I’ve never been to Wellington but was thinking of taking a trip with my sister for a long weekend to check out the area and facilities/trainers. In the future we would possibly like to go for the winter months with our horses. Do you know of any recommended trainers that give lessons on schoolmasters? We are currently training third level.
Sons of the Wind has a visiting rider program. Plenty of trainers will have a sale horse or two they may give lessons on, but that varies obviously.
Sara Schmit may have something upper level to give lessons on. She sometimes offers week long leases. Just google Sara Schmit Dressage
Sons of the Winds is showing it’s in MA.
In previous years they have come down to Florida in the winter…
Under facilites, click on South.
Thank you I will check it out.
Sons of the Wind have a facility in Southern Florida as well as their main one in MA. They have nice Lusitanos and have programs for visiting riders. Worth checking out.
I contacted Sons of the Wind last week as I am spending some time going back and forth to Wellington this season. They book very far in advance and if you are interested I would contact them right away. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any availability when I could take advantage of it. The price was also higher than I had thought - I think that it depends on what you are looking for as to whether the price is a good value.
$130/lesson wrapped into mandatory packages of 6 or 10 lessons plus housing :eek:. I guess “good value” is relative in Wellington. Wow.
I actually think that is very reasonable for a lesson with a GP trainer using their upper level schoolmaster. The fact that they are offering week or two week “lesson/lease” package is helpful and probably why the per session fee is low.
Most GP trainers I know charge around 100$ give or take for lesson on your own horse. So offering 130$ on a schoolmaster (fei level) is generous.
If someone off the street wanted to come in for lesson on my schoolmaster for a one off lesson I’d be charging around 200$ cause why else would I let some stranger on my valuable horse for my regular lesson fee?
There are many reasons there is limited access to upper level schoolmasters in this country… one is that people don’t think they should pay for the privilege.
Years ago (probably 15) I had opportunity to ride a GP horse for “lessons”, the owner basically “taught” me how to ride the tricks… meaning as well intentioned as she was, she couldn’t teach (life had forced her to use him for lessons so she could afford him) but that horse was an encyclopedia! And worth every penny of the 150$ I paid her. He is one of the smart decisions I have made that has allowed me to move horses up the levels.
If someone wants to invest in their riding they are going to need to invest $, sweat and effort; otherwise struggle away.
2 Likes
$130 is extremely reasonable for a lesson on a schoolmaster! And of course a trainer would expect you to take a group of lessons–you’re now going to learn much in 2 lessons. I wouldn’t let someone on one of my well trained horses who wasn’t serious about their learning.
1 Like
Sounds awesome to me! Maybe next year. I don’t think I can coordinate the logistics in time this year.
Perhaps you could have your trainer call their trainer, or a friend, who is down there? Often times trainers don’t have schoolmasters per se, but they may have an upper level sales horse floating around that could be used for that purpose if it was someone they knew, or someone who came recommended by someone they know.
That’s what I did while in Wellington last year. I was working as a barn manager, but my boss didn’t have anything for me to ride. So I asked my coach from home if she had any ideas and she recommended a friend of hers. I got in touch and was able to have a lesson on a great FEI schoolmaster who happened to be a client’s horse.
