Guide 'N Gallop

01/27/2025

If you don't know it going in, you will soon!

I wish more people knew.....

It’s Not Just About Riding 🏇
When you sign up for riding lessons, you’re not just learning how to sit in a saddle.
Horseback riding is a fully immersive experience that involves groundwork, horse care, and communication with your horse. Learning communication, grooming, tacking, and care all help keep your horse happy and both horse and rider safe. You’re building a relationship, not just learning to ride.

Riding is Physical 💪
Riding is a full-body workout! You need balance, core strength, flexibility, and coordination. Strength and mobility are key to riding. Riding a horse is not as simple as it looks. It takes strength and stamina to maintain good posture to stay safe and execute aids properly.

It’s Inherently Dangerous ⚠️
Let’s be real—horses are big animals, and no matter how well-trained, they are still animals with their own thoughts, instincts, and reactions. Riding can be risky, and every rider should be prepared for that reality. Horses can spook, trip, or act unexpectedly, and that’s something every rider needs to understand when stepping into the saddle. Safety is a priority, but it’s an inherently risky activity.

Horses Have Their Own Personalities 🐴
Just like people, horses have their own personalities, quirks, and moods. Some are calm and patient, perfect for beginners. Others might be more spirited or shy. A horse’s temperament can change depending on the weather, their health, or even their relationship with the rider. It’s important to understand that riding isn’t just about controlling the horse—it’s about developing a bond with an animal that has its own feelings and needs.

The Cost of a Lesson Is Not Just Paying for the Instructor’s Time 💰
When you pay for a riding lesson, you're not just covering the instructor’s time. There are hidden costs behind the scenes: the horse’s care, feeding, grooming, equipment, insurance and the labor and supplies to upkeep the riding facility. Horses need a lot of attention, and riding schools have to cover a lot of expenses just to offer a safe, comfortable environment for riders and horses alike.

It Takes More Than 30-60 Minutes a Week to Be a Great Rider ⏱
Becoming a great rider takes dedication, practice, and time. It’s not just about the hour-long lesson once a week. To really improve, you need consistent practice, extra time spent with the horse, and a commitment to learning. It’s a journey that involves patience, persistence, and sometimes even setbacks. But the rewards are worth it: the feeling of riding with confidence, control, and trust in your horse is incredibly fulfilling.

What about you? What do you wish people knew?

01/27/2025

Looking for some equine professionals to come do some demonstrations/presentations at our unmounted group lessons.

Hoping to find 4-8 presenters over the next 6 months that can come on a Wednesday 4-5 or Saturday 11-12 (or both!!)

Can be a wide array of professions, English or western focused. Our program focuses on creating well rounded students so want them to see all aspects! Will be presenting to a group between 15-40 students, ages 3-adult and the more interactive the better.

Examples we have had so far are chiro, equine dentists, farriers, vets, c**t starting, reining but are happy to repeat

February’s theme is going to be focusing on fitness, would love someone who can teach about rider fitness/body work/anything fitness related for horse or rider.

Mainly looking for volunteers, willing to share you on our page and keep your contact info for future clients. Can discuss paid opportunities if it’s the right fit or if it will double as a beneficial service to our horses. Potential opportunities for clinics as well.

Please reach out or comment if interested to work something out! Located in Springville UT

01/26/2025

“Indy” is a 15.3hh 19 yr old Arabian Saddlebred mare. Indy has been in our lesson program for the past few years and is looking for a new family as she does not enjoy being a lesson horse. She would be perfect for someone needing a steady trail horse, for little kids to love on and lead around on, or as a pasture pal who gets to go on trail rides. Indy is a phenomenal trail horse, has amazing ground manners, and is awesome on the lunge line. She is a very anxious horse and because of this, we will be extremely picky as to where she goes. Not looking for competitive homes or another lesson program. She needs a family where she can decompress her brain and just get all the love she deserves, while shining on the trail. She is sound, great for trailering and for the farrier. No buck, bolt, or rear, just can get a little quick when she is nervous. Located in Springville, UT.

01/26/2025

Meet Rue, a dynamic, sensitive mare who has all the talent and energy you need to take your riding to the next level. She is a 2014 Paso Fino/mustang cross standing at 14.1hh but BULKY. She has no problem packing around adults! She loves to jump—making her an excellent prospect for eventing or jumping disciplines. She was a dream cross country schooling and has a very natural talent for jumping.

