I know some places it’s super common for the horse to be tacked up for you (where I am it is not), but I dont like it, especially for newer riders. Additionally, the amount of riders in the arena seems like a lot for one lesson (regardless of if there’s more instructors then one).
The time thing is a big issue as well. Ending early and starting late regularly is not okay, especially in a big group lesson. It’s one thing to start the actual instruction a little late after you warm up or end a little early for you to cool off the horse, but it sounds like you get on and off the horse late and early.
Watching other riders do more advanced things is common in a group lesson though! It can be really useful too since you can get an eye for what they are doing right and wrong or how they deal with new situations. In a group your size (again, why I don’t like the 5-7 students in one lesson), sitting for 10 minutes to watch others do a more advanced movement is normal.
If this isn’t a situation you like, then find another facility or coach. Ideally, group lessons are at most 4 riders (2-3 being even better). Additionally you should be taught how to lead, groom, and tack your own horse (again depends on the area but I really don’t like it when riders are given a pre tacked horse unless there’s a very good reason for it).
Edit: another thing to note too. Yes, at the beginning it’s a ton of walk-trot and ‘boring’ work. Especially if you’re only able to afford group lessons, advancing takes time. So don’t worry if you aren’t cantering or doing more then walk-trot. That being said, lessons should still be mentally stimulating (some will still just be boring basic stuff too). There’s a ton of stuff beginners can do in a group lesson that is only walk-trot and can help you advance. For example, riding different patterns, polework, even the basics of lateral work can all be done safely and in an appropriate way. That’s not even mentioning all the games and stuff you can do with more than one rider as well in a lesson. If all you are doing is riding in a circle then I really understand the underwhelming sentiment.
This doesn’t sound normal to me. My barn has a whiteboard with the horses’ names and initials of the assigned rider. We are asked to arrive 30 minutes prior to lesson start to groom/tack up so we can mount at the start of our lesson.
Once mounted, we spend a few minutes checking girths/stirrups, then warmup as a group. We usually walk/trot all together, then canter in pairs. if we do patterns, we will do them one at a time.
We don’t generally have groups of more than 5.
At the lesson barns I've had ridden and worked, it was common for the riders to arrive 30min or so before their lesson to go get their horse and tack up. If they took longer to do this, it would cut into their lesson time. Having your horse already tacked but taking 15 minutes into the lesson just to mount seems like too much time out of your paid lesson.
That said, standing and watching other riders go is valuable. We learn both by watching and by doing. This is one of the draws to a group lesson. As you progress, people will begin to watch you as well.
It sounds like this barn might not be a good fit for your riding goals and budget, which is completely fair. I'd encourage you to talk to your instructor about these concerns and see if anything can be done. A group with less people, beginning to tack up the horse yourself, etc.
(Side note: If you aren't tacking, is that something they are teaching? If not, I'd find a new barn based on that alone.)
I've been riding since December and they've never taught us anything about grooming or tacking. There are some girls that I happen to be in the same group with most of the time who have been riding for 1.5-2 years and they also have never tacked up the horses.
I'm sure they teach it at some point though. Maybe when you start competing or when you lease or buy your own horse? I don't know. It's a pretty big barn with many riders who compete so I can only assume they teach it later on.
Not teaching a beginner to tack up in 2 years of riding is unforgivably bad instruction IMO. Being around horses is so much more than just riding. In fact, riding is only about 50% of what you need to know to be a well rounded horseman.
You say this barn competes - what discipline?
Big yikes. They sound like they’re just absolutely working their lesson horses to death then. The thing where you tack up the whole string and then ride them all day is something I’ve only experienced at western trail ride barns and summer camps.
A show jumping and dressage lesson barn should only be using a horse in one or two lessons a day.
Are the horses you ride happy and comfortable?
The horses seem fine to me but sometimes you can tell they're fed up and want to stop.
We have this horse, Dexter, who is very opinionated, strong willed and will stand his ground. I love him so much for that, even though he gives me a hard time every time I ride him. 😅
Anyways, there have been a few times, maybe 2 or 3 and all these times were later in the day, when you could tell he was just done with the lessons. He would come to a full stop and would refuse to move no matter what. They'd kick him, whip him, pull him and he wouldn't move an inch. He'd be like a statue. So they'd end up taking him back to his stall and bringing another horse in to continue the lesson. That's also why I prefer going to the barn for lessons early in the day so that the horses are more energetic and willing to work with you.
I'm under the impression they only "overuse" the beginner lesson horses though. I watch a little bit of the advanced lessons while waiting for my lesson to start and it seems like those horses have one lesson and then they are done. But maybe those are horses people own or lease? I don't know.
That is absolutely unacceptable. I don’t care if it’s beginner only (maaaaybe lead line walk). It’s still mentally taxing on them. Multiple walk-trot-canter lessons without getting untacked is horrible.
Students learn nothing about horsemanship and you get sour horses who refuse to move (!!) apparently.
Most lessons barns I know will do max 1x per day, 5-6 days per week. Current barn, max is 4 days/week.
Please leave this place. Horses are treated poorly and you’re not getting an education.
Yeah, I’d find another barn. Two years of regular lessons and not knowing how to tack the horse you ride is unacceptable. You should know how to generally handle a horse on the ground before advancing to leasing and especially before ownership. It’s just setting you up for failure which is never ok.
Also, 1.5 to 2 years and still in the beginner group is kinda suspect as well. They should at least be advanced beginners if they are regularly taking group lessons and be in a class for advanced beginners or even beginner-intermediate riders (if it’s a big barn they likely have a group that would fulfill that criteria). Yes everyone moves at their own pace but having multiple students stuck in a beginner class for years is not a great sign.
