Are the days of lesson horses over?

[LCDR]

A couple of girls from my Pony Club parent days grew up to start beginner lesson stables during their 20’s. They used a couple of their own horses, but really depended on the horses of boarders to make things work. Neither was really ready to offer much beyond beginner instruction.

It became harder to find boarders willing to allow their horses to be used for lessons. Both moved on to non-horse employment. My own beginner riding lessons were at a stable where the owner/instructor owned only a single horse. Boarder’s horses were used for back-to-back-to-back beginner lessons, then went back to their stalls waiting on their once every two days one hour turnout time.

[DawgLady]

@LCDR

Boarder’s horses were used for back-to-back-to-back beginner lessons, then went back to their stalls waiting on their once every two days one hour turnout time.

And the owners thought this was an acceptable life for a horse because…?

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

Especially since I assume the boarders also rode the horses themselves.

Honestly, the true lesson barns I rode at when I was getting back into horses usually–I noticed–had riders leaving immediately after they purchased their own horses, not because of the training but because of the substandard care. I left one because I just felt terrible putting horses back into stalls that were so dirty I could barely stand to be in them myself and not being able to tell if my riding issues were due to my riding or the horse’s soundness.

[findeight]

I can answer that. It was acceptable because it was the only way they could afford to keep a horse.

[furlong47]

@ShenanAnna

I was reading in the Washington Post that children under 18 should not be allowed anywhere alone.

WTAF?

Then, a year or less later, we thrust them into the real world where they have no freaking idea how to solve a problem or deal with anything on their own. I know people who were in college at 17. Once I had my license at 16, not only did I go everywhere by myself, I was often responsible for dropping off and picking up younger siblings. There were even times I wasn’t home for over 24 hours (for example, I recall having an almost whole day school musical practice on a Saturday, then I went to a Girl Scout lock-in overnight thing at a church, then the next day I went to the barn to work all day. I was 16 and also we didn’t have cell phones. My parents just trusted me to do all of that and not come back dead.)

[LCDR]

Because we were all first time horse owners, had not grown up around horses, had never been to any other barns, had bought the horses for our precious little girls, and believed everything the manipulative barn owner told us about horses and horse care. How were we to know that a riding lesson wasn’t equivalent to turnout time? The horse was outdoors and exercising, right?

And I was talking about 40 years ago, too. No way was available to google “horse care.”

[dani0303]

I think a lot depends on an individual trainer’s set up.

My trainer has large lesson program with horses of all levels up to about 2’6+. She also hosts a college program and a very successful IEA program. She has land and her schoolies can live outside on property that is likely close to if not already paid off. She has multi generational barn rats- her current group are the kids of a former group.

That said it’s definitely unusual to see anymore and I’m grateful I found this place. My horses are thriving.

[the_continental]

@ShenanAnna

I was reading in the Washington Post that children under 18 should not be allowed anywhere alone.

Wow—I found this so absurd that I tried to Google the article you are referring to but nothing came up. Could you give some context to the article (or was it an op-ed)? I’d be interested in reading it.

[Foitin]

In looking for it, I did find some things to the contrary, including an article about what ages kids can be left alone, one opinion was as young as age 8. I thought that was pretty out there, but I guess if kids have access to a phone it might be ok. We have no land line and our kids don’t have cell phones, for instance.

I don’t know. I think it is easy to criticize that people are paranoid and over protective, but things are indeed scary these days in many places. In the 1990s, our kids and college students weren’t living in the age of active shooter drills and the horrible reality of active shooters. Gun violence has impacted the way I parent and conduct my job (teaching), regardless of whether one thinks this violence suggests the America is generally less safe than before.

[Bending_Line]

Just want to say that I believe there may be a lot of regional variability, because in my area, we are a lesson barn with a ton of competition–many more lesson barns than 30 years ago. There is a local horse show series that seemingly spun off a whole cottage industry of local pros who cut their teeth in those rings, and then went on to open their own barns to bring students to the same local shows. I will say to run the program the way I want it run, there is a pretty good degree of personal subsidy occurring to make sure the horses and ponies are working only 5-7 hours a week, etc. We have about 20 lesson horses and ponies. For me, it is rewarding because I can offer a good life to the lesson horses and ponies, and I can also make sure that there are new generations of riders getting a good start and carrying on the love of horses in an educated way. I will say that as an industry, I don’t think we give much credit to the barns that are building the base and sustaining the future of the sport. We give a lot of attention to the owners who buy show horses for pros (or professional juniors) to compete. We don’t give a lot of attention to the people who are providing lesson horse opportunities and good quality instruction to newer riders. It’s a shame that there is not more of a culture of the people with the means to do so supporting grass roots level instruction, the way folks with means used to support USET horses or rising pros. Not sure where some of the disdain comes from re: willingness to help newer riders. Somebody has to feed the pipeline or there won’t be enough people in the future to support horses.

