Aurum Equestrian

29/10/2024

Advice for when your kid wants to quit

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/Vi6hkuxNEHF77xi1/?mibextid=WC7FNe

20/10/2024

Just ride. It is more than just good for the soul!

05/10/2024

Horse show prep! Teaching the kids all about show grooming

04/09/2024

Aurum Equestrian is HIRING! We are looking for a part time riding instructor to teach in our growing program. We have fantastic horses that are all horse show quality and a focus on horsemaship. The right candidate will have 10 years riding experience at least and ideally some teaching experience. We have a fun and laid back barn full of great people and no drama. (photo of one of our lesson ponies for attention)

22/08/2024

I get ghosted a lot when people receive lesson prices after asking for them. “That much?!? For an 8 year old!? That’s absurd!!!” I think the shock comes mainly from misunderstanding the nature of the business. There are many, many factors to consider when signing you or your child up for any type of lesson. In *most* instances, a participant in an activity is learning how to handle inanimate objects, preform a task solo, or work with a group of other individuals who are mainly self sustaining. However, riding lessons require two athletes and a coach that can simultaneously watch and critique both athletes, of two different species, while keeping the biomechanical and mental health of both in good working order.

When you pay a facility for lessons 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) Continuing education or peer review. A trainer who is doing the BEST for their students and equines will either have accolades, be in consistent lessons, or will be showing in a discipline (and often all of the above). All of which cost time, money, and labor.
3) The facility. A mortgage or lease. The electric bill that covers fans/lights run in the barn, arena lights, structural insurance, etc.
4) Professional liability insurance. Don’t ask how much that costs in the equine world. It’ll hurt your feelings. 🥴
5) Bare minimum nutrition for the horses. Quality feed and hay—and y’all, that stuff ain’t cheap. Plus fresh water at all times.
6) Labor. Whether that be from the instructor tuning up horses, paying a trainer to ride lesson horses, or farm hands who muck stalls, mow the grass, feed the horses, etc.
7) Taxes—cause, well…Uncle Sam.
8.) An accountant to make sure you don’t genuinely screw your whole business up.
9) Fuel—yes…fuel is a BIG one. Fuel to drag pastures, to drag arena, to put hay out, to travel to the facility to teach or take lessons, fuel to run the water truck, fuel to go to PL Woodard Hardware to pick up parts for things that fall apart on a daily basis.
10) Maintenance. That fence, ain’t gunna fix itself. Let’s factor in the cost of insulators, wire, posts, etc. Did I mention you need labor to put those things up? And good labor to make sure the fencing is safe for the equines. Anyone can rig a fence, but horses can be bubble wrapped and still injure themselves.
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. PEMF, Chiro, and body work are needed for some horses also. Oh! And don’t forget injections that cost several hundred dollars every 6 months to 2 years.
12) Ever had to go to the ER or Urgent care? Yeah, horses need those emergency bills paid too when they decide to impale themselves on something it shouldn’t even be possible to impale anything on.
13) 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.
14) Helmets. Those need to be replaced every couple years.
15) The time someone spent marketing to even let you know there are lessons available.
16) TACK! GOOOOOOD Tack. Tack that won’t sore you up and teach you bad habits. Tack that won’t sore up your horse. Tack that won’t break in the middle of your ride. And the upkeep of that tack requires supplies like leather conditioner, brushes, rags, etc.
17) Oh! And let’s see….horses! Have y’all checked out the horse market recently? “Pick two: sound, cheap, broke.” If you can find a GOOD, SAFE, SOUND lesson horse, you’re paying a pretty penny to purchase it. You’re also paying a good penny to keep it broke and/or keep it maintained.
18) There’s so much more, but this is the general info that I can come up with off the top of my head without getting into the nitty gritty.

So if you see somewhere that’s charging the same price as ballet lessons for riding lessons, you probably need to walk away….And yes, your 8 year old should pay more for lessons than an 18 year old, because you need someone special, patient, and super detail oriented to work with the 8 year old. “They just want to ride. They don’t want to learn anything else. We don’t need to learn how to tack up or clean a saddle.” Well, put a quarter in the horse at the mall. These equines have a special job—to teach people how to safely interact with and communicate with their species. They are living, being creatures and riding facilities owe these horses welfare.

A lot of people have no idea what goes into it, but I hope this short list gives insight as to why it can be costly to go to a good facility for lessons.

