Great adult lesson programs: Do they exist? (ATL and beyond)

[UpwardsOnwards]

I need horses back in my life after years away. I’m looking for an adult-focused lesson program where I can meet fun, like-minded friends. I’m interested to hear from those of you who’ve experienced a similar search (tell me your stories!) and those with recommendations in the Atlanta area.

Here’s the unicorn I’m looking for: Lessons for working adults, preferably regular group lessons, in any English discipline. Looking for a well-respected, methodical instructor who doesn’t cut corners and puts the horses first. I’d really love a social outlet with easy-going horse obsessed adults. I’ve ridden for years in many disciplines, dressage, eventing, some h/j, trails… While I definitely have a preference, I don’t want to limit myself to a particular discipline as the social environment, quality instruction, and horses are more important than the discipline. I have much to learn in any discipline, but am not a beginner. As for commute, I’d be comfortable with 45 minutes or so from midtown/buckhead, sometimes rush hour (4ish), other days non-rush hour.

Do these places exist? Too pie in the sky?

[Miss_Motivation]

Following!

Considering setting up just such a program out west. You spoke to the need I thought I saw. : )

[amb]

No help whatsoever on the Atlanta part of it, but since you also asked for stories: after not having horses as a big part of my life for far too long (after being basically horse-obsessed from birth through going off to college), I ended up in the Boston area and had looked for a similar setup from time to time without much luck. “Lessons for all ages!”, for instance, apparently really means “we have quiet horses for leadline all the way up through teenagers!”

Then, out of the blue, a friend and coworker said “hey, I’m going riding with a friend on Saturday, want to come along?”, and I found myself at a small eventing barn with a busy lesson program with a very active adult riding population. It’s been pretty awesome, and while I have an awesome horse to lease I’ve learned a lot from riding a bunch of different school horses over time.

I suppose the lesson there for me was “they’re out there, they’re just hard to find”. Most of the active advertising seems to be geared to lessons for kids, though to be fair I think that’s where a lot of the money is to be made. Dressage barns might be a good bet, though, as it generally seems to attract a more adult clientele.

BTW, if anybody wants to recommend such barns in the Boston area I’d be curious to hear. (I love my barn for a lot of reasons, but the lack of an indoor isn’t one of them; someplace with a real indoor and the ability to take evening lessons after work would be nice! I attribute my current horrendous cold to too many days riding in 40 degree rain last week…)

[Rackonteur]

This might be a helpful resource for you:
http://www.gdcta.org/members-links

And this (scroll down to Trainer Directory):
http://www.ghja.org/

I don’t know this trainer personally but 50-something years ago I knew people who rode at her barn:
http://www.stevehavenstables.com/

I don’t know any western riding organizations but these people might:
http://www.horsetown.com/

They have a store in Marietta and one in Loganville.

[UpwardsOnwards]

Sounds like you got lucky, amb! I’d love such a happy circumstance to happen to me. Thanks for the links, Rackontuer! Greatly appreciated. Any other COTHers have any ideas? Also, it’s not that I’m looking for a program without kids; I just want to find some adults to ride with if I can.

[Scribbler]

IME, most adult lessons are one on one.

[UpwardsOnwards]

Yes, that seems to be the case these days. Guess I really am looking for a unicorn.

[rockonxox]

Yes they DO exist. I ride at a barn that has a lot of adults in group lessons (or private if you want) from young adults and up. Some own their own horses or are like me and ride lesson horses. Sometimes there are younger riders in the lesson, but our lessons are always well matched experience wise. I can’t help with your area, but I promise what you are looking for does exist (at least for me).

[OveroHunter]

If you find one on the east side of Atlanta let me know because that sounds like a lot of fun! All the barns near me are more kid/teen focused. They have some fantastic riders, but they all call me “Ma’am” and I’m not even 30 yet

[Callista17]

I thought I was in one…Then there one horse got hurt. They have others, but they are partly leased out, pokey, whatever. So the BO decided she didn’t have enough time to just get money from one group lesson a week.

[TheHorseMutterer]

Definitely looking for something similar, though I’ve been doing fine with taking one on one lessons thus far. It’d be pretty sweet to find an active community to get involved with. I will reach out to a friend of mine who keeps her horse in Peachtree City that seems to love her barn. I’m on the north side, so not much help for me!

[GrayTBJumper]

They DO exist! My barn has a healthy adult lesson program - many are retired or stay-at-home moms and ride during the day; many, like me, are young professionals and we ride during the weekdays at night.