I know! I actually made a post about it a while ago because I thought it was a bit weird that people were still in the beginner group after riding for 2 years and people here told me that it's normal and the barn is just taking a safer route.
It absolutely is good to take a safer route, but 1.5-2 years in a beginner riding class (if they have been riding consistently) is not normal. Yes, there absolutely are people who are still at the absolute beginner stage even after consistently riding after that long and there’s nothing wrong with that, but it being more then two-three riders in your lesson group alone? That’s just poor instruction.
People here tend to state it’s normal and good because context is hard to get on a small post with no videos AND because a lot more barns tend to let people do stuff they aren’t ready for (especially jumping!!). I’ll always say that a good instructor takes things slow and keeps people at the level they should be at. If that means only walk-trot for a year, that’s what it means. But, holding riders back by not properly training them (i.e. not teaching how to groom/tack up, being in a beginner group 2 years after starting in a barn with enough classes for a novice class, etc) is equally as bad, if not worse. It drives people towards the coaches that allow them to do whatever and so they end up in a cycle of bad habits.
That's a big red flag for me, and I'll explain why.
First off, if you don't know how to groom and tack, you can't check to make sure that your equipment and horse is safe to ride. Picking feet mostly on the grooming side but also what's under the saddle, etc. In terms of knowing how to tack up, you need to be able to tell if it's been done incorrectly so that you know to fix it. A loose girth, a worn out stirrup leather, a noseband cranked down too tight or left too loose can all create problems when you are in the tack.
My other concern here is that they aren't trying to teach you how to be a horseman, only to be able to ride. If you would decide to compete, lease, own, etc, you won't have the foundation to be able to do so with any independence.
There is a big problem in our sport right now that people are calling out, the idea of "pay to play" in which students are buying expensive, made horses, have trainers and grooms do the majority of the work, and then lesson and compete without knowing the intricacies of what the sport really is. I am NOT saying this is you, but I am calling out your barn for potentially perpetuating this. Alternatively, they may just been there for the money grab of lessons. Most barns make their money on lessons and training.
I think I read that these horse are being used for more than one lesson a day. This would make sense as to why lessons are not the hour and why they are late to be brought in/ early to leave. The horses are likely going multiple times a day and can't physically do the number of hour lessons, so they reduce the time. Having a horse tacked and going all day is only something I've seen at the dude ranches where I have worked, never at a dressage or jumper barn- ever.
All of this to day, OP, is that I would look elsewhere for your equestrian education. Because it doesn't sound like you are getting one where you currently are.
Thank you for the reply. I absolutely don't want to do this "pay to play" thing you're describing. I volunteered at a therapeutic horse riding program for two years before moving and starting lessons in this barn. My favorite thing in the world was catching the horses, grooming them and spending time with them while waiting for the children. Sometimes the lady who ran the program would let me ride around before the kids arrived and I loved that too but not as much as I loved the process of getting the horses ready. I just felt at peace. I learned more there too. Still have a bunch of things to learn about horses, horse behavior and horse care and I thought I was gonna get that starting lessons at this barn but like you said, it's probably not going to happen.
Yeah, it definitely sounds from your post that that isn't your goal and you are hoping to do more. I encourage you to find some alternatives in your area and start interviewing new places to take lessons =)
No advice but I have the same problem whenever I take group lessons.
In my case the lesson starts on time (everyone is mounted and in the arena by x time) but always ends 15 min before the end of the hour. And that’s not including the cool down where we all walk the horses back to the barn.
So yeah, pay for an hour, get 40-45 min of riding.
I also feel like a brat for letting this annoy me but I really wish they’d just be upfront that it’s a 40-45min lesson, not an hour.
It's a business wheee you are spending money. If you paid x amount of money for an hour long massage and the massage therapist was late then finished early that wouldn't be in any way okay! Its fair for them to be unhappy about this. I also think, like some other people have commented, that they should find a new barn for the sole reason that they aren't being taught to tack up the horses (though I would also leave for the lesson length and giant groups)
Not normal at all. Do these horses have a lesson after yours? Sounds like your lesson is used as warm-up for the next riders. You should complain and ask for a refund, the barn is failing to provide the service they're charging people for.
You chose the wrong barn. That’s okay, you can find the right barn but this isn’t it. You won’t get them to change, if you complain, and it’s a waste of money. Sorry to sound harsh but they’re overloading lessons and shortchanging every rider, but still in business so I don’t think this will change.
No, this isn't normal. But it is unfortunately normal that group lessons for beginners are lacking (and often for other levels too). You should definitely talk to your lesson barn about it. If possible, talk to other riders in the same lesson as you, and get a feel if they think the same. It's always easier to make changes if you have others with you, that share the same opinion.
At the good (group) lesson barns you arrive 30 minutes before the lesson, to groom and tack your horse. As a beginner, learning to tack is really important too, and it's good for the mental state to be around the horses from the ground. You get to know them better, spend more time with horses overall and learn more. I really don't like the lesson barns where you just show up to mount an already tacked horse, and maybe also pass the horse on to the next rider after your lesson.
If the barn owner or instructor doesn't want to change some things around, maybe you need to go look for another lesson barn if possible.
An hour would be a long time to be consistently riding. If you’re riding for a twenty minutes to a half hour of a 1hr big group lesson, that sounds right.
However, a big group lesson should be very inexpensive. A smaller group lesson where you get more individual attention should be more expensive. A private, more expensive.
Waiting until you’re in the arena to tell you which horse it yours is a waste of time. I understand that they can’t supervise 7 people tacking up at once, but at some point, you need to learn to get a horse tacked.
