I added the riding school one to my original post. I’ve been looking for them forever, I’m not sure why I couldn’t find them when they were so easy to find this time!
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Speaking as someone who relied on lesson programs for a long time, I think you should raise your prices. I also think having a cancellation policy, or a prepaid plan (let’s say, buy 10 lessons ahead of time, with a $5 discount per lesson for buying ahead) would help. People are less apt to cancel if they’ve already paid.
As a student, I longed for a lesson program with sound, sane school horses, with the option to take occasional private lessons, with lessons that started on time, that weren’t absolutely stuffed with too many people to ride around comfortably, and had people with relatively the same level of ability. If you have all of this, you’re providing a valuable service and should definitely charge more!
Re: the jumping, if people complain, tell them the truth–it’s a horse welfare issue, and you can’t have lesson horses with people who ride two times a week jumping their legs off over high jumps. If people give you pushback “back in the day we could jump 3 feet on lesson horses,” then just say “well, now we know better.”
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After dragging several children around the country for the past few years and riding at lesson barns I can tell you that most lesson programs don’t make money for the same reasons.
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They are too small, there is economy of scale at play. Not enough horses, no coverage if one is lame, no time to school them. Beginner horses can do several kids walk lessons every day on the weekend, you are wasting money if you don’t. Good instructors don’t work part time usually either.
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They don’t make their own lesson horses, you have to or you go broke.
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They are unskilled at teaching, this causes a few problems
3a. Program is too focused on jumping and the flat lessons are extremely lame so no-one wants to take flat lessons. The best barn we were at required 2 flat lessons for every jumping lesson but those flat lessons were good! Proper flat work. Putting the horse on the bit, lateral work, no stirrups, mounted games, archery for over 14 a few times a year, bareback lessons, learn to neck rein etc. Tons of fun. And great for kids who don’t want to jump which is a lot.
3b. The instructors just obviously kind of suck, don’t know much, don’t plan ahead etc and people feel ripped off
3c. Because no on ever learns to ride properly the horses go around hollow and counterbent and get sour and lame.
3d. People fall off a lot -
They are keeping the horses very expensively: not enough grass, high labor cost layout, etc
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The parents hate going to the barn. This is a huge one. In Europe a lot of lesson barns have a comfortable cafe in the viewing area so the parents have food and coffee or beer and are warm and happy. Most us barns have a shed that smells of mouse pee full of parents hoping they get tired of this soon. At least give them warmth. Or coffee. Or something. Also don’t let your dogs jump all over them and their cars.
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I fear that the “equine industry” is pricing itself out of existence. It didn’t used to be this way, but it is now. Few people are capable or wish to truly learn how to be a competent all round horseman, learning about keeping, caring for, breaking, training and riding and competing with horses. They want short cuts now… And the opportunities to truly learn are so limited, and the costs are so high. It’s too bad, it’s been good previously in past decades. It’s been economically feasible in the past. In our current lives, instant gratification is key to success. With horses, this isn’t a reality to strive for. Many riders cruising around in the 2’6" division have not schooled or trained their own horses. Instead, it’s been done for them, and they’ve been taught how to sit and steer. Can’t problem solve. Hand the horse back to the trainer when coming out of the ring. But the cash register rings, and everyone is happy.
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Knowing you have skill limitations and not wanting to do things like backing/breaking and such does not equal wanting short cuts.
I do think the horse industry is getting too expensive for most people to even think about enjoying. I don’t think that is because most people admit they have a limited skill set, but still want to enjoy riding.
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Nancy M, I don’t think every rider necessarily has to aspire to breaking, training or keeping their own horse to enjoy riding. However, we have more parents that don’t want to see their kid struggle; they don’t want them to fall off and get back on- they don’t want them to fall off period. Most parents want their kids to compete as the logical, end result of beginner riding lessons, even if they don’t own their own horse. So, combine these factors with the high cost of owning or leasing horse property and the high cost of keeping the animals and there you have it- Riding Lessons are very expensive. We need a safe stable in a convenient location; we need Bomb Proof animals to teach on.
Sure, in some cases, clients want full grooming and tack up services and are willing to pay for it. Client want to buy the Junior Hunter winner and are willing to pay for it. I’m talking about Riding Academy lessons. The fault is not with the trainers being greedy.
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For me, I am starting to realize that while I enjoy doing all of those things I simply don’t have time to do them (or do them to my standards) and work to make the money to afford the horses and still have time to ride. Ultimately, some of these things have to be “off loaded” to a hired hand so I can get my work done (the work that pays for them) and still ride. I’ve spent the last 5 years fighting this, trying to do it all and barely, if ever, riding and I can’t imagine I’m the only one.
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Yet another great point you are making @kaya842!
Adulting require time management stuff that frequently means we have to make decisions.
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This is so cool - and possibly with huge opportunities for people who aren’t currently riders too.
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Lesson programs are critical to the horse industry, but yes, they are so hard to maintain. Typically what I’ve seen is less about the horses themselves and more about the cost to keep them and the cost of the land and facilities. Owners that have had land for a long time may be able to make a program work - but when they sell the higher land cost and resulting higher taxes makes the previously workable business no longer viable even if there is a willing horsey buyer.
The monthly program is a good plan, but also tends to require some sort of all-weather facilities.
I think as far as the jumping 3’ etc - this is manageable. There are fun things to do over lower jumps or not jumps that still establish the right skills. What’s important is creating the fun and engagement for clients. Maybe this means creating some less jumpy competition opportunities too, like working equitation fun days, taking those clients to dressage shows or to starter level jumping, simple trail trials, things that are fun and challenging and educational but put less wear and tear on the horses. The clicker training is genius too.
So many people just want to be around horses. We need that chance to become entirely enthralled by horses that is only possible via lessons and other non-owner riding opportunities if we are going to continue to have horse shows at the higher level.
