My post clearly stated that I owned this horse 20 years ago. But even if I owned him now, your response would not be helpful or kind.
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Same. The horse who taught me to show from the low hunters to the pre adults was a made been there done that school master with a wicked spook. But he was the most amazing lovely horse I’ve ever sat on. Auto changes with a shift in weight.seriously don’t lean because you’d be doing tempi changes. A metronome canter. Beautiful bay. High white socks on his legs. You just had to deal with the spook at home. And I did. And I learned. And I developed a Velcro butt And I won everything. I miss him every day.
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A couple things. I think there are more “beginner” families with minimal horse knowledge than ever trying to get into riding and showing. Not just riding but SHOWING. And they want results for their investment. The barn rat of my childhood is a rarity these days, and so kids learn to ride on mostly saintly school horses and ponies in a very controlled environment. No bombing around the countryside bareback for most, these days. And so, the huge price tags for the horses everyone needs and the naive ISO ads on a weak budget. Now, I am a middle aged ammy on a budget who has some experience with making stuff up but at my age I need something that won’t kill me. I bought a couple babies a few years ago to bring along and seriously questioned if I would keep the one when he reached the pivotal age of 4 and his spooks turned into rearing 180 spins. He fell on me once and destroyed my confidence and I almost got rid of him. Lots of expert advice, a handful of training rides and me learning how to manage his athleticism and big personality under saddle has given me a great relationship with a horse I just took for a bareback and bridleless spin the other day. I see he is turning into one of those unicorns for me, because I know his quirks and learned how to manage them, but it took motivation, courage and a great team to get it done. Realistic expectations for all involved and really frank discussions with a trusted trainer help bridge the gap of the “perfect” horse to the perfect horse for the individual.
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It’s not even entirely just that—it’s absurdly expensive to run a lesson program these days, both acquiring and maintaining said horses, so kids are riding fewer horses as they come up. I remember the childhood anticipation of wondering who I was going to ride at my weekly lesson as a 6-year-old… That barn must have had 15 or 20 lesson horses.
But lately, I’ve helped my trainer, a young pro, build her lesson program and string, and phew, finding those horses at a reasonable price is a tall order nowadays. I also think, for better or worse, that people are willing to jump into leasing or ownership far earlier than they were decades ago; she has a list of clients ready to pull the trigger on half-leases (or even full) but the inventory across the board is just so strained.
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Lesson horse prices are insane. Just saw an ISO ad for one, basically looking for an overgrown large, does NOT need a lead change, does not need to move well, the ad specifically states that the animal can be ugly, just has to WTC and jump 18” with beginners and their budget is in the low five figures. LOW FIVE FIGURES.
For someone with a small local program like me, competing with that budget is absolutely impossible.
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It makes you wonder how lesson programs will survive, right? I’ve had this conversation with my BO many times. We have a couple lesson horses, but today’s average beginner kid will never take the step up to leasing or ownership, so there’s really no upside to the lesson program (because in and of itself, it barely breaks even).
I’m not casting any blame here. A non-horsey parent, whose kid begs them for riding lessons, must come close to blacking out when trainer pitches them on the idea of ownership. They’re going from maybe $60/lesson to…well, you know.
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I’ve seen dozens of ads looking for a lesson horse that can pack a beginner around but can’t be more than $1500.
I always ask, what makes it worth so much less as a lesson horse that makes it worth so much more as a ammy friendly horse?
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I’m sure that part of the problem is the demand. Since lesson horses are basically the same thing that is needed by your typical non-showing amateur, everybody is shopping for the same animal.
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Really?? Where do you see these ads? That’s crazytown. $1500 will barely buy you a rescue or an OTTB that’s straight off the track.
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At least in the west, real estate prices are so high that there simply isn’t enough affordable land to support a barn with a lesson program. Many have sold out and become housing tracts.
One of my trainer friends said that maintaining her lesson program had become “the slow road to bankruptcy.” With the ever rising cost of feed, and an ever dwindling supply of horse crazy kids who want regular instruction, and parents who have the time and money to support that, keeping a string of lesson horses just wasn’t financially feasible anymore.
It makes me sad, because there were so many opportunities when I was a kid/teen. Seemed like every barn had lesson horses that could also get prettied up and go to a local show with the kids. Some of them were major operations like Barbara Worth or Don Simington (Onondarka Riding School).
While I can’t say I’m happy about the state of affairs, I understand how we’ve gotten here. With a dearth of lesson programs, the pathway to riding seems to be: take a few lessons (on something in the barn) then be encouraged to buy a horse. When these kids or adult ammies start searching for a horse, they’re often on a budget. Yet because what they really need are more lessons on a noble lesson horse, they end up searching for an Affordable Unicorn.
