Lesson prices seem very high?

[CalistosMom12]

Hi everyone,

I have a friend who is interested in her kiddo taking lessons and she was soliciting my thoughts. She sent me website to program and I was shocked at the prices.

I am currently with well-known east coast and FL trainer at great facility and in a package, private lessons costs average out to about $65 each. (They are more if not in training package with board).

Friend’s kids program is $110 for hour group, $225 for hour private. Not much cheaper for boarders ($100 group, $200 private). For context, this barn does not really have functional outdoor so only indoor. Lessons are not especially high level. Area not ridiculously high cost and trainer not particularly well known. They do not show.

I’d like to encourage friend to shop around a bit, but I’m in a different area and so don’t know just how these prices stack up in general. For the facility and level, they seem pretty high to me?

[Rebecca1983]

Most lessons in my area are $70-$90.

[CalistosMom12]

That sounds about right. In her case, given the lack of things the program offers, I think those prices are too high to trot crossrails in an indoor.

[trubandloki]

@CalistosMom12

Hi everyone,

I have a friend who is interested in her kiddo taking lessons and she was soliciting my thoughts. She sent me website to program and I was shocked at the prices.

I am currently with well-known east coast and FL trainer at great facility and in a package, private lessons costs average out to about $65 each. (They are more if not in training package with board).

Friend’s kids program is $110 for hour group, $225 for hour private. Not much cheaper for boarders ($100 group, $200 private). For context, this barn does not really have functional outdoor so only indoor. Lessons are not especially high level. Area not ridiculously high cost and trainer not particularly well known. They do not show.

I’d like to encourage friend to shop around a bit, but I’m in a different area and so don’t know just how these prices stack up in general. For the facility and level, they seem pretty high to me?

Hunter barn on a lesson horse is closer to the price you quoted than the price your friend is paying. Do they get something extra for that price? Maybe some hacking time not in a lesson?

Do you know anyone in your friend’s area, or closer to your friend’s area to ask about good lesson barns?
Maybe you can help them look for a different program.

[jherold]

Post your location and I bet people can give recommendations. Also I would look at barns with other disciplines. As long as the instruction is safe and the school horses are treated well, it’s more about getting comfortable with horses in general and learning to love it than a specific type of riding.

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

@CalistosMom12

$110 for hour group, $225 for hour private. Not much cheaper for boarders ($100 group, $200 private). For context, this barn does not really have functional outdoor so only indoor. Lessons are not especially high level. Area not ridiculously high cost and trainer not particularly well known. They do not show.

Yeah, this sounds high. I’m in a high COL area and private lessons run $65-$95, and the upper range I’d expect would be for a lesson on a schoolmaster with a trainer with some demonstrable qualifications/show record.

But I’ve definitely gotten taken advantage overpaying within that range for a less-than-qualified instructor/horse.

[hoopoe]

OP friend prices sound like those you encounter in a special clinic with an international / Olympic clinician

[CHT]

$110 for a group? Are they getting theory on top of riding? Do they live in Hong Kong? I could only see that if the barn was providing each student with someone to lead the horse for the beginners or some other high level of service/instruction. Is this just the rate for beginners and it goes down once they are more capable?

[Dr_Doolittle]

Yeah, that’s nuts…

[vxf111]

What is reasonable will always vary based on the area and circumstances but that would be high for beginner lessons in ANY of the places in the U.S. I’m aware of.

[Mander]

I live in a HCOL area - from what I could find, most H/J lessons are $65-75/ea on school horses. Usually $20 cheaper if on your own horse.

I pay (what averages out to) $80 for 30 min dressage lessons with an FEI trainer on her horses. Obviously no group lessons.

I’ve taken a handful of dressage lessons with another trainer who travels to my barn - she charges $110, but treats them more like “mini-clinics” and is happy to chat afterwards. Her lessons pretty much always go long too.

[luvmyhackney]

Wonder what area this is in? If outside a big city I could see the pricing or if high demand.

I pay anywhere from 55-90.00 for an hour lesson , some private, some group. I’m riding in Loudoun County which is a HCL area.

[mroades]

Have any of y’all priced keeping a lesson horse these days? $40 for a bag of feed, $20 for a bale of hay, $250 for 4 shoes…and so on…

[erinmeri]

I live in an extremely high cost of living area, probably tied for the highest in the US, for both horse and human, where I used to live (NYC and SF). Lessons are typically around $100 if you don’t board/train, with a modest discount if you do (and exceed your package). The rates you are quoting are absurd. Unless, perhaps, the kiddo is the next Maclay winner training with an Olympian or an Eq Factory… and even then…

[meupatdoes]

Instructor better have gone to the Olympics at those rates.

Either that or you can school the GP on the lesson horses.

[CHT]

I own lesson horses, and have taught at numerous barns. I suppose if the program doesn’t own the barn, and is paying for full inside board for their lesson horses, plus corrective shoeing for and medication/vet, their monthly costs might be quite high, but given a lesson horse likely works at least 22 lessons most months, you would still be making $$$ at those rates… $2420.00 per month gross revenue.

[erinmeri]

@mroades

Have any of y’all priced keeping a lesson horse these days? $40 for a bag of feed, $20 for a bale of hay, $250 for 4 shoes…and so on…

Yes, things are expensive, but the lesson horse sadly has to carry its own weight.

Do you honestly think those prices make sense?

[CalistosMom12]

Omg. Just chatted with friend who brought her daughter out to meet with trainer/BO and some lessons apparently are taught by what seems like newish instructor (she wasn’t sure how old the girl teaching was but said she looked to be about 20). Oh and these are groups of 4-5 kids at a time. We had a talk about shopping around…

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

And not to be harsh, but from a parent’s perspective, why pay that much money for an up-and-down lesson at a non-show barn from a 20-year-old instructor without much experience, when you could get the same or better instruction and experience for less money and save the cash for a lease when the child becomes more experienced, or lesson more often?

IMHO, it’s a red flag when a barn’s lessons are priced substantially above or below the market rate in the area, for lessons of comparable instructor and horse experience and quality. Substantially above for walt-trot lessons on a school pony with an instructor without much experience might mean the barn is taking advantage of parental ignorance, or they want to push the family into buying/leasing as soon as possible, “because it’s not that much more expensive.” Substantially below, well, let’s just say sometimes you do get what you pay for…

[hillary_again]

“…red flag…” - This is a very good observation. Might also be a case where taking lessons at this barn is part of a status thing in a particular area, like being part of the most expensive country club. As a parent, you are not always aware of that kind of situation lurking in the background.