Heated indoor barn, non heated barn, paddocks and pasture type pens available. Large indoor arena, and out door arena. Access to trails.
Offering horse training specializing in driving and Morgan showing. Will provide training in all disciplines.
Accepting new clients for training and all types of boarders are welcome.
Find us on Facebook under TAMRAC RANCH
We welcome visitors who would like to tour our
facility, meet our trainers and, of course, our beautiful horses.
Contact Information
www.tamrac-ranch.com
Connie Manning McNichol
(780) 920-4519
23527 Township Road 505
Leduc County, AB
Leduc County, AB
Had a terrible experience at Tamrac Ranch and its owner Connie McNicol. After a horseback riding birthday party nightmare (for my 11 year old twins), as Connie described it more like a rodeo than what it was suppose to be, a relaxing trail ride. We arrived to utter chaos, Connie and her volunteers were not ready for our party, horses were not tacked, she was agitated, unorganized and frazzled. The horses picked up on her demeanor and were nervous, bucking and rearing. We witnessing horses being hit in the head for "misbehaving", we should never have been put in the dangerous situation she placed us in. It took an hour for our party of 10 (4 adults and 6, 10 - 11 year olds) to get on horses, saddles were falling off, one horse had a bleeding wound, we started out with an indoor lesson in an arena not large enough for our group and the 2 ranch riders. Horses were bolting, unresponsive inside, while Connie yelled at us to control them. She should never have lead us outside. I had arranged a trail ride after the lesson, however she lead our group outside, the horse I was riding Twister started bucking and rearing as soon as I led her outside, Connie held on to her bridle and took us through an area of fallen trees (all the horses were terrified and acting out) opened a gate and proceeded to lead us through dense trees and bush, with no well ridden trail to be seen, as if she had never stepped foot in the area before. I ended being thrown from my horse, while she was holding it, two of our young riders horses bolted, it was utter chaos. After being thrown, I told her we needed to go back. As soon as we were all dismounted we left as the girls were upset and wanted to go home, I needed to see how bad the injury to my leg was. That night I emailed asking for a refund, texted the next day, to which I was told to stop harassing her and her staff and that I would have to sign a document stating that I would pay her $10,000 dollars if anything I said damaged her business, to which I refused. I contacted the SPCA regarding the handling of the horses and the BBB to file a complaint and to this date, have heard nothing from Connie/Tamrac Ranch. BEWARE and do not book a trail ride or birthday party at this ranch. There are much better horse facilities that place the safety of riders and horses in top priority.
ReplyDeleteThe barn owner and main instructor, Connie, needs some serious coaching in people skills, being professional, and running a business appropriately. The only things she is good at are being a con artist and a miserable individual in general, and lacks honesty and integrity. Although her boarding facility is open to everyone, unless you own one of her (ridiculously over-priced for what they are worth) show horses, she won't even give you a second glance. Even after paying for months of lessons and training, you still will not be treated as a valued client unless astride a Tamrac bred horse winning ribbons for her in the show ring.
ReplyDeleteShe will talk about you and your horses behind your back, treat you with annoyance and contempt, and makes a habit out of blowing her top off over petty things and her opinions should you not agree with them. She has little patience, especially for beginner riders, and will break down your confidence until you no longer enjoy riding. She will also con you out of every penny she can, with anything from saddles, training, and show fees. I personally bought a saddle from her for $900, asked her to help me fit it to my horse, and she said it fit just fine although after a few rides it it I certainly could tell it did not. I had it appraised so I could sell it and get another, only for the appraiser to tell me it was "cheap and manufactured from Mexico only worth $300, and is not a brand name saddle". She charged me $350 for full time training on my gelding for the entire month she was gone on vacation, and had no one filling in for her while away. I was out of work at the time and thus out at Tamrac every day working with my horse, and personally saw with my own two eyes that no one ever trained him in this time period. Place your trust in her, and she will take advantage of you in every which way. Beware if you are a beginner looking for advice from the trainer you should be able to look up to, because she only sees you as a money pit to be drained unwittingly to you.
I heard she did not attend the 2015 Morgan Grand Nationals because of a virus outbreak in her barn. I will say without shame that I was incredibly happy for this, as perhaps not being able to show her precious babies will give her a reason to improve her horse husbandry skills as well. From what I've seen, she treats horses like machines to be used and has little love for them.
She has ruined good show horses because of her abusive practices, and still attempts to sell them with the price tag of winners. Bike chain bits are commonplace in her tack room and are used on horses that don't even need them.
