Does your barn let you ride during lessons or is there an expectation that boarders are not allowed to ride in the same ring as lessons? This includes the wintertime when everyone would be expected to share time in the indoor area, and also during poor weather. In this specific case, lessons tend to be scheduled most weekday evenings from 4pm-8pm as well as scattered throughout Saturdays and Sundays. Just looking to see what your expectations are as horse owners/boarders/facility owners/coaches/etc!
We are allowed to ride during lessons, but the expectation is that lesson students have the "right-of-wayâ so to speak. By that I mean you must be aware of what theyâre jumping or what exercises theyâre doing and stay out of their way. Obviously with beginners you give plenty of room etc. But especially in winter there is only the indoor to ride in, so everyone shares.
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Unless spelled out otherwise, most barns will allow you to ride in the ring with a lesson, but the lesson gets priority for what spaces are used, jumps and poles, etc. I have a very young horse who is much happier with a group, so I try make a point to ride WITH a lesson, even if i am not in it. My barn is very laid back about that stuff and understands what I am doing, so itâs never a problem. i do know other barns may vary.
There is no harm in asking before you come in though! I will frequently check with the trainer about what they are doing and what I want to do to make sure we are all on the same page. Open dialog is always helpful.
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Yes. All individuals are expected to share the ring. While the boarders try to give the right-of-way to the lessons, the lessons are also expected to be aware of where they are travelling, to share the ring, call out any preferred lines (audibly, not in a whisper that others canât hear unless they are within 5â of the caller) and pass left-to-left. Also, if a boarder asks them to do something âspecialâ, like donât pass so close to their horse, or donât run up the boarderâs horseâs butt, itâs expected that you wouldnât have to tell them twice.
If I couldnât ride during the few times that I get to the barn, I would be looking for another barn. The only times I get there are after work during the week and during the day on the weekends. Weekends are the only time I can ride during the day, and I expect to be able to do so at my convenience, not some instructorâs convenience. After all, I pay full board for that privilege. I donât expect to have the ring to myself, but I expect the other riders to be courteous and use common sense.
I find it incredibly annoying if a lesson person is riding ârandomlyâ and I have no idea where they will be in the next few moments. As a boarder, I try to keep an ear out for what is happening in the lesson so that I can adjust my location and training plans appropriately. Keeps me on my toes and my horse listening to me.
If there is a repeated problem, I will speak with the instructor.
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Boarders are allowed to ride in the same ring during lessons at our farm. I think that is pretty common practice with facilities that only have one ring or operate solely out of an indoor during the winter. If boarders couldnât ride during lesson times, how else would those who have a strict schedule be able to get their rides in? They pay board, so they should be able to ride whenever they want to as long as it is within reason.
Boarders are expected to be courteous to those in the lesson by staying out of their way, passing safely with priority given to the lesson student, being aware of where the other person is in the arena at any given moment, and by not interrupting the instructor or student. Thatâs just basic proper ring etiquette, so in theory, everyone should already be doing that no matter the circumstances.
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Ususally yes. Lesson takers have the right away and that has since been defined to RUN DOWN the people in your way if they DEFINITELY know better. (not actually but you know what i mean). down south no snow and no indoors here. but we have 3 rings. most beginner lessons arenât in the main ring. If you are good enough to ride in a crowded schooling ring at a show youâre often allowed to share. Also depends on the horse, the 2nd ring is next to paddocks and sometimes a running horse may incite some bucks.
The only time we donât is. Saturday mornings the biggest lessons just too crowded. The 4-5ish time when everyoneâs kid is off school. If people are jumping long courses over 1.30 and someone cant steer or is dumb. Also if its a small lesson like 3 people and 6 people are trying to hack and just making too much chaos.
Yes but the person taking the lesson has the right of way in all circumstances. I usually listen to the trainer to see where they are sending the student to stay out of the way.
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Iâve boarded at places that do both. I see different sides as both an instructor and boarder.