And that’s all I got to say about that. 🤠

06/08/2024

Snoop Dogg NBC Olympics & Paralympics hey Snoop! We would love to get you on a horse and teach you to ride dressage!!

24/07/2024

Always for the love of the school horse!

A small stab in the heart is what you feel when you put up the day's riding list and you see riders sinking heavily in their shoulders when reading which horse they are assigned for the lesson. A small stab in the heart for that horse that for an hour will carry around a rider who has already decided that he does not like his horse. A small stab in the heart for the horse that did not choose the rider himself but still does his best, lesson after lesson.

Riding is a privilege and something you have chosen to do. If you chose to ride at a riding school, your instructor assumes that you actually want to learn how to ride. The instructor's highest wish is that you get good at it.

Often there is a plan and a thought as to why you are assigned to that exact horse. Before you mount up next time, ask yourself "what can this horse teach me today?" All horses have something to give, a feeling or a new tool in the box.

The art is actually in being able to get a lazy horse to move forward, to get an uncertain horse to gain confidence, a naughty horse to focus or a tense horse to be released. It takes work. If you think a horse is boring, it's more likely that you don't ride the horse as well as you think! It's not easy to be confronted with your own shortcomings, but it is in that very situation that you get the chance to truly grow as a rider.

The excuse that "it's not my kind of horse" is actually a really bad excuse. A good rider can ride any kind of horse. A good rider has trained many hours on different types of horses to become a good rider. A good rider can find and manage the gold nuggets in every horse.

If we absolutely want to ride, it is our duty to strive to do it as best as possible, even if it's only for fun. We owe it to every horse that carries us upon it's back.

Copied and shared with love for all of our horses, ponies and riders 🐎❤🐎

19/06/2024

Very true. We are here to teach you how to ride, care for a horse and loads of life lessons too, not provide an experience

By Emily Elek  I’m not into that customer stuff.  You know what I mean. There are so many in this business who refer to their “customers.” And the customer is always right…right? Except the barn is not an outlet mall. Our customer support team is run by small ponies with an agenda.  And I...

23/05/2024

Introducing our new lesson horse Ritano to our program. He is going to be a fantastic addition!!! He is an ex Grand Prix dressage horse with numerous wins under his belt. He originated in the Netherlands and made the journey to the U.S. as a 4 year old. He is here to teach first canters as well as flying lead changes and so so much more!

06/05/2024

Congratulations Jennifer Diamond and Colleen Diamond at Diamond Dressage on a superb start to the show season! 16 horses at the show, lots of new move ups, lots of personal best scores and 5 yes 5 horses showing at the FEI levels!!! Thank you Heather Peterson for putting on a fantastic show and the The Colorado Horse Park for hosting us. (Pics of some of the barn clowns)

06/05/2024

Congratulations Suzannah McFarland and Cobalt! They won a couple classes and got Suzannah’s scores for first level! And what fantastic score they were too! What a super horse at his first ever horse show! He showed em what a lesson horse can do!

01/05/2024

BY PONYMOMAMMY I am firmly in the camp of never blaming the horse/pony when things go wrong. This concept has been engrained in me since I first put a foot in the stirrup, and I hold strong to that belief today. Sometimes I wonder if this mentality is universal for all equestrians, and if it […]

23/04/2024

Dressage is not abusive.
It’s a kind and ethical training.
Dressage is not flashy.
It’s about correct posture and spinal alignment.
Dressage is not exhausting.
It's about lightness and motivation.
Dressage is not about getting fast results.
It is quiet and humble.
Dressage is not about external validation.
It’s an art.
Dressage is not for building up your ego.
It’s a journey of self-discovery.
Dressage doesn’t wear out the joints.
It keeps your horse fit until old age.
Dressage doesn’t shut down the horse or cause anxiety.
It is about a human and a horse connecting on a deep level, from heart to heart.
When riding is abusive, flashy, exhausting, promises fast results, used to get external validation, needed to build up your ego, wears out the joints, and causes shut down or anxiety, it’s not dressage!

12/04/2024

Our lesson horse cobalt jumping 3 foot. This summer he will also be competing first level dressage too!

17/03/2024

17/03/2024

27/02/2024

Jason Critton and C-Cross Farriers teaching our students all about shoeing horses. Maybe just maybe this will inspire one of them to follow in your footsteps! And if not that, at least they get the message of how Important a Horses feet are! Thank you!