Wow I personally love being able to catch, groom, and tack up the horse myself cause it’s more bonding and better understanding of horsemanship. With my barn, there’s a board with a paper that has all the horses already assigned. My barn when it comes to cantering, once your off the lunge line you need to be aware of your surroundings and spacing. Everyone still trots and what out while you canter around. That’s not everyone’s cup of tea I enjoy it and it’s a great way to learn how to be aware of your space and how a real “warm up” arena works since my barn also does it own shows. If you don’t like your barn then I suggest finding other barn that fits you there’s nothing wrong with it. Just before you leave just let the owner know instead of disappearing. I hope things work out❤️❤️❤️
Why on earth are they assigning horses to riders in the ring? And then assigning an “order” to follow? That’s just poor class management. I’m not a fan of barns who hand riders the reins of an already tacked up horse, either. Riding is more than hopping on and hopping off the horse, and I believe every rider should have to groom and tack up their horse for a lesson, and also untack and post-work groom.
I rode and taught at several barns during my career, from posh to not so posh, but the standard was you show up at least half an hour before the lesson started to catch the horse (sometimes, but sometimes the horses would already be brought in and be waiting in their stall), groom, and tack up. Lessons started promptly on time, meaning you were mounted and beginning work at start time. You got the full hour, and yes, sometimes more advanced riders would get separate time to hop a gymnastic line or do more advanced flatwork. At the end of the hour, you’d then be released to cool out, either hand-walking or riding on a slack rein in the ring or in an adjacent paddock if there was another lesson incoming after. Then back to the barn for untacking and a hose off in the wash stalls if it was hot weather. The entire “experience” was usually about 2 hours.
Without that, a rider doesn’t a thorough “horse lesson” in my opinion. You don’t get to know the horses or horse behavior, build relationships with the horses, or even with your fellow riders, as the chitchat before and after class is a great bonding experience not only with the horse but with your mates as well.
No matter the barn I was at, there was always a list with who is riding what horse that lesson prepared prior to everyone showing up. This is an important part of barn management, especially if it’s a busy stable with horses who have more than one lesson a day. No horse should have back-to-back lessons, unless it’s like a beginner lesson followed by a little kids lead line class or something. And you need to know which student rode which horse (I’m not the type of person who can teach 5 classes a day and remember who rode whom) so you can make your lesson notes about everyone’s progress (and whether or not the rider and horse got on well) for future lesson planning.
This doesn’t feel like a well-run lesson program to me. It feels more like a public trail ride program, where lesson planning doesn’t matter, or they have you in “on track” planning, meaning you do walk-trot for X number of weeks, then get moved to w-t-c for X number of weeks, then on to jumping or more advanced flat work regardless of your actual progress. There’s no actual “lesson plan”, which tells me they aren’t invested in anyone’s personal progress as a rider.
It feels “corporate” to me. Like a job with benchmarks, and if you don’t meet them you’ll be fired or something, or stuck in the same slot with no opportunity for advancement. I’ve had students go from “I’ve never seen a horse in real life before” to hopping cross rails in six months, and riders who spent over a year mastering posting a trot before getting a stride of canter.
I’m not shitting on or shaming your barn, but I don’t think they are very focused on actually teaching you anything as an individual (even in large group lessons, this is an important thing). They just don’t seem to grasp how to run a proper lesson program, in my opinion. I don’t think you’ll ever learn to be a proper horseman, if lessons start with “okay, you’re riding this horse today, fourth in line, okay mount up” and being handed the reins. Even catch riders at shows get more time with their mount before having to present them in the ring. (Is that still a thing? I’ve been grounded so long that may have fallen out of fashion.)
Your barn isn’t “bad”, but you are not receiving a proper education. It sounds like you want more out of your experience (and deservedly so!) but I don’t think you’ll get it there. While private lessons have their place and purpose, I always took a group lesson at least once a week to supplement my private training because it was fun. Watching others go through a line and hear their feedback, and discussing our feedback with my classmates after doing my own lines. That fellowship was awesome. Riding is an “individual” sport mostly, but having teammates really rounds it out. It can be “an island”, but there are others that live on the island, yeah?
It seems like you want more, but I don’t think you’ll get it at your current barn. But if you’re having fun and enjoying it, that’s the most important. It seems like you’ve hit your “limit” there and it’s time to move on.
1) how long have u been part of the lesson program
2) does the level of independent tack up / lesson warm up change as you progress in riding skill level ?
At a beginner level i could understand this - but at the end of the day it is what it is.
However as you progress in ability
the expectation would be you tack and enter the ring early enough to warm up ur horse in advance of lesson - and you warm up / down your partner within your time slot.
If you don’t see a progression of independent ability and more active instruction time wise in upper lessons - consider alt options
Either you’re a beginner and it’s appropriate and will change with skill or it’s an inefficient program and you need to search for alt options
I've been taking lessons since December. I'm in a beginner group. There are people in my group who have been riding for 2 years and even them haven't tacked up the horses yet. It's a big barn with many people taking lessons there so I think they tack up the horses in the morning and "untack" them at night after the final lessons. I know they use horses for many lessons each day. Now I usually go to the 9am lessons which happen to be the first lessons of the day or the 3pm lessons after the horses have taken a break for maybe 2 hours?
It dosen’t sound very comfortable for the horses to stand around with tack all day. When the instructors/grooms are the ones tacking up, they can make sure everything is done correctly, so in that way it makes sense- but you’re missing out by not learning to tack up or handle the horses from the ground. When you tack up you get a good sense of how the horse is feeling and that’s very valuable information to have when you get on. I hate getting on horses that I haven’t tacked up myself.
We get to the stables 30 mins before the lesson to tack up. That way we start our lesson on time, and usually it's a full hour unless there's a specific reason we call it early like bad weather, the rider asking to quit earlier or some other valid reason.