Some of us like me own, some of us ride lesson horses. Trainer used to mix a capable high school or middle school student every now and then into our lessons, but noticed that our adult ammy brains (especially when we’re already tired coming from work) didn’t have the sense of humor to listen to whatever school drama or homework or whatever they’re complaining about during our lessons.

Trainer is also more flexible/forgiving about our lesson time, as she knows we’re commuting during rush hour after work. Adult ammy brains also seem to have issues that kids and teenagers don’t - like having a greater sense of self-preservation (read: more anxiety), forgetting our courses after a tiring work day, getting our bodies to cooperate (the brain understands what we’re supposed to do, but somehow that doesn’t translate into what our body is actually doing, lol), etc., so it makes sense to put us together in group lessons.

In other words, riding as an adult is much more of a mental game, and trainer spends more time with us adults explaining the mechanics, philosophy, thought process, etc. behind everything than she does with the kids.

ETA: Many, including me, rode at the barn as kids and returned after college. Many are adult re-riders and/or started up after moving here because of work.

[StillHorseCrazy]

[QUOTE=UpwardsOnwards;8921677]
I’m looking for an adult-focused lesson program where I can meet fun, like-minded friends. . . . Lessons for working adults, preferably regular group lessons, in any English discipline. Looking for a well-respected, methodical instructor who doesn’t cut corners and puts the horses first. I’d really love a social outlet with easy-going horse obsessed adults[/QUOTE]

I’m not near ATL, but I’ve found almost what you’re describing - it isn’t an adult-focused lesson program, but it’s everything else you describe, and I’ve found/made the adult niche there.

I took time off riding due to 2 serious accidents and was nervous about getting back into it. But I missed it so much, and well, when you’re addicted, you’re addicted! :lol: There’s a barn here that has therapeutic riding programs + regular lessons. I figured those horses must be pretty mellow and used to all kinds of riders, so they wouldn’t mind a nervous one!

Luckily I was right (and even better, I got over my nerves even more quickly than I anticipated). And the horses are sane but not boring, with good quality instruction - we ride without stirrups for part of every lesson etc. They offer “semi-private” lessons with usually 3, sometimes 4 riders, and I mostly rode with kids for my first 8(?) months there?

But then an adult joined one of my lessons as a make-up lesson, and she was so happy to find another adult, she joined it for good. One of the kids in our lesson had to switch lesson times, and then the remaining kid switched too. Meanwhile, I think another adult heard about our “adults only” lesson and joined in. Then she convinced another (adult) friend to join our lesson. So now we have the 4 of us. And then another adult has joined my other lesson, along with an older teen.

Three of those adults volunteer for the barn’s therapeutic riding programs and Special Olympics. I don’t have time to do that at this point in my life, but if I did, I would easily have that social network too.

So maybe look into barns that provide therapeutic riding programs + regular lessons? And be patient while putting the word out that you’d like to have an all-adult lesson? It might take a little while for that to develop as lesson schedules change.

[pAin_t_Misbehavin]

[QUOTE=Scribbler;8922942]
IME, most adult lessons are one on one.[/QUOTE]

@UpwardsOnwards;8923648

Yes, that seems to be the case these days. Guess I really am looking for a unicorn.

Maybe because adult schedules are hard to coordinate?

I was at a barn for awhile that had nearly a dozen adult riders, and the trainer kept trying to organize a ladies’ night ride, but it never seemed to catch on. I only made one of them myself, due to scheduling problems.

[ericawwebb]

Following! Horseless rider in ATL here as well!

[High_Whites]

Following. I’m in the PNW Seattle-area. Re-rider who did AQHA shows as a kid/teen looking for an adult-oriented program (in any discipline, I am that desperate). Currently horseless but waiting to hook up with a trainer who can help with the process before buying.

A lot of the school horse places I’ve been to are much more kid/teen oriented (horsey camps and the like).

[findeight]

Know some good people in ATL but they don’t have school horses or only have a few for dead beginner flatwork and no jumping above 2’ …getting to be true elsewhere too.

[OveroHunter]

Heck I have all the horses I need, I would just like to ride in groups of adults near my age and skill level. With as much as I get to ride these days I keep getting knocked further and further down the “group lesson abilities” pole. Next thing I know I’ll be in a group lesson with 7 year olds who kick my butt. It was already difficult watching how much better the 12 year old were during my lessons with them… :lol: