Riding Lessons

Most lessons are private unless specific individuals agree to working with other students for various reasons.

Fees

Lessons w/ Riding

  • Lessons at our facility using our school horses, 1 hour 30 minutes / $55
  • Lessons at our facility using the student’s own horse, 1 hour  / $45

Lessons For Groundwork, Work-In-Hand, Lunging (No Riding)

  • Lessons at our facility using our school horses, 1 hour / $40
  • Lessons at our facility using the student’s horse, 45 minutes / $40

Lessons Off Site / Student’s Horse

  • Lessons at student’s facility, 1 hour 15 minutes / $55 (additional driving fee after 20 minutes distance from our facility)

Who-

For students ages 11 through adults. Absolute beginners through solid intermediate level, and anyone wanting to broaden & deepen their foundation skills.  For kids 10 and younger see our Pony School program.

What-

Horsemanship 101

These are the skills needed to handle and care for a horse for daily care:

  • Ground handling / ground work for daily care activities.
  • Grooming.
  • Basic body work (for relationship building and body health).
  • Tack & equipment use (daily handling gear, riding equipment).
  • Basic first aid.
  • Basic feeding.
  • Anatomy & conformation.
  • Ethology / equine learning theory.
  • Teaching through an ‘experiment’ mindset, encouraging the student to become an independent self-thinker.
  • Self improvement / personal development theories are also discussed as it is applied to human learning, such as “Process before you proceed” and “Think, Act, Check, Then Change”.

Riding

  • A general purpose / utilitarian balanced riding position for flat work in the arena, over small obstacles and out in the open on varied terrain.
  • Use of the aids (cues / signals) with a focus on ‘form & function / effective & efficient’, biomechanics and relationship building.
  • We use balanced general purpose english saddles because they allow the rider to do seating exercises without being restricted by the bars and horn of a western saddle.  Compared to a western saddle, english saddles are also generally easier to fit to the horses and the stuffing in the saddle can be frequently adjusted to the horses changing musculature by a saddle fitter.  Despite using general purpose english saddles we are not ‘discipline bias’.  We work on developing a functional and fit horse and rider for lots of activities.
  • Frequent work on the lunge line so the rider has time to develop balance, strength, suppleness and a sense of feel without having to dedicate brain resources to controlling the horse.
  • Teaching with a discovery mindset, using a lot of “2 millimeter adjustments”, looking for 1% improvements, and “what if you tried it like this” to encourage the student to actually feel or see how what they do influences the horse.

Work – In – Hand

  • Deeper work that focuses on the horse’s responsiveness to our intentions and our awareness of the horse’s physical balance and mental state.
  • Work with a cavesson so the handler can see the horse’s physical state to relate it to riding, and to help the horse improve for carrying the weight of a rider.
  • Teaching lunging skills so the handler can see the horse’s physical state and how a horse uses his body.

Liberty Work

  • How to be with a horse, as a companion, in his / her environment without expectations of the horse performing for ‘us’.
  • How to go beyond being merely tolerated by the horse, learning how to develop a blending with a horse similar to a school of fish or a flock of birds.
  • Learning how to ask the horse to do things without equipment will help the student develop more sensitivity while using equipment.

When-

Lessons on our school horses at our facility can be set up depending on the teacher and student’s schedules.  We do not typically teach on Sundays, or start lessons after 6:30 PM.  We can also schedule lessons off property with a students own horses within a 30 minute drive from our facility, or have students haul-in with their own horses.

What Else-

We have a small, fully insulated and enclosed riding arena for year round use.  We only cancel lessons due to extreme weather / weather warnings.