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I’ve really thought about getting some smaller ponies and doing a pony club and teaching ground skills and then taking kids to mini horse shows. They are much more affordable and easier for kids to handle and it reduces the " why can’t they ride" expectation of parents.
But I’m also a low level ammy and would lose my status by doing this.
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This is such a good point too! So many kids who become professionals do it because they want to be busy show riders or trainers. BUSY being the key word here. So many of them have training clients, show horses, etc, and don’t have time for the intro lessons, or for the people who want to be around horses but not ride. That’s just not how their program is set up, and that’s fine. No one should have to do EVERYTHING within their program. But the amateurs who have the time and desire to do the up-down kids, or the lead line lessons, or the ground lessons like you are describing, then are punished when they want to show by having to be declared a professional.
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These are the kind of people that just go ahead and buy a horse or two, put up a shed on their property with a small paddock and just wing it, not knowing anything about the proper care or their “pets.” I’ve seen it happen a number of times, in fact as a kid a distant relative put two horses in a shed attached to his garage. He had no experience with horses before then, some of these people even feed grain on the dirt floor if they feed grain at all, some think grass in the paddock or maybe some hay is sufficient. They don’t realize until its too late that its a lot more complicated than a cat or dog.
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Exactly. And it teaches horsemanship whether they like it or not.
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One thing that seems to be proliferating in my area is guided trail rides. At farms and wineries, people sign up for an hour’s ride through the vineyard or up a mountain trail. $50-$75 per person, the horses can be old and/or unsound and there is no requirement for any skills of the horse beyond walking on a known trail following the animal in front of you. These programs appear to be booked solid on good weather weekends.
I couldn’t do it. But I guarantee that sourcing those horses is a lot easier and certainly cheaper than finding animals that have to have a solid walk trot canter and jump a little course without killing someone.
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Also, breaking your own horses doesn’t solve the problem of how expensive keeping them has gotten. Board costs the same regardless of how experienced your horse is. Depending on how expensive your area is you might wind up spending more in board for a few years than you would spend up front purchasing something a few years farther along. There’s also less risk with something already doing the job, and you don’t have to put your riding and showing goals on hold waiting for a youngster to mature.
I don’t think the equine industry is “pricing itself out” so much as the economy overall has left us with fewer people capable of paying fair market prices for equine services. Wages just haven’t kept up with the cost of living, let alone the cost of luxury hobbies. We can’t expect horse professionals to charge below market just to subsidize the sport for more people. The more useful discussion is how to make the sport more appealing to people who can afford it and draw/keep them in. Having seen what my coworkers spend on travel sports for their kids I know there’s a market out there willing to burn cash if they could be convinced that horses are a better option.
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The barn I grew up riding at was nothing fancy. BO there had to have between 15 and 20 lesson horses and ponies; shetlands all the way up to a big Belgian gelding! She apparently had a very good eye at auctions and got them for very little. She did lessons and there was enough interest when I was there we formed a 4-H club.
She also did a lot of business at the race track and had a huge barn, with two indoors/hot walkers for her racehorses and did a lot of buying and selling with that. She always had a number of boarders in the big barn too.
The property had to be at least 25 acres of not more, and there were trails so that was another offered service with the number of lesson horses.
It was great for me as a kid. I wanted to ride every horse in the barn and pretty much got to as my skills grew. We leased a horse from her and eventually bought her. She kept the place running up until she passed away not that long ago. It was really cool boarding with a now friend that basically took over things when she fell ill with cancer and a couple of the horses I knew, she did too even though she’s about 10 years younger than me.
The property is now turning into a development 
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I am facing this - I can’t make buying new horses make sense with the current market, but my current horses are winding down. The demand is there, but not at the price point needed to add new stock, particularly as I don’t ride anymore. Part leasing from people who can’t otherwise afford to keep their horse may be one solution, but it’s hard to find beginner adult safe horses to lease or buy, so the demand for them is high, and I feel bad lesson programs have painted us all in a bad light, so people are shy about leasing to a lesson program.
A local coach has managed to run her business with no lesson horses - even raw beginners have to lease or buy to get into her program. She seems to be making it work, but I couldn’t sell that business model.
I also don’t understand this shift where horses are only used one lesson per day - the barn I grew up at, and started teaching out of, used them 2-3 times per day - the horses did well overall. Somehow I got into the mindset of only once a day though, as is now normal, but man that makes it harder!
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I think the shift in one lesson per day comes from an animal welfare viewpoint. When I was young trail riding places saddled all the horses in the morning and tied them on hitching posts where they remained for the rest of the day unless or until they went out into the mountains. No one gave a thought to the hot, thirsty horses standing all day. Different times.
Decades ago, when I had a small, but barely profitable lesson program, I had a client tell me how lucky I was to have her retired show horse as a school horse.
I agreed with her that the horse was lovely, and I was lucky, but I told her that I lost money on her horse, and she was horrified.
I wrote out the costs for the horse; he was a TB and a hard keeper, he required special shoeing on a short schedule, supplements and some extra vet attention. (This was before Previcoxx, and before joint injections were routine.) I then showed her how many lessons a week I would have to use the horse for to amortize the cost of keeping him; and that I was unwilling to use the horse that amount (Think 12 - 15 lessons/week.)
I did not tell the sweet, shocked person that the 14 H grade pony who lived on air and didn’t require shoes, but could manage showing short stirrup gave me a much better return.
That was decades ago. I can’t imagine the math now.
I also remember when most of the school horses were freebies or $500 - $1000 specials from the classified ads, The Trading Post or Craigslist, and we had barn kids that were happy to put the miles on them to turn them into schoolies. I don’t think either the free to cheap horses or the barn kids really exist anymore either.
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