[findeight]

The sad fact is even if the land is paid off, property taxes are likely many times more then they were when the mortgage was written and go up with every Land For Sale sign inching ever closer. Been in two long operating barns that either shut down and sold the property or greatly reduced operations selling some of the land when the land was rezoned and/or assessed value shot up.

Also, IEA is great but many areas have few barns offering it. Mainly because they do not have enough school horses or boarder owners willing to put their private show horse into a blind draw for multiple riders of varying ability even at a hosted show. Certainly not to haul to an away show the barn team wants to compete in.

My long time barn along with several others gave IEA a try but…there just were not enough available, suitable, safe horses to provide IEA riders with. Providing horses was part of the IEA team responsibility.

[Atlas_Shrugged]

I have always worried that parents of lesson kids are done a disservice by being shielded from the true costs of taking up the sport. I have had folks ask questions while my horse was waiting on the cross-ties such as “how much did you pay for your saddle?” and so forth - and many face sticker shock. Before leading the kiddos down the golden road of no return, It is only fair to let them in on the actual costs going forward, otherwise it often leads to heartbreak or worse,

[miminorthwest]

Yeah sort of. I live in an agricultural area, and while there are a handful of H/J and English event barns, the majority of barns are western, and those people typically own their own horses. It’s the English barns in my area that do often have a decent supply of lesson/lease mounts as the English riders here don’t typically own. For insight, my area has like 4 English barns, and the rest (10-15) are western disciplines. And I’m thinking because it’s an ag region, there are a ton of horse properties, so it’s super common that the farm kids have horses at home, and many of them grow up doing 4-H, gaming, and the pleasure circuit. No really need for many lesson horses. Now my friends in the city have more English barns, and again, they are full of lesson and lease mounts, very few people own, and even fewer western barns.

[ShenanAnna]

It was a large article, half page or so IIRC, on the pros and cons of children doing things like walking to the nearby park unsupervised. Consensus seemed to be that children need to be supervised. And “children” was defined in at least part of the article as under 18.

[OverandOnward]

@ShenanAnna

Consensus seemed to be that children need to be supervised. And “children” was defined in at least part of the article as under 18.

Did they say why so much more supervision than past generations? I’m curious about that.

Did the reasons prioritize certain factors, such as safety? Or behavior and judgment?

I can understand parents being concerned for their children’s welfare and safety – that’s their first job as parents, after all. But I haven’t quite understood what dangers some hovering parents are seeing that I am missing.

But it could also be that today’s parents are aware of far more potential threats to their children than much earlier generations.

And the simple increase in population means that even if predators are a tiny percentage of the total population, still that number has grown as the total number of people has grown. There are very roughly about 100 million more people in the U.S. than there were in 1970. Some of them are pretty awful.

I just wonder what are today’s parents’ greatest concerns that cause them to be so constantly on top of their kids.

[jaj]

This is from my memory, and so highly suspect, but there were parents of two urban children (I think Washington D.C.) who were charged with neglect for letting their children walk to a park a few blocks from their house alone. The children were youngish. I believe that the opinion piece came from this incident.

[LCDR]

My daughter was towing her horse by herself to compete in horse trials at age 16. And drove an hour every day during summer to work as an exercise rider in an eventing barn. At 17 she drove herself to college three states away. Where do people come up with the idea that you must be 18 to be out by yourself?

[punchy]

@ShenanAnna

It was a large article, half page or so IIRC, on the pros and cons of children doing things like walking to the nearby park unsupervised. Consensus seemed to be that children need to be supervised. And “children” was defined in at least part of the article as under 18.

Is this the article you’re thinking of? If so, you misremembered it. And it’s an opinion piece, the WP didn’t endorse anything.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/raising-children-on-fear/2015/02/13/9d9db67e-b2e7-11e4-827f-93f454140e2b_story.html

[Limerick]

May I ask what state you are in? And how I wish USHJA would start a program to certify trainers to teach introductory lessons!

[HipNo34]

@Jackie_Cochran

I LOVE my lesson stable. I am very fortunate to have found it.

Same, same, same.
My trainer has some exceptional school horses that I think are a testament to her horsemanship. They’re worth their weight in gold and she treats them as such.

As a re-rider looking for a barn several years ago, I noted how few lesson programs there were with school horses. Of all the things that have changed, that surprised me the least.