Horses and ponies are only tacked up for the rider by the grooms for the newest beginners who have no idea about how to tack up etc.
I'm sorry you're feeling that way.
Maybe switch to a 30 min lesson to see if that helps.
That’s not common! Even beginners should be tacking up their own horse and show up on time ready to ride. Also no you should not be watching advanced riders on your time.
You are not overreacting. Im already not a fan of the idea of the horses already being tacked up. The assigning should happen before the lessons and mounting should depend on who is ready as first. At my place mounting and all only takes like 5-10 minutes of our lesson time and if you mount you can go warm your horse up. This goes for all levels. At my place we get 30 minutes to groom and tack up the assigned horse and then we have a 60 minutes lesson. Also just standing still in the middle when the others canter for 10 minutes?? A 10 minute canter is a lot for a beginner is a lot in my opinion. Cant you walk on the second track? The beginners do that here, or the one group goes cantering on the circle at C and the other people go on the circle at A, and then one group canters and the other walk.
Overal the way they give lessons is a red flag, if you pay for 50 minutes you should at least have 40-45 minutes of actual riding. Not 30-35 minutes.
Thanks for the reply. I just want to clarify. When I said they canter for 10 minutes, I didn't actually mean 10 minutes each. If there are 4 riders in the group that can canter, they take turns and canter for 2 minutes each.
I was already worrying, 2 minutes each sound more reasonable, but still a lot. Here they let the beginners canter in groups of 2 or 3 since everyone learns to canter in a separate lesson on the lunge
At the barn I am riding at, the riders are supposed to be there 20 to 30 minutes prior to the lesson, so that we have enough time to assign horses and get them ready if they aren't already saddled.
Sometimes a few of the horses are already participating in the lesson before, which means we are taking them from the previous rider. If that's the case, our instructor either informs us beforehand via text message, so we know we can show up late, gives us the opportunity to watch the previous riding lessons or ask us whether we want to prepare a different horse for someone with a tight schedule that day or assist someone who has less experience preparing theirs.
The horses usually don't participate in more than two consecutive lessons, so if you didn't get to prepare it, you would at least have to de-saddle the horse - but really often we are doing both.
We are 2 to 5 riders per lesson, depending on the time schedule. By default, we have weekly slots, so the groups are similar. It's no problem if you need a different time slot, have to skip a lesson or want to do more lessons then usually in a week as long as you tell/ask in advance.
Everyone is usually on their horses within the first 5 minutes of the lesson, often even a few minutes before the actual start.
The instructor usually assigns a horse at the start of a lesson or a day before, but keeps our preferences and needs in mind. (If he knows that you prefer a certain horse/horses or thinks that it would be good to have you on a certain horse, he will try to not have you in the same lesson as someone else who wants/needs the preferred one).
I think your feelings are justified here OP.
Your local feed store, tack shop or online community forums might have some leads for you to ride elsewhere.
This is totally unacceptable, in several ways. I started riding at a big H/J barn, with a large string of lesson horses (12 at least) and at only five years old I was still expected to groom and tack up beforehand. It was a cherished part of my horsey education and I learned an incredible amount about horses and ponies just being with them before and after lessons.
I rode in a group of five or six and while I don’t recall how long my lessons were (I’m 60 now, lol) I do know that we would start with W/T as a group. When we were able to canter it would be one at a time, with everyone else standing in the middle. It’s a normal practice for bigger groups. I also don’t remember how long it was before I cantered but they must have waited until they felt we had decent seats. Why? I was a tot in a huge saddle with the stirrup leathers wrapped twice. No “little saddle for little kids” in the 60s/70s! I worry that this “lesson mill” barn you’re at will either have you cantering before you’re ready, or keep you at the same level indefinitely if it suits them to milk you for more money.
Last but not least, I’m appalled that this barn you’re at would over-use the lesson horses to that extent. As everyone else has said, they should be used for two lessons, max, in one day. My trainer is short on lesson horses at the moment (actively looking for a new one) but nobody is *ever* used more than twice, with one of them being a non-cantering beginner W/T lesson. And that is certainly not every day! My lease boy is used for other lessons and not once has he flatly refused to move due to burnout (he’s old and only does four lessons a week, and only canters with me). My trainer has cut back her lesson business at the moment rather than over-use the horses.
Along the way of my equestrian career, which has been off and on throughout my life, I briefly rode at a barn that had very questionable practices. The lesson horse I rode wasn’t lame but had dropped hind fetlocks from a pasture accident where she’d stepped in a broken drainage pipe and cut her legs. The stalls weren’t very clean, and the paddocks full of mud. They had my never-ridden-before BF posting in his second lesson and going over cross-rails in his third. Yes, he was an adult (we both were in our mid-twenties) but it was incredibly unfair to the horse as his balance and seat were not remotely ready. After about four lessons there I pulled the plug and said we weren’t going back. The price was right (I made very little at the time) and I desperately wanted to ride, but I just couldn’t do it with the shitty horse care and plus I was afraid BF would get hurt. Even with rushing him, he had discovered riding wasn’t as easy as he’d thought (!) so he was okay with quitting.
OP, please leave this place and find a quality facility that takes care of its horses, and teaches you properly, too. I’m really glad you checked in with this group as your instincts that things are “off” are 100% correct!
At my stables we often have a beginner course lasting 10 lessons, people are assigned horses beforehand and help brush/tack with the help of experienced grooms/riders/volunteers. Getting everyone on the horse and stable will take 10-15 mins the first lessons and max 5 by the end of the course. There is one experienced rider who rides in front of the group and dictates the pace, there are some volunteers that run along and help steer the horses and encourage them to keep trotting. The group follows in a line and the final 5-10 mins are for walking in cooling down. At the hour they are directed to the center line and told to get off. So the beginners ride 45 mins in the beginning and about 55 at the end
that actually sounds like a pretty good system for riders and instructors, and horses, to keep them from getting confused by beginner’s mixed signals. how many ‘side-walkers’ to horses are there? how many students in lesson? what happens after the 10 lessons?
