06/20/2024
“Rest in peace to all of those conversations that died after you told them your prices.”
We get ghosted quite often when people new to horses receive our lesson prices and commitment terms after requesting information about our program. I feel the shock comes from misunderstanding the nature of this industry. There are many, many factors to consider when signing you or your child up for lessons.
When you pay a facility for lessons on their horses you are paying for (at minimum) the following:
1) Years and years of lesson expenses, where a trainer dedicated their time to becoming an expert in their field.
2) The facility. A mortgage or lease. The electric bill that covers fans/lights run in the barn, arena lights, etc.
3) Continuing education for the trainer. A trainer who is doing the BEST for their students and equines will be in consistent lessons, clinics , or will be showing. All of which cost time, money, and labor.
4) Taxes
5) Maintenance. This is infinite. Fencing always needs fixed, waterers leak, stall doors need greased. Not to mention the cleaning supplies needed to keep the tack room and lounge tidy.
6) Labor. Whether that be from the instructor tuning up horses between lessons as needed, or barn workers who muck stalls, mow the grass, feed the horses, etc. to allow us the time to provide the lessons
7) Barn supplies and equipment: fly spray, grooming supplies, water buckets, water troughs, feed bins, hoses, zip ties, duct tape, light bulbs, brooms, mowers, tractors, weedeaters, bush hogs, tractor drags, golf cart/side by side to do chores on, a dependable truck and trailer for emergency vet visits, tires, oil changes, etc.
8.) An accountant to make sure you don’t genuinely screw your whole business up.
9) Fuel is a BIG one. Fuel to maintain pastures, to drag the arena, to put hay out, to travel to outside facilities to teach or take lessons, fuel to run the water trailer to keep the dust down, fuel to go to the hardware to pick up parts for things that fall apart on a daily basis.
10) Daily care of the horses. Quality feed and hay which is not cheap. This doesn’t include any medications or supplements a horse may need.
11) Routine care. Twice a year the vet comes for vaccines. Every SIX WEEKS a farrier has to do a horse’s feet. Dental work should be done every 6 months to a year, depending on the horse. Body work is needed for the lesson horses also to keep them comfortable after toting around riders that are learning how to balance on a horse.
12) Professional liability insurance. Don’t even ask how much that costs in the equine world.
13) Good QUALITY tack. Tack that won’t sore you up and teach you bad habits. Tack that won’t sore up the lesson horses. Tack that won’t break in the middle of your ride. Then the upkeep of that tack requires supplies like leather conditioner, brushes, rags, etc.
14) The time someone spent marketing to even let you know there are lessons available.
15) Helmets. Those need to be replaced every couple years.
16) The cost of buying lesson horses. If you can find a GOOD, SAFE, and SOUND lesson horse, you’re paying a pretty penny to purchase it.
So if you see somewhere that’s charging only $30/hour for riding lessons, you probably need to walk away because chances are corners are being cut somewhere.
We also require a level of commitment from our students. We offer an introductory lesson to make sure our teaching style matches well for the student and to make sure the student thinks they will enjoy lessons. If they decide they want a lesson spot then they must ride weekly and commit to a minimum of 3 months of lessons. We get a lot of “They just want to ride occasionally and they don’t want to learn anything else. You don’t need spend time for them to learn how to tack up or clean a saddle.” Well, put a quarter in the horse at the Walmart then. We pride ourselves on teaching our students great horsemanship while demonstrating that ourselves daily in our program.
We are certain a lot of people have no idea what goes into a good lesson program, so we hope this gives some insight as to why it can be costly to go to a good facility for lessons.
*equinetherapy