As someone who had a busy schedule while boarding, it was fortunate to be able to not worry about not being able to ride because of ongoing lessons and I suppose if you look at it this way, you are paying for use of the arena in your board. The downside was that it could be occasionally dangerous to ride at those times if the lessons were for beginners. The lessons often had about 6 people and then there could be up to 4-5 additional boarders sharing the ring. Usually the ring was split (1/2 and 1/2), but accidents did happen.
At the barn that would not allow boarders to ride during lessons, it could be frustrating at times, particularly if the barn left very little time for us boarders to ride; however, I am one to prefer not having to share the ring too much when riding, as I do like to be able to warm up with serpentines and other exercises that take up more space.
As an instructor, I donât mind sharing the ring with more advanced students who can control their horses. However, I would be a nervous wreck doing so with students that havenât quite mastered steering and speed control yet. Usually, the boarders are very careful, but it only takes a few seconds for a beginner to lose control of their horse. I saw a few too many accidents at the first barn and I would never want to risk an accident like that.
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As said above â share the ring, but boarder give right of way, and try to avoid the lesson area. In a large enough ring, Iâve known a lesson with one or two riders to take one end, while all other riders take the other end.
If the only ring is very small and it really isnât practical to get another horse in there that isnât in the lesson, I could understand the restriction. And/or if it is a beginner lesson in a smaller ring, something like that.
If it is the barn policy to block off part of the facility for lessons on a regular basis, that should be part of the boarding contract. The boarder should be aware of this before they commit to move in. Especially if this happens on a daily or frequent basis. Obviously it is the BO/BMâs prerogative to do this is they wish, but it could certainly affect which boarders will be wiling to keep their horse there. I would not be able to do that if I primarily ride after work.
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Normally i donât care if people ride during lessons, but with Covid, I am limiting access to the barn/arena to three at a time, so for the most part my boarders are doing their best to avoid lesson times. This isnât a big deal at my barn as most of my clients are shift workers, so lesson times are really spread out.
I do have an expectation that boarders are not disruptive to lessons, which is more than just âright of wayâ, it is also not bringing your spooky, unpredictable, tense equine into the ring around more novice students.
When I taught at a more âlesson millâ barn, boarders were not allowed to ride during lessons due to liability reasons. I would not want to ride during lesson student group lessons for this reason as well. If your horse causes an incident, you could be liable.
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Iâve boarded at stables where the arena was shared and also boarded at one that would close the arena to other riders during lessons at the request of the person taking the lesson. I donât mind giving the lesson person the right of way or sharing the arena during my lesson. I also didnât mind if the arena was going to be closed to other riders if the time was posted somewhere with advance notice that I could plan my riding around it. What I didnât like was having the arena closed at the last minute for someoneâs lesson or a set time wasnât given in advance. I had many times when I would start riding and then 15 minutes in, get kicked out because someone wanted to take a lesson and have the arena to themself.
I also didnât mind if others watched my lesson as long as they didnât chat with the instructor nonstop. Iâve had people show up to watch my lessons and other peopleâs lessons but then not like it it someone wanted to watch his or her lesson. I usually asked the person and the instructor first if it was ok if I watched them ride.
I think the best plan is that for a barn to make their policies clear beforehand and let people know in advance of any changes so the boarder knows what is expected. The barn I mentioned above was inconsistent with their policies and I did not stay there very long.
I have twice boarded at a barn with a full lesson program. As in, every week day evening and all day Saturday there were lessons going on of some sort. Most of them group lessons.
Both of those barns allowed borders to ride during lessons. Borders had to be considerate and lessons always had the right of way. If the lesson was a first ever rider on a lead line you were expected to take that into account and not ride your reactive critter that might put the beginner into a dangerous situation.
I am in a part of the country that the indoor is the only place to ride all winter so a lesson barn that does not allow boarders to ride during lessons is not going to have many boarders who work a typical job. I suppose if they can attract borders with a more flexible schedule they will do fine.
Current barn closes one arena for lessons. Since we have two good rings this isnât an issue.
Previous barn only had one useable ring. While they didnât close the arena officially, the lessons were usually large group lessons for small children. This did make it quite difficult for the boarders to ride.