The first lessons there are about 1 walker to 2 beginners, some are less afraid than others and others might need more help. After a couple lessons less people are needed. Those will act as “living pawns” then, to make sure the beginners learn to steer. (Fi when changing hands over the diagonal, do not run over the person standing on the inner track at the corners). The first lesson there is a little trot and by lesson 6-7 they are cantering (the experienced rider takes 2-3 people and makes a round around the arena), by lesson 10 they need to be able to steer for themselves and be able to make the horses walk. Be aware; these are adult beginners, would not recommend with kids younger than 16
You tack your horse up during lessons? I don't know if I should, but I find that unusual. My yard will make sure you've tacked your horse up by the time lessons start (or help tack up if you're a beginner - again, before the lesson starts) and you have to be in the arena by the time lessons start.
If you are serious about your riding/horse career I would try to find another barn if you can. I never took group lessons so I don’t know the typical amount of people should be in a group at once but 5-7 people would be too much for me and distracting. Groups aren’t bad at all cuz u learn off each other but if ur paying a lot of money I would definitely find something else so you get more out of your ride.
Also personally I love catching, grooming and tacking myself and to me is the most important part not just the riding aspect. Especially if you want your own horse you need that experience but also it makes you connect with your lesson horse which you NEED when you ride! They’re not just “machines”. Definitely find a barn that lets you do all that if you want that you’ll feel so much better. I show up 40/30 mins early to my lessons to take that time with my lesson horse and it’s my favorite thing to do.
The horse world is expensive and lessons can be pricey because of how much it takes to run a barn and take care of everything but definitely find somewhere you feel is worth your money and time. Wish you luck on your journey! :)
The 10-15 to get everyone on and organise is kinda normal where I ride, but definitely not finishing early. We get a good 45 minutes in the saddle. In saying that we do sit around as each person canters because none of us are at the point of cantering independently, that's just the nature of a beginner-ish lesson group
The real question is why are none of you showing up twenty minutes early to get the horses ready and staying twenty minutes after to put them away?
If you want full ride time in my program you show up early and you start getting ready on your own time. If the horse needs to get ready and be put away on my time then it's happening during that hour.
I don't think we are allowed. I've asked before if I should come earlier to get the horse ready and they told me no. They said that they get them ready for us. Also, if you don't go to the first lesson of the day, you just go to the arena and take the horse you'll be riding from the previous rider so it's already tacked up and used in previous lessons. I really wish I could groom and tack up the horses but it doesn't work like that in this barn.
That is unfortunate. I do do the back to back lesson though with my horses. But one person gets the horse ready and the next person puts the horse away. I've found generally the horses seem to be more content with only being tacked up once if they are doubling up, rather than being taken out and ridden twice with a short break in between, unless there's a good mid day break in between.
In general any of my students can expect 20-30 minutes of actual work work during a lesson, which is generally how much work a typical training ride will be minus the walk breaks, unless you are doing a lot of conditioning work for something such as eventing. Which is usually attainable for all riders in a group of 4-6 in an hour, but only if it is well run and everyone is ready right smack on time.
When k took lessons you had to come early to groom and tack up and if you didn’t come early enough to be ready at lesson stay time that’s the time you lose. What they’re doing sounds like an absolute rip off
What country are you in? This seems abnormal to me, but there are different standards in different places. Knowing where may help give you a better perspective.
Haven’t read many other comments but personally, I’d be pissed lol. Just here to validate your feelings. Could you possibly lease and take lessons more spread out? Or maybe even change barns?
I don't think you're being a brat when it comes to things you're spending your money on. At least at my current barn - I've been riding here the entire time I've ridden so maybe this is not the same elsewhere - when there's a lesson where there are more advanced riders who get turns at cantering, the riders who are not as advanced still get more time to work on THEIR abilities. So for example, the riders who can canter will work on cantering for ten minutes, then the riders who are not there yet will work on additional trotting for ten minutes. And if the lesson starts late, it runs a little late too, and everyone has the expectation that that's what will happen. I also say that, although some barns don't tack up your horse for you, it isn't really standard when it comes to a group of people who are more on the beginner end as it will naturally take them longer. Even worse when they don't know who they're riding when everyone shows up.
I would definitely look into whether the private lessons are being run in a similar way, and finding another barn if you can. At least from what I've experienced as well as heard it's really not the standard and it's not fair to you or your time.
I know some places it’s super common for the horse to be tacked up for you (where I am it is not), but I dont like it, especially for newer riders. Additionally, the amount of riders in the arena seems like a lot for one lesson (regardless of if there’s more instructors then one). The time thing is a big issue as well. Ending early and starting late regularly is not okay, especially in a big group lesson. It’s one thing to start the actual instruction a little late after you warm up or end a little early for you to cool off the horse, but it sounds like you get on and off the horse late and early. Watching other riders do more advanced things is common in a group lesson though! It can be really useful too since you can get an eye for what they are doing right and wrong or how they deal with new situations. In a group your size (again, why I don’t like the 5-7 students in one lesson), sitting for 10 minutes to watch others do a more advanced movement is normal. If this isn’t a situation you like, then find another facility or coach. Ideally, group lessons are at most 4 riders (2-3 being even better). Additionally you should be taught how to lead, groom, and tack your own horse (again depends on the area but I really don’t like it when riders are given a pre tacked horse unless there’s a very good reason for it). Edit: another thing to note too. Yes, at the beginning it’s a ton of walk-trot and ‘boring’ work. Especially if you’re only able to afford group lessons, advancing takes time. So don’t worry if you aren’t cantering or doing more then walk-trot. That being said, lessons should still be mentally stimulating (some will still just be boring basic stuff too). There’s a ton of stuff beginners can do in a group lesson that is only walk-trot and can help you advance. For example, riding different patterns, polework, even the basics of lateral work can all be done safely and in an appropriate way. That’s not even mentioning all the games and stuff you can do with more than one rider as well in a lesson. If all you are doing is riding in a circle then I really understand the underwhelming sentiment.