This mare also has a real passion for speed, competed at barrels and winning checks with pole bending, and is just as quick on her feet in that discipline, showing off her versatility. She’s the same at home and away, making her easy to handle no matter where you take her. Great to trailer, loves trail rides, and she’s a gem on the lunge line. She’s been a part of our lesson program for the last 5 years, and while she has plenty of energy and is better suited for a more experienced rider (her energy can be a bit much for younger or novice riders off the line), she’s a breeze to work with on the lunge—easy-going and safe.

No health issues—she’s sound, fit, and ready for her next adventure. If you’re an experienced rider looking for a sensitive, talented, and ambitious mare with tons of potential, rue is the one you’ve been waiting for!

Reach out today for more info or to schedule a visit!

01/11/2025

Learning a new sport is HARD, especially when your partner also has good and bad days. This is great advice to get through the hard and find the GOOD in the difficult

11/05/2024

🥰🥰🥰🥰

There are so many ways to support a small business!

11/03/2024

Prepare yourselves!!!

It will likely be way harder one direction.
Do NOT lean, but rather put your pelvis over top of your inside leg.
Many (most?) riders unknowingly slide to the outside one or both directions.
This really helps!!

11/01/2024

Hope you had the best Halloween!

10/11/2024

Cute Helmets for those youngest riders! 💖

Equine Exchange Tack Shop is your neighborhood tack shop! Located in beautiful Northern Chester County, shop a large variety of your favorite riding apparel, horse supplies and equestrian gifts by such vendors as Mountain Horse, Romfh, Charles Owen, Kerrits, Montar, One K, Fager Bits and Ovation. Lo...

09/27/2024

We are firm believers in our unmounted curriculum and horse care! 🥰

“But they ONLY want to RIDE”: a pep talk for instructors. 🎶

We’ve noticed an uptick in these posts in recent weeks, with instructors venting that parents won’t pay if the kids don’t ride.

And the thing is - there are a lot of reasons why this happens, many of which we’ve discussed in THE BIG BOOK OF BARN LESSONS and a blog post titled “Why Unmounted Lessons Fail.” (Our most popular blog in 2023! We’ll drop a 🔗 in the comments.)

Maybe you’ve been accidentally sabotaging yourself by giving your students mixed messages about the importance of unmounted horse time. Maybe your marketing and web copy isn’t attracting the right clients, or maybe your barn lessons just need a little more zest.

BUT.

At the end of the day, this issue boils down to one question:

Do YOU believe that the general public should be able to ride your horses without caring enough to learn about their psychology, anatomy and care?

Note, your answer may be different than ours.

For example, a compromise that has gained popularity in recent years is to offer a recreational riding program, with lower expectations for advancement, that is strictly riding-focused. And while we think these programs are necessary and important for a number of reasons (a post for later!), we realized that we are no longer okay with offering exclusively-mounted lessons.

Because we no longer believe that anyone should be able to use a horse’s body for their own personal gain without caring about the ANIMAL. The living being, versus the sporting equipment.

If you find you have a similar belief, then the buck has to stop with you. It is reasonable for you to create requirements that honor and protect your horses and reflect what YOU know to be the truth of horsemanship, rather than meeting a demand.

If all lesson barns say, “Unmounted learning is non-negotiable, and here’s why,” then it becomes an expected norm. We’ll also fill our rosters ONLY with students who care about the horse as an animal, and the standard of horsemanship and equine welfare can only benefit from that.

Here’s a common analogy we use when discussing the importance of unmounted lessons with parents:

“If your child was learning to play an instrument, would you expect him to achieve mastery without learning how to care for and tune that instrument? What if you knew the instrument could suffer great pain and emotional distress from being played out of tune?”

This is usually pretty effective but you can take it to heart, too…

… because no music teacher worth his or her salt is going to tell students that caring for the instrument is unnecessary, and they aren’t even dealing with stoic, conflict-averse prey animals.

Let’s normalize making music with horses, not just noise. 🎶🎻🎶

09/26/2024

Halloween fun show!!

Saturday Oct 12