5k. She said no. I said okay. W/o a vet chk, stomach queasy, over heated and the girl I brought saying oh buy him, youve been looking for 9 mos. I gave Linda the $6500. I said wheres the guy w/ his papers what do I need to sign. She said oh we can't find his papers, and pulled out a notebook paper where she wrote she had sold the following horse named, she asked me what I wanted his name to be? I said he doesn't have a name? You said he was reg? She said who cares hes a gelding & any name you want. I said I want my money back. She said, no you bought yourself a horse. Hes fine, name? I said what did you call him? She said Charmer. I said Charm. I stood there with my new horse & said will you ship him to phoenix? She said not included figure that out. I said seriously? You lose the papers I can't have him vet checked, & you don't provide shipping? Saying yes both women walk away. I asked the guy & he gave me a name who hauls horses. For $100 he would bring him Tues. I left the horse, wondering if I would see him again. Tues came & I got a call the hauler was bringing my horse. His eyes were no longer sleepy was quite pretty&spirited. Myhusband said, you bought a pony! I sat in my barn& cried as I saw he was not a 16hh horse. I notice he was bull legged. I rode him Eng& he was a cute ride. About 1.5yrs in of simple flat Eng riding he was short striding in back, limping. Called my vet he couldnt figure it out, referred me to a specialist. The spec came &thought it was his hip, or stifle. After tests determined it was perhaps his hip, she did ultrasound therapy. This didn't work ⁢ seemed to me his hocks were off. My vet referred me to another spec, & after testing &X-rays determined my 9.5yo horse had hock arthritis &said he has had this a while, prolly where you got him TE which as a therapy place tried to fuse his tarsals. As the back rt were already almost fused. He cannot do dressage & is limited on hills, &even a nice canter. Why am I writing this? Here's the thing, I would have rescued this horse. I would have accepted them saying, hey, he has hock arthritis, $2000 buys him, & we can't find his papers but found him here & he is only 15hh not 16hh. I was lied to& taken advantage of. It's been a while now of course, & while I've gone through so much $$ for this cute little horse, I finally want to say something. I was scared to call a lawyer or the police back then. Letting these people walk all over me. But, no more. Tucson Equestrian are liars. Thieves& very dishonest people. I will no longer keep quiet about people like them. So here I am. Saying all this out-loud. Telling the World what bad people these people are. Yea, Now I feel better.

We bought a horse from the owner of this facility for a very high premium price. We were told by her representative that the horse was 7. We were told by the owner the horse was 10. We had the horse checked and we were told the horse was over 20. We called the owner, she decided because we were told the wrong age that she would refund a very small amount of what we paid her. We took the horse back to her. She kept the horse and the rest of our money which was in the thousands. We asked her several times to return our money, which she absolutely refused. Once you buy a horse you have no recourse. In our opinion we chose a facility that we thought could be trusted. We cannot recommend the owner or this facility for any service she would have to offer, especially to buy a horse. This was a horrible, unethical experience for us.

Linda and Laura are amazing ladies. I have been riding for 30+ years and they are the "real deal". They have both "been there, done that" and know what really works and what doesn't. I really trust these ladies and have been very impressed with both of them. The results I have seen in my horses in just a couple of months in amazing. They give matter or fact, honest feedback. Laura even got her own horse out to show me what I was doing on my horse. You can learn so much in just an hour with either of them. I don't write reviews and I have never used Yelp, but I feel strongly enough about TEC that I signed up for an account. I will be back soon for more lessons and if we can hold off the rain I will be there Saturday for the trail competition.