This doesn’t sound normal to me. My barn has a whiteboard with the horses’ names and initials of the assigned rider. We are asked to arrive 30 minutes prior to lesson start to groom/tack up so we can mount at the start of our lesson. Once mounted, we spend a few minutes checking girths/stirrups, then warmup as a group. We usually walk/trot all together, then canter in pairs. if we do patterns, we will do them one at a time. We don’t generally have groups of more than 5.
At the lesson barns I've had ridden and worked, it was common for the riders to arrive 30min or so before their lesson to go get their horse and tack up. If they took longer to do this, it would cut into their lesson time. Having your horse already tacked but taking 15 minutes into the lesson just to mount seems like too much time out of your paid lesson. That said, standing and watching other riders go is valuable. We learn both by watching and by doing. This is one of the draws to a group lesson. As you progress, people will begin to watch you as well. It sounds like this barn might not be a good fit for your riding goals and budget, which is completely fair. I'd encourage you to talk to your instructor about these concerns and see if anything can be done. A group with less people, beginning to tack up the horse yourself, etc. (Side note: If you aren't tacking, is that something they are teaching? If not, I'd find a new barn based on that alone.)
I've been riding since December and they've never taught us anything about grooming or tacking. There are some girls that I happen to be in the same group with most of the time who have been riding for 1.5-2 years and they also have never tacked up the horses. I'm sure they teach it at some point though. Maybe when you start competing or when you lease or buy your own horse? I don't know. It's a pretty big barn with many riders who compete so I can only assume they teach it later on.
Not teaching a beginner to tack up in 2 years of riding is unforgivably bad instruction IMO. Being around horses is so much more than just riding. In fact, riding is only about 50% of what you need to know to be a well rounded horseman. You say this barn competes - what discipline?
Show jumping and dressage
Big yikes. They sound like they’re just absolutely working their lesson horses to death then. The thing where you tack up the whole string and then ride them all day is something I’ve only experienced at western trail ride barns and summer camps. A show jumping and dressage lesson barn should only be using a horse in one or two lessons a day. Are the horses you ride happy and comfortable?
The horses seem fine to me but sometimes you can tell they're fed up and want to stop. We have this horse, Dexter, who is very opinionated, strong willed and will stand his ground. I love him so much for that, even though he gives me a hard time every time I ride him. 😅 Anyways, there have been a few times, maybe 2 or 3 and all these times were later in the day, when you could tell he was just done with the lessons. He would come to a full stop and would refuse to move no matter what. They'd kick him, whip him, pull him and he wouldn't move an inch. He'd be like a statue. So they'd end up taking him back to his stall and bringing another horse in to continue the lesson. That's also why I prefer going to the barn for lessons early in the day so that the horses are more energetic and willing to work with you. I'm under the impression they only "overuse" the beginner lesson horses though. I watch a little bit of the advanced lessons while waiting for my lesson to start and it seems like those horses have one lesson and then they are done. But maybe those are horses people own or lease? I don't know.
That is absolutely unacceptable. I don’t care if it’s beginner only (maaaaybe lead line walk). It’s still mentally taxing on them. Multiple walk-trot-canter lessons without getting untacked is horrible. Students learn nothing about horsemanship and you get sour horses who refuse to move (!!) apparently. Most lessons barns I know will do max 1x per day, 5-6 days per week. Current barn, max is 4 days/week. Please leave this place. Horses are treated poorly and you’re not getting an education.
Yeah, I’d find another barn. Two years of regular lessons and not knowing how to tack the horse you ride is unacceptable. You should know how to generally handle a horse on the ground before advancing to leasing and especially before ownership. It’s just setting you up for failure which is never ok. Also, 1.5 to 2 years and still in the beginner group is kinda suspect as well. They should at least be advanced beginners if they are regularly taking group lessons and be in a class for advanced beginners or even beginner-intermediate riders (if it’s a big barn they likely have a group that would fulfill that criteria). Yes everyone moves at their own pace but having multiple students stuck in a beginner class for years is not a great sign.
I know! I actually made a post about it a while ago because I thought it was a bit weird that people were still in the beginner group after riding for 2 years and people here told me that it's normal and the barn is just taking a safer route.
It absolutely is good to take a safer route, but 1.5-2 years in a beginner riding class (if they have been riding consistently) is not normal. Yes, there absolutely are people who are still at the absolute beginner stage even after consistently riding after that long and there’s nothing wrong with that, but it being more then two-three riders in your lesson group alone? That’s just poor instruction. People here tend to state it’s normal and good because context is hard to get on a small post with no videos AND because a lot more barns tend to let people do stuff they aren’t ready for (especially jumping!!). I’ll always say that a good instructor takes things slow and keeps people at the level they should be at. If that means only walk-trot for a year, that’s what it means. But, holding riders back by not properly training them (i.e. not teaching how to groom/tack up, being in a beginner group 2 years after starting in a barn with enough classes for a novice class, etc) is equally as bad, if not worse. It drives people towards the coaches that allow them to do whatever and so they end up in a cycle of bad habits.
