I’m currently horseless and get my fix from volunteering at an equine therapy program. Girl child (almost 13) really wants to take lessons. There’s a barn about 30 minutes from me that offers a homeschool program (she is homeschooled). 1, 90 minute group lesson a week for $40 a lesson. The group is 8-10 kids of the same riding level.
Does this sound like a reasonable price? I’ve never had formal lessons, so I have no idea of the going rate.
90 minutes? That’s long, but $40 is cheap where I am.
That’s a steal in my book.
Is that 60 mins of riding and then time to tack up and cool down the horse?
Where are you… I am going to pretend I am a homeschooled teen and go!
That timing makes sense, but I don’t actually know. We do know a kid who’s in the program, so I can ask her.
Memphis area 
Cost is highly area dependent, but that seems pretty darn reasonable to me.
When I was a teenager 20+ years ago, my lessons were $35.
The only thing that would give me pause is 8-10 kids in a lesson… that seems like a LOT of beginners for one person to manage.
Sounds very reasonable. I’d go watch a rew times make sure they are teaching safely, but otherwise, go for it
In my area, lessons run at least $65+. probably closer $75-$85 if you want really worthwhile instruction, versus “heels down, get after him when he does that,” from a young kid.
At $40 in a ring with 8-10 kids, my assumption would be there is a lot of standing around as kids canter in smaller groups or jump individually, and minimal individual attention. However, if you can observe a lesson, or do one on trial, there’s nothing wrong in taking one or two as a test to see if it’s worth it for a child to get some saddle time.
8 - 10 is a LOT in a group lesson. Probably why it is such a long lesson. $40 definitely is a reasonable price for being able to ride a school horse. I currently pay $45 for a 30 minute private or small group. That wouldn’t work for a just starting kid, but very efficient for where I’m at with riding. I’ve paid anywhere from $40-60 for 30min to an hour group. Depending on your area and the trainer, lessons can be much more expensive than that. This sounds like a great way to introduce your kiddo to lessons and meet some new friends
I was at a barn once that offered a similar situation; long, large group lessons for not very much. It was a $hit show safety wise, IMO.
Definitely go and watch a couple of times.
I cannot imagine a situation where 8 - 10 even in a GIANT arena is safe.
About 4 is the most I would deem acceptable for beginners with 1 instructor in the same arena and 5 - 6 of good riding junior and /or adults who are jumping in the lesson spread out over 90 minutes where folks are able to flat effectively and safely around a rider coursing.
Growing up I went to a lesson barn like you described (ages 6 - 9 and my sister was 9 -12 and had the same experience I am about to describe) and I was part of some seriously dangerous situations and had to relearn confidence at 9 years old after being TRAUMATIZED from that environment
bolting horses setting each other off, horses kicking each other bc beginners cannot steer around 8 other horses, rearing from nappiness by the gate. I broke ribs, my nose, fingers, had many a helmet in the early 2000s that probably saved my life. I had a dislocated shoulder and it was popped back in and I was told to continue to ride the rearing animal that almost fell over on me.
I’ll be the hard NO opinion here. Sounds like a money grab at best with riders standing in the center of the ring while the one or two riders trot around the rail and a seriously dangerous situation at worst.
Was it Watchung Stables in Union NJ LOL
we have a trauma support group as adults on facebook HA
When I was a kid and young adult, about 6 - 8 students was normal. Sometimes more. No incidents, ever. Any jumping was done with one line of poles, cavaletti, jumps (usually just one or a combination) or whatever that we would go over one after the other, in a well-spaced line of horses.
Horses were uniformly calm and quite well-behaved, although some of the more beginner ones had to be really coerced into a canter.
There wasn’t a lot of individual instruction, it was more like a show class where you’re told to walk, halt, trot, reverse, etc., with corrections or whatever was needed to students.
Note: this was at more than place, at least four that I can remember.
$40 is very cheap these days, especially for 90 minutes instead of 45 or 60.
8-10 students in an arena is perfectly safe if the ring is large enough and the riders are all of a level where they’re comfortably steering at all gaits. I took lessons in groups this size as a teenager, never had any issues. When jumping, all riders waiting for their turn either stood in a line on the rail or stayed at the walk on the rail. A lot can be learned from watching others.
IMO, beginner riders who are not able to effectively steer at the walk and trot should not be riding in a ring with others, regardless of the levels of the other riders. Unclear from the OP if the daughter is a beginner or not.
Thanks guys! I’m going to check it out some more before making a final decision. I agree that 8-10 could be a lot, it depends on several factors.
My kiddo is not a rank beginner. She’s had a few lessons here and there. Very basic skills
Good price. I do find it amazing that a barn has 10 reliable lesson horses available. Where is this magical stable?
Nope.
They thought it was ok to have this lesson in the same area I was schooling dressage on a 17.2 mare
A lesson program near me offered 90 minute lesson slots in which they would cycle through a number of kids riding the same horse - so maybe 20-30 minutes of actual riding for each student and usually 3 horses working. When not riding, the kids would do something else horse related (horsemanship) in the barn aisle. The actual riding was not a group lesson in the sense that all the kids were doing the same thing at the same time, each kid+horse pair was instructed individually so one might be walking with another being lunged and another trotting. The (lack of) group structure made it very hard to ride in the indoor ring while these lessons were going on.
The instructor who ran this program charged considerably more than $40 per lesson for what she provided.
I’m from NJ and didn’t ride there, but I know the program of which you speak! Truthfully, I rode at a few lesson factory barns briefly over the years. The “anything goes” model is definitely one, but also barns where kids couldn’t canter or steer were put in intermediate-level lessons which left most of the lesson pulling up and unable to get horse moving forward.
I did have some “good experiences” at WS - mostly because I didn’t know better and their sort of bastardized version of pony club was kinda cool with the uniforms and assembly and their 2x annual horse shows where you drew your mounts out of an envelope.
What I did not like was:
I went to a HJ barn afterwards and eventually became a dressage junior at 12/13 where I was “restarted” - my uneasiness riding new to me horses totally comes from that barn …
I think if you were older and you had ridden before - this place could have made you super gritty, but it is a very odd program where I’ve met a handful of horsey adults at various HJ boarding barns as adult who went to WS & we all commiserate on how just “insane” that place really was and how we thought it was normal to fall off every other week and sometimes multiple times in a lesson / show. Like a fever dream. Was there 1997 - 2001.
f*cking crazy lol!
It sounds like THE REAL Saddle Club.
Saddle Club–Uncut.
Definitely too much for my weenie adult ammie ass, although it sounds like it gave you a sticky seat!
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