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I don’t know about that dwindling supply of horse crazy kids. I’m having a heck of a time finding an instructor that has room in their schedule for a weekly lesson. They all seem to be full. YMMV
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I think it highly depends on what area you are in. Where I am (Maryland), we have the same experience as you, tons of interested kids. I’d say at least 2-3 times a month i will see a new family/kiddo at my barn. We do have 3 trainers though and the focus is kids and ponies, i am one of about 4 adults at my barn. We actually have a good number of “barn rat” type kids at my barn, but I recognize that this is increasingly not common. I guess I’m just lucky to be in a barn that continues to have that atmosphere. It means that I have a never-ending supply of kids who are happy to help me, and are generally pretty trust-worthy. I’ve been there for a while now, so I’ve had the opportunity to watch many of these kids grow and learn.
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That’s the sad thing – I don’t think they are… 
This – absolutely!!
There is no shortage of kids and adults wanting to ride in our area. Every place has a long wait list with some getting multiple calls a day looking for a place with a lesson opening. And its not long before they want to lease or own. Depending on the area, there are plenty of families who can afford it too and lesson prices are $60-75 for beginner private lessons… and still a waiting list.
We bought 2 what I consider unicorns just before the market went nuts for reasonable prices. Would they be unicorns for some one else? Maybe not. We got very lucky twice considering we were new to horse ownership but we’ve also put plenty of time into lessons and upkeep and training when needed.
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I completely agree that what is a unicorn for one person may not be a unicorn for another. It’s all about what you need and what does or does not bother you. Conversely, a horse may be a unicorn in one situation may not be a unicorn or successful in another. I had a gelding who I considered a complete bomb-proof saint, like as in, in the 2 years I had him (got him straight off the track), he literally never spooked or did ANYTHING wrong. I sent him off to a lease and he just fell apart. He was neither the confident nor happy horse I had known, it was not the right situation or personality for him. I removed him from that situation and ended up selling him to a timid rider who was in a good program that I was familiar with. He went right back to being his perfect unicorn self. Horses have unicorn owners too, and that unicorn found his unicorn 
.
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I do think a lesson horse vs. a one-person pleasure horse can be a bit different, though. A lesson horse has to be pretty forgiving and tolerant of many different riders. Even if the ammy owner has bad habits, an ammy horse only has to tolerate one set of bad habits, versus many.
Lesson programs are pretty much dying out in my area. Barns usually have one or two horses for introductory lessons, but then someone is generally expected to lease–or, in my case, I’m pretty much just taking a lesson a week on a wonderful schoolmaster. But I’m definitely low priority (deservedly so) scheduling lessons every week. I’ve been looking around for a lease I can afford, but it’s been challenging.
The lesson barns which are left and cater to beginner riders are, to be honest, not great. The care of the horses, facilities, and tack is pretty substandard, and some of the horses in the program are of fairly questionable soundness and ability. I don’t mean that they are being treated cruelly, but of the “hard to tell if the horse isn’t cantering because he’s hitchy and sore or because of the kid” variety of lessons. Or the horses are so dead to the leg, it’s hard to get the horses moving without overriding, which then just means unlearning lots of bad habits later on. And when the programs are subpar, that can also turn people off riding.
I’m not complaining, btw. I just feel that the horse world and market is very much in flux right now. It’s changed so much in the past 10 years, and it will be interesting to see where it ends up 10 years from here.
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This is what I see too. Our barn has around 15 school horses - from ponies to retired international jumpers; from imported WBs to backyard-bred western horses. Half of them are visibly lame/with severe deformity/insuries/chronic coughing. I honestly feel bad for them… don’t get me wrong, they are put to do according to their abilities, but still - the WTC once fancy imported jumper mare, that swings her back leg unnaturally even in walk, bopping around bitless with a complete beginner is a sad sight for me personally! For the love of God just retire her pls, she has done enough to prove herself!
The problem is complex :
High production costs -> low home inventory/ not enough riders producing YH locally/ pricy imports -> expensive, non-standardized teaching programs -> lack of enough talent produced (& overworked animals) -> ridiculous ISOs
Edited my post to say that we’ve created a good discussion in this thread, trying to explain what’s going on with the current market, and that I hope someone someday writes a book about it. I’d totally buy it.
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I know the conversation has moved on. But I am still floored that anyone would feel disdain for someone preferring a safe horse to an unsafe one. Even if you can ride a spook/stop/trick, why would you feel pride in seeking that out?
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Love the people who want FREE beginner lesson horses. Sure, let me subsidize your business. My long haul trucking company wants some free trucks donated too, and my clothing store wouldn’t turn down a couple free cash registers. These are called overhead/startup costs and they should be built into yout business plan. People are clueless.
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