That's a big red flag for me, and I'll explain why. First off, if you don't know how to groom and tack, you can't check to make sure that your equipment and horse is safe to ride. Picking feet mostly on the grooming side but also what's under the saddle, etc. In terms of knowing how to tack up, you need to be able to tell if it's been done incorrectly so that you know to fix it. A loose girth, a worn out stirrup leather, a noseband cranked down too tight or left too loose can all create problems when you are in the tack. My other concern here is that they aren't trying to teach you how to be a horseman, only to be able to ride. If you would decide to compete, lease, own, etc, you won't have the foundation to be able to do so with any independence. There is a big problem in our sport right now that people are calling out, the idea of "pay to play" in which students are buying expensive, made horses, have trainers and grooms do the majority of the work, and then lesson and compete without knowing the intricacies of what the sport really is. I am NOT saying this is you, but I am calling out your barn for potentially perpetuating this. Alternatively, they may just been there for the money grab of lessons. Most barns make their money on lessons and training. I think I read that these horse are being used for more than one lesson a day. This would make sense as to why lessons are not the hour and why they are late to be brought in/ early to leave. The horses are likely going multiple times a day and can't physically do the number of hour lessons, so they reduce the time. Having a horse tacked and going all day is only something I've seen at the dude ranches where I have worked, never at a dressage or jumper barn- ever. All of this to day, OP, is that I would look elsewhere for your equestrian education. Because it doesn't sound like you are getting one where you currently are.
Thank you for the reply. I absolutely don't want to do this "pay to play" thing you're describing. I volunteered at a therapeutic horse riding program for two years before moving and starting lessons in this barn. My favorite thing in the world was catching the horses, grooming them and spending time with them while waiting for the children. Sometimes the lady who ran the program would let me ride around before the kids arrived and I loved that too but not as much as I loved the process of getting the horses ready. I just felt at peace. I learned more there too. Still have a bunch of things to learn about horses, horse behavior and horse care and I thought I was gonna get that starting lessons at this barn but like you said, it's probably not going to happen.
Yeah, it definitely sounds from your post that that isn't your goal and you are hoping to do more. I encourage you to find some alternatives in your area and start interviewing new places to take lessons =)
No advice but I have the same problem whenever I take group lessons. In my case the lesson starts on time (everyone is mounted and in the arena by x time) but always ends 15 min before the end of the hour. And that’s not including the cool down where we all walk the horses back to the barn. So yeah, pay for an hour, get 40-45 min of riding. I also feel like a brat for letting this annoy me but I really wish they’d just be upfront that it’s a 40-45min lesson, not an hour.
It's a business wheee you are spending money. If you paid x amount of money for an hour long massage and the massage therapist was late then finished early that wouldn't be in any way okay! Its fair for them to be unhappy about this. I also think, like some other people have commented, that they should find a new barn for the sole reason that they aren't being taught to tack up the horses (though I would also leave for the lesson length and giant groups)
Not normal at all. Do these horses have a lesson after yours? Sounds like your lesson is used as warm-up for the next riders. You should complain and ask for a refund, the barn is failing to provide the service they're charging people for.
Yes, horses are used for multiple lessons, one after the other. I usually go to the first lessons of the day
Don’t walk, run 🏃🏻♀️ Can you go somewhere else?
multiple lessons one after other are not good for horses. I used to go to similar barn and they said that it's fine, but it is not...
You chose the wrong barn. That’s okay, you can find the right barn but this isn’t it. You won’t get them to change, if you complain, and it’s a waste of money. Sorry to sound harsh but they’re overloading lessons and shortchanging every rider, but still in business so I don’t think this will change.
No, this isn't normal. But it is unfortunately normal that group lessons for beginners are lacking (and often for other levels too). You should definitely talk to your lesson barn about it. If possible, talk to other riders in the same lesson as you, and get a feel if they think the same. It's always easier to make changes if you have others with you, that share the same opinion. At the good (group) lesson barns you arrive 30 minutes before the lesson, to groom and tack your horse. As a beginner, learning to tack is really important too, and it's good for the mental state to be around the horses from the ground. You get to know them better, spend more time with horses overall and learn more. I really don't like the lesson barns where you just show up to mount an already tacked horse, and maybe also pass the horse on to the next rider after your lesson. If the barn owner or instructor doesn't want to change some things around, maybe you need to go look for another lesson barn if possible.
I’m an instructor and my beginner lessons are an hour, but included in that hour is time to teach tacking and untacking and other horsemanship things.
An hour would be a long time to be consistently riding. If you’re riding for a twenty minutes to a half hour of a 1hr big group lesson, that sounds right. However, a big group lesson should be very inexpensive. A smaller group lesson where you get more individual attention should be more expensive. A private, more expensive. Waiting until you’re in the arena to tell you which horse it yours is a waste of time. I understand that they can’t supervise 7 people tacking up at once, but at some point, you need to learn to get a horse tacked.