I once boarded at a place that had a busy lesson program, but limited lesson horses. The one that got used the most was a saint tracking right (to the left, not so much - probably a physical issue, obv.) When I inquired about whether boarders could ride during lessons, I was told, âof course!â
What they did not mention was, yes, you could ride during a lesson but you could only do whatever the lesson student was doing. In other words, if the lesson student was only doing W-T, that was all you could do, and you could only ride in the same direction as the lesson rider - they did not want the lesson rider to have to contend with steering around someone riding toward them. Because of the main lesson horseâs limitation - there were many rides where you could only track right, in addition to only being able to work in the same gait as the lesson rider.
Given the cost of the place - it was $1500/mo, even back then⊠it was a bit ridiculous. I did not stay long.
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Thank you everyone for your feedback! I think some of the things I find odd or frustrating is that at 12pm a notice will go up in the boarderâs facebook group that the outdoor ring is mucky, and lessons will be inside, so you canât ride 3-8pm now (when the understanding was that lessons would be outdoors and the indoor would be available to boarders). I know of some barns that ask clients to sign up for ride times during the week, and lesson blocks would be in the schedule too, but this means that if you have the 5-6pm time block with 2 other boarders on Tuesday, a lesson canât be scheduled during that time last minute. Has anyone experienced the âbook a timeâ setup?
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The only place i ever boarded was Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Verrrrry public place, and the two outdoor rings were full of group lessons most of the time. Lots of first time in the saddle children/boarders def not allowed in the rings. But, in the evenings btwn 5-9pm people took turns turning their horses out, or riding alone, in the center ringâŠwe got 20ish minutes and there was ALWAYS a line up waiting. The good news is there was a polo field with a dirt race track surrounding it, and we would all ride around the track at night, just W/T, fairly social with many just walking and talkingâŠit was âsort ofâ illuminated. Good timesâŠ
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I have. Currently with COVID, my barn has a âbook a timeâ set up. There are lessons a few mornings a week and every weekday evening. There are no lessons on weekends. While there is no rule again riding during lessons, the lessons slots are typically full and there are no âspareâ spots for âfree ridesâ. It effectively means that there is no riding during lessons unless by special arrangement/a spot happens to open up on short notice, especially with winter coming and being limited by both COVID headcount restrictions and being limited to the indoor ring. The system works pretty well for the most part - it makes everything pretty predictable. That said, it can be limiting for someone who works a 9-5 jobs without much flexibility. The only slot post 5pm slot would be after lessons at 8/9 pm.
In your situation it does sound like a âbook a slotâ system would be preferable to the current system. The Monday schedule at my barn makes it a bit tough to ride unless I want to ride late in the evening. Because I have certainty about the remainder of the weekâs schedule, I can happily give my horse Mondays off and not worry about being âbumpedâ later in the week on short notice. The latter would be a problem for me if it was a regular occurrence.
Any BMâs reading please note the number of boarders posting above who moved to another barn due to restrictions on their riding imposed by the lesson schedule. 
For the cost and time or maintaining a horse, people do expect to be able to ride, meaningfully, at their own convenience.
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Iâve always been allowed to hack in lesson rings as a boarder. If thereâs an open ring during lessons itâs kind of an unspoken note at my barn to go to that ring (we have one large and one small) so generally I will go where there is no lesson happening. If I do have to ride during a lesson I always ask the instructor ans I pick the ring where the most advanced lesson is happening. My horse is well behaved and quiet and I stay out of the way. Iâll always give lesson kids the rail. I will try and guess where a rider is going if I can see s/he is not the best at navigating or steering and stay out of their general vicinity. Lots of circles and bending for my horse those days!
As a boarder I would never board at a barn who told me I couldnât ride at certain times that would be ideal fr riding as a working adult. If anything from 4-8 is restricted itâs not the barn for me.
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I didnât explicitly state it in my post, so to clarify, ring access DID play into my decision to move from farm 1 AND impacted my choice when I selected Barn 2.
For posterity ya know.