Left this barn 2 years ago and have never looked back. She destroyed my confidence, and made me resent show barns for a long time, making me assume they would all be like Connie's place. I would later learn this was not the case and that I have a right to feel the way I did about her, and a right to never feel that way again.
Beware of this leech. She puts the 'con' in 'Connie' and will suck our your love of horses and riding one miserable lesson at a time. It's a wonder she even has any clients left.
Thank you for your time in writing your concerns. I'm currently looking for a stable to board my horse and from what I'm reading, this is not a place I will even consider. I'm sorry for what you guy's went through. Being at a stable should be a fun and relaxing experience with well behaved lesson horses. Health and happiness on your next adventure.
ReplyDeleteI would not recommend this barn to anyone ever. I completely agree with the above reviews. Connie is a con artist. She sells you over prices, backyard, inbred horses, for 10s of 1000s of dollars that are worth less and a grand. I remember another client telling her about how she got conned into buying a mare for 20,000 that couldn't pass a vet check and her saying "wow I wish I could find suckers like you" - as a joke... but was it?
ReplyDeleteI was placed on horses that were not trained well, nor was I at a level to be riding. I witnessed several people fall off, and horses get treated in what I consider very wrong abusive ways. Bike chains and mule bits made horses mouths bleed. The young clients (favourites) would be thrown on babies, and untrained horses, or when one clients horse was acting up connie looked at one of the other trainers and said "do you wanna get on?" she said no. So the kid was forced to stay on because she wouldn't. At shows I witness similar events. When a girl got thrown off her horse, connie got on to walk it in a circle and say "shes fine I'm not sure what that was about".
Many people have had to sell or retire there horses as for they have been ruined by Connies so called training or have had to be completely restarted and have many years of training put into the horses to get them to be some what 'normal'. If you want to pay someone to ruin your horse go to TamRac.
Strangles has broken out in the barn more than once. When there are very ill horses they are kept in the heated barn - even though this is where all the healthy horses have to walk through in order to get to the arena.
Upon leaving peoples horses were moved, tack locked up, people were 'banned' from the property just because they gave their notice. People were chased off the driveway.Ex clients have nasty rumours spread about them, and current clients are forbidden to talk to them.
I could write ten pages worth of bad experiences, and horrid things I witnessed and overheard at TamRac ranch.
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DeleteI want to say I have been at TamRac for many years and before that to many other training barns.. TamRac is a fun place for children and all levels or riders to grow and learn and Connie has produced many champion riders and horses . Just look at some Morgan show records .
DeleteHorses are a wild at heart and unpredictable animal an incidents can occur at ANY barn.
Out of all the barns I have been to the horses are treated the best here. And it is a safe and clean facility.
I had a horse at another facility who after the convincing of the trainer , almost died from an infection on her tail. Did I write them a horrible review .. no. I know sometime shit happens despite everyone's best efforts .
I can appreciate all the bad things people may say about a barn but it should be taken with a grain of salt because you have no idea what happened on the other side.
For example things being locked up? Did they not pay their board? Was there something else going on that that would happen. The horse industry is notorious for people not paying bills .. ask any vet or farrier.
At Delaney s now they require a deposit before doing any extensive vet work.. why because they were tired of being left with the bills.
Happy multiple horse and bred owner and lesson taker here. And I will be staying at TamRac .
TamRac Ranch has definitely had its issues in the past, but I am a current client at the facility and have witnessed some recent positive changes for the place. Connie has hired a new barn manger, Jacquie Ganton, and she is awesome. If I am correct, Jacquie owns and runs her own business (Stride Equine) out of TamRac as well as manages the day to day staff working on the property. I have noticed great changes being made and I think that Connie has been more delightful since Jacquie came in. The clients that Jacquie brought in with her have also been great, very kind and helpful. This barn is changing for the better. Both Connie and Jacquie are very knowledgable horsewomen completely invested in the well being of their own horses, as well as their clients.
ReplyDeletePlease know that I am not denying or unaware of the bad experiences that have occurred at TamRac Ranch, but I am impressed with the recent changes being made and believe that this place could be a truly awesome, fully functional facility. I will definitely be sticking around!
Jacquie is great. Hopefully she lasts and gets them switched over to arabians as well. Too many close calls and wrecks on most of those morgans
DeleteUpdate on this: Jacquie and her team have left TamRac Ranch as of early 2017
DeleteWho else is training there now?
DeleteI have had great experiences with Tamrac ranch and Connie. Her lessons are informative and helpful. If you need to improve on something, she will tell you and explain it to you if need be. If shes away on vacation or can't make it to the lesson, she'll make it up by giving you another one on a set date or she'll work something out with you. She is very organized and considerate, I have never had problems with lessons or the set up of this barn. Please don't let these bad reviews of only a few let you change your mind. Tamrac is a great place, and I hope you'd like to come visit the facilities sometime, whether it be for lessons, boarding, training, camp, or a birthday party!
