Poet's Hill Farm is a sales, training and competition barn. We specializing in finding and breaking young horses. All of our horses are privately owned and many may be leased in-house or share boarded. Poet's Hill Farm is also pleased to offer up multiple horses for sale at any given time. Our team regularly travels to shows in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois. We also host and travel to clinics multiple times a year.
Our Methods
Our training program is tailored to fit the unique needs of each horse and rider. We take pride in ensuring that both parties have a solid foundation and maintain correct technique throughout their riding journey. Our programs are intended to provide productive, safe and fun experiences for beginning to advanced hunter, jumper and dressage riders. Our methods produce well adjusted horses and capable riders.
Meet Our Trainer
Aly’s very first times up on a horse were in the arms of her mum at Wildwood, New Jersey as a young child. For her second birthday, her mum and dad snuck a rental pony named Patches into her garage and she had pony rides on him at her party. She started riding by herself when she was 4, chasing her mum and sister who were on their horses, as they all went out riding in the fields at Gilmar Stables. Her mum was on her black horse Brutus, her sister on Beau, with Aly following on either Cloudy or Sunny (very trusty ponies)!
Aly’s very first pony was named Sprite. He was a paint pony Welsh cross. She and her mum were driving along the rural farms of Pennsylvania and Aly spotted him in a field and exclaimed: "mummy! I want him!" Her mum made a u-turn into the farmers driveway and offered $300 for him. Later that week, Sprite was delivered straight to her house in a roofless u-haul!
She later started riding under direction of her very first trainer- Bonnie White at Hoffman stables. Bonnie was Aly’s hero and mentor and under her instruction, Aly won the GPYSA top equitation junior rider champion award, with her second horse, Tucker. They also qualified and showed at Harrisburg that same year.
It was a bit later that Aly’s mum knew she needed just a bit more in terms of instruction and she placed Aly under Barbie Bancroft of BarGee farms in Alison Park, PA. It was there that Aly learned the jumper ropes and purchased her first jumper- Sarah. Aly and Sarah showed at the Hartwood Showjumping Festival and did quite well! Aly was also a working student of Barbies and rode her horse, Charlie Buttons, in the equitation divisions to the ribbons as well. Aly also rode her other horses- Brutus, Tucker and Ricochet- in the hunter/jumper divisions.
Aly rode with Barbie all through her years in Prep school, The Ellis School for girls. After she graduated from there, Aly’s parents decided to sell all of her horses so she could pursue a double major at Lake Forest College. Upon graduating early, Aly held a 9-5 job for one day wherein she resigned promptly at 5:00 and set off to pursue her true passion: training horses.
Ever since, Aly have been training and riding here in Illinois. She worked for a few trainers in the area for a short time and then started her own business, Poet's Hill Farm, in 2001.
Aly prefers to pick and choose young or unstarted horses not only for herself, but for her clients as well. Aly explains how she picks her horses saying, “It's uncanny, but as soon as I see a horse of extreme talent or quality, either in person or from a photograph, I get an instant and very strong feeling about him and I find a way to acquire that horse come hell or high water! I am usually right, and these horses turn out to be top contenders and super successful!”
Aly’s philosophies about horses and training and showing are this: Be fair and honest to the horse at all times. Encourage him through difficult times, praise him through joyful times, never ever give up on him and love him always!