Meredith Manor International Equestrian Centre

I'm definitely interested in attending in 5 years! Based on the good reviews and 4.5 stars rating this college seems perfect for me! Horses have been my life since I was three so I definitely know that I want to go to an equestrian college! Only thing is tuition. Really wish I knew that so I could make sure to have enough saved up by the end of high school.

From a former student: Prospective students and parents beware!

This is an archetypal for-profit school institution.

• Few if any credits will transfer to a traditional college or university.

• Few colleges will accept transfer--I could find only one.

• The gainful employment rate of graduates is extremely low. The government's acceptable level is 30%--and that includes graduates employed outside of their target vocation. In my personal investigation I found the food service industry was the most common vocation for Meredith Manor graduates and I could find no more than 5% of graduates actually gainfully employed within the horse industry.

• Students must pay greater than 10% of their net income to pay off student loans. This is also out of specs with government standards.

• There is a higher than acceptable student loan default rate amongst graduates from this institution, by government standard.

• I have witnessed myself that a clear majority of instructors are a product themselves of this institution. This is a stagnating process, which leads me to the next point.

• Their reputation is severely overstated. They can't possibly be the best horse school in the world with an international repute, they are completely unknown by either the International Equestrian Federation or the British Horse Society. They have an extremely low reputation with the US Equestrian Federation, US Dressage Federation and the USET. At the time of my investigation they had a low reputation among horse industry employers from New York to Hawaii.

• There are better programs out there. Colorado University has an excellent program and the British Horse Society program which is internationally recognized can be completed for virtually free. My own advice is that if you really want to pursue a horse career, either do it with a program that is genuinely internationally recognized or one that had transferable university credits. That way if you decide to change vocations in 10 years, like I did, you'll have something that will transfer. BTW, today's college graduates will change careers 5 times before retirement and 3 of those jobs don't even exist yet.

In the very least I urge anyone considering this school to investigate all the points I made above. Best of luck!

Yours Sincerely,
-A Former MM Student.

MM is not glitz and glamour but they know how to teach, train, and ride. It definitely not for you if you think you already know everything about riding and it's not horse camp. Expect to work and you'll get out of it what you put into it. I graduated very confident in my ability to work in the industry. I ended up at home with my own lesson program and coaching kids and teens at local shows quite successfully.

1980 Grad. I was already a seasoned rider when I attended but MM helped me hone my skills in diverse disciplines. After I graduated I spent the next 15 yrs in the TB race horse industry. I made friends that I am still in contact with to this day. If you are looking to improve your performance skills and confidence in being able to handle a variety training challenges this is a great place to start. Im sure there have been numerous improvements over the years since I was there.

Horrible! I was there for almost 3 whole quarters (I had to leave about 2 months in to the spring quarter due to having to drive back to the west coast for a medical appointment with a specialist) to begin, I will tell you about the end. I live 2k miles away. I asked at least 10 times before leaving if I could leave some things in my room for my return in the fall. They never gave me a straight answer, but summer is their slowest season and they have about half the students. They let my next door neighbor keep her things in her room. With an impending deadline to leave in order to make my appointment I left my things there. A month later a friend at the school told me they had sold/given away all of my belongings. Didnt try to contact me once, and never offered an apology. I could care less about the $1,000 worth of belongings, except they threw away an obviously cherished picture of my favorite horse as a child and some ribbons.

The housing is sub-par at best. Dark, uninviting, infested with bugs, and falling apart. You have to pay extra to live in a space with a window, if like me you have claustrophobia.

I cant say anything about the English riding classes, but the western seemed directionless. The instructor would sit up in the viewing box and make comments from a tinny microphone. I felt very unsafe not having my instructor in the ring with me and not being able to hear her instructions. She was no encouraging at all, instead of assuring me I could so something I was afraid of trying, she chose to berate me in front of the whole class and make me feel bad. That teaching style may work for some but not me.

The training class is absurd. Ron, the owner, "teaches" part of it where he sits in a viewing booth with you while someone works a horse and proceeds to not remark on anything happening in the arena, instead he tells you stories of his glory days, tells sexist jokes, and reads you poems he has written.

They really need to invest some of the millions of dollars they make every year back in to the school. They have a great scheme, they have no staff dedicated to the care of their horses (the students do all the care) so they dont have to pay for that, the horses that are paying to be there to be trained are trained by the students so they dont have to pay for trainers, and they dont have to pay for horses since people for some reason pay to send their horses there. Makes you wonder where all the money goes. There were repeated instances of injury due to poor maintenance, broken boards, sunk in ceilings, holes in the ground, etc etc. Those poor maintenance guys were run to the ground.

I also do not agree with feeding full kernel corn, and having no time outside of stalls besides being ridden, as well as not having social access to other horses. (They do turn out, in an arena for a few minutes, but I do not feel this is enough) there are many cribbers and weavers.

Continue in the pictures....

Horses have been my life for as long as I can remember, I’m currently 15 and a freshman in high school. I have a few after school plans; one of them is to possibly go ahead and get my GED and start working so I can save up money and leave NC by the time I’m 19-20ish. MM seems perfect for me, it is a place I have heavily considered applying to and so I was wondering if MM accepts people with a GED instead of a full high school diploma? I plan to apply after I turn 17 (October 2021)

I attended for a few months about a year back and found favoritism, animal neglect and teachers who cared only if they knew it would benefit them. Horses are fed only corn, and zero turn out unless they are being ridden before hand, in which they are lucky to get 5 minutes turn out before class. I had my confidence crushed by instructors and nearly sincerely considered ending my life while attending this school due to the absolute lack of support and honestly bullying I experienced at this place. I would highly recommend you look else where and always warn people to steer clear. I am now a successful assistant stable manager, despite this "schools" attempt to crush my spirit. I hear people at my barn, in my industry, saying they avoid people who have this "institute" on their record. The worst of the equestrian world in one place.

Be sure you want to eat, drink and live horse because that is what they teach. It's enough to make you consider your future with horses. And it's ungodly expensive.

Meredith Manor is nestled back off any major roads and towns and is scenic. But bring a car else you'll be stranded. And as far as personal space, there is none. Do they still make the students clean their own living quarters (that means scrub the bathroom and all). Still have to be on campus 6 out 7 days? And you paid them for that pleasure.

The undercurrent tension is contagious. You catch it from the the students who have been there for a while. Hostility in the "dorms", you bet. The dorms are really no more than bunk houses. I've seen better accommodations on racetracks.

I was one and although my saddle skills improved I could not abid to their military standards. Make sure you're in bed by 10:00 for the bed check.

Advice: Go to college. Get a job. Make enough money to buy a horse or two.