ReplyDeleteAnyone with an ounce of Horsemanship skills should stay clear of TamRac Ranch. Worst place i have ever experienced as a rider and boarding a horse there.
ReplyDeleteI just found out from a few people that used to board there, that Connie abuses the horses. Stay clear!! The one person even has a video of abuse. So, don't say it isn't true. God help these poor horses!!
DeleteI do not recommend this barn to anyone. I have seen Connie use abusive actions to one horse and was shocked. I rode here and hated every minute of it. Connie ruins your self confidence as I've seen and even makes people cry during there lessons. Instead of helpful feedback on your riding she yells at you. She expects you to know everything as well. If you go to this barn and have no experience with horses she will not help you. Connie does not tell you when lessons are cancelled. I've seen people show up with no idea they were cancelled. This is my opinion on her barn as I left a few months ago. I've heard Connie has been trying to change her barn around since she lost her best riders and champion horses. Her barn may be great now but this is from my experience.
ReplyDeleteI rode at Tamrac Ranch for 2-3 years and left due to sketchy behaviours being portrayed. Such as feeling as though she was being overpaid due to the case I would never receive the invoices she constantly told me she would get to me ASAP! I personally never experienced hurtful words my way from her lessons but have witnessed it on many accounts. I feel as though she has one face for the parents and another for the kids. She will make very young girls who are newer to riding cry due to her screaming at them out of annoyance that they can’t quite understand a concept. As said above, she does break down your self esteem in ways and often I’ve found myself having to take breaks from the task at hand as it was far to difficult to handle with the stubbornness and struggle of controlling the horse and the pressure applied to you by Connie. She in many instances will scream and yell at you over ridiculous situations that are out of your control. Connie herself is not rude or abusive to her animals but many of her workers in the past have treated these beautiful creatures with such disrespect. I often found as well that Connie and her workers are not on the same page. Connie will tell you that one thing is okay to do and a worker will tell u the same thing is not okay. It creates a very hard learning space. I genuinely feel as though connie is a good person I just think she has/had too much on her plate at one time. I felt as though she would bring her feelings from outside subjects and family issues into the lessons and take some of that out on the riders when they did not deserve that treatment. I just feel as though she needs to find a proper balance between work and home in order to properly develop and happy learning space.
ReplyDeleteJust curious about who started this ridiculous site and why it seems to only have Tamrac Ranch as a ranch being reviewed. Based on the language used it seems like much of it may be written by the same person. I think should be difficult to attach validity to a site that targets; a small market, breed specific family operated barn and no other barns are even included. Looks like pretty personnal and petty attacks and yet the barn itself is accused of being "over" personal. The business of horses is clearly a personal one!
ReplyDeleteIt seems that whoever you are that it is easy to make outlandish claims when you can attach anonymous to the end of your comments.
I invite anyone to come out to the ranch and watch lessons or participate in a complimentary lesson. Judge for yourself.
Our arena is large and yes in order to be heard at time our voices may be loud. We move throughout the arena so that our riders may hear us but sometimes we are still not heard.
We keep our lesson groups small and offer lots of private and semi private lessons.
I am not sure why some of you seem to have a personal vendetta against Tamrac. In this day and age there are many options in terms of barns find one that meets your needs.
The trainer instructor relationship is a personal one. If you are not comfortable with a instructor or trainer move on there are lots of options.
It seems odd however that Tamrac is the only ranch being reviewed here. I can assure you I have had lessons under a variety of different instructors some who are loud and some who are quiet.
There are a lot of nasty claims being made and I think that if you are willing to make these sorts of claims you should at least have the backbone to apply your name to your claims.
Claims of abuse are serious and should be taken seriously. Abuse is a pretty global statement. You should at least be specific.
There may be techniques that are applied that you are not familiar with however they are not necessarily abusive and are often tools used by many recognized trainers. Maybe you should ask why certain techniques are used before making claims of abuse.
We have introduced hundreds of riders to the Morgan world and the joy of riding and achieving high goals with their riding skills or simply in becoming a skilled happy recreational rider.
Just an added note that it seems to be quite difficult to add a positive review to this site. Just things to consider when reading this stuff. Thanks for your time Connie owner operator Tamrac
Wonderful experience horse shopping at Tamrac ranch! Connie has been super knowledgeable, professional and accommodating in the potential buyers process. She has a friendly and no pressure attitude. The facility is friendly and relaxed. Wonderful experience
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