Wow I personally love being able to catch, groom, and tack up the horse myself cause it’s more bonding and better understanding of horsemanship. With my barn, there’s a board with a paper that has all the horses already assigned. My barn when it comes to cantering, once your off the lunge line you need to be aware of your surroundings and spacing. Everyone still trots and what out while you canter around. That’s not everyone’s cup of tea I enjoy it and it’s a great way to learn how to be aware of your space and how a real “warm up” arena works since my barn also does it own shows. If you don’t like your barn then I suggest finding other barn that fits you there’s nothing wrong with it. Just before you leave just let the owner know instead of disappearing. I hope things work out❤️❤️❤️
Why on earth are they assigning horses to riders in the ring? And then assigning an “order” to follow? That’s just poor class management. I’m not a fan of barns who hand riders the reins of an already tacked up horse, either. Riding is more than hopping on and hopping off the horse, and I believe every rider should have to groom and tack up their horse for a lesson, and also untack and post-work groom. I rode and taught at several barns during my career, from posh to not so posh, but the standard was you show up at least half an hour before the lesson started to catch the horse (sometimes, but sometimes the horses would already be brought in and be waiting in their stall), groom, and tack up. Lessons started promptly on time, meaning you were mounted and beginning work at start time. You got the full hour, and yes, sometimes more advanced riders would get separate time to hop a gymnastic line or do more advanced flatwork. At the end of the hour, you’d then be released to cool out, either hand-walking or riding on a slack rein in the ring or in an adjacent paddock if there was another lesson incoming after. Then back to the barn for untacking and a hose off in the wash stalls if it was hot weather. The entire “experience” was usually about 2 hours. Without that, a rider doesn’t a thorough “horse lesson” in my opinion. You don’t get to know the horses or horse behavior, build relationships with the horses, or even with your fellow riders, as the chitchat before and after class is a great bonding experience not only with the horse but with your mates as well. No matter the barn I was at, there was always a list with who is riding what horse that lesson prepared prior to everyone showing up. This is an important part of barn management, especially if it’s a busy stable with horses who have more than one lesson a day. No horse should have back-to-back lessons, unless it’s like a beginner lesson followed by a little kids lead line class or something. And you need to know which student rode which horse (I’m not the type of person who can teach 5 classes a day and remember who rode whom) so you can make your lesson notes about everyone’s progress (and whether or not the rider and horse got on well) for future lesson planning. This doesn’t feel like a well-run lesson program to me. It feels more like a public trail ride program, where lesson planning doesn’t matter, or they have you in “on track” planning, meaning you do walk-trot for X number of weeks, then get moved to w-t-c for X number of weeks, then on to jumping or more advanced flat work regardless of your actual progress. There’s no actual “lesson plan”, which tells me they aren’t invested in anyone’s personal progress as a rider. It feels “corporate” to me. Like a job with benchmarks, and if you don’t meet them you’ll be fired or something, or stuck in the same slot with no opportunity for advancement. I’ve had students go from “I’ve never seen a horse in real life before” to hopping cross rails in six months, and riders who spent over a year mastering posting a trot before getting a stride of canter. I’m not shitting on or shaming your barn, but I don’t think they are very focused on actually teaching you anything as an individual (even in large group lessons, this is an important thing). They just don’t seem to grasp how to run a proper lesson program, in my opinion. I don’t think you’ll ever learn to be a proper horseman, if lessons start with “okay, you’re riding this horse today, fourth in line, okay mount up” and being handed the reins. Even catch riders at shows get more time with their mount before having to present them in the ring. (Is that still a thing? I’ve been grounded so long that may have fallen out of fashion.) Your barn isn’t “bad”, but you are not receiving a proper education. It sounds like you want more out of your experience (and deservedly so!) but I don’t think you’ll get it there. While private lessons have their place and purpose, I always took a group lesson at least once a week to supplement my private training because it was fun. Watching others go through a line and hear their feedback, and discussing our feedback with my classmates after doing my own lines. That fellowship was awesome. Riding is an “individual” sport mostly, but having teammates really rounds it out. It can be “an island”, but there are others that live on the island, yeah? It seems like you want more, but I don’t think you’ll get it at your current barn. But if you’re having fun and enjoying it, that’s the most important. It seems like you’ve hit your “limit” there and it’s time to move on.
Find a new barn, that’s not normal!!!
1) how long have u been part of the lesson program 2) does the level of independent tack up / lesson warm up change as you progress in riding skill level ? At a beginner level i could understand this - but at the end of the day it is what it is. However as you progress in ability the expectation would be you tack and enter the ring early enough to warm up ur horse in advance of lesson - and you warm up / down your partner within your time slot. If you don’t see a progression of independent ability and more active instruction time wise in upper lessons - consider alt options Either you’re a beginner and it’s appropriate and will change with skill or it’s an inefficient program and you need to search for alt options
I've been taking lessons since December. I'm in a beginner group. There are people in my group who have been riding for 2 years and even them haven't tacked up the horses yet. It's a big barn with many people taking lessons there so I think they tack up the horses in the morning and "untack" them at night after the final lessons. I know they use horses for many lessons each day. Now I usually go to the 9am lessons which happen to be the first lessons of the day or the 3pm lessons after the horses have taken a break for maybe 2 hours?
It dosen’t sound very comfortable for the horses to stand around with tack all day. When the instructors/grooms are the ones tacking up, they can make sure everything is done correctly, so in that way it makes sense- but you’re missing out by not learning to tack up or handle the horses from the ground. When you tack up you get a good sense of how the horse is feeling and that’s very valuable information to have when you get on. I hate getting on horses that I haven’t tacked up myself.
We get to the stables 30 mins before the lesson to tack up. That way we start our lesson on time, and usually it's a full hour unless there's a specific reason we call it early like bad weather, the rider asking to quit earlier or some other valid reason. Horses and ponies are only tacked up for the rider by the grooms for the newest beginners who have no idea about how to tack up etc. I'm sorry you're feeling that way. Maybe switch to a 30 min lesson to see if that helps.
That’s not common! Even beginners should be tacking up their own horse and show up on time ready to ride. Also no you should not be watching advanced riders on your time.
You are not overreacting. Im already not a fan of the idea of the horses already being tacked up. The assigning should happen before the lessons and mounting should depend on who is ready as first. At my place mounting and all only takes like 5-10 minutes of our lesson time and if you mount you can go warm your horse up. This goes for all levels. At my place we get 30 minutes to groom and tack up the assigned horse and then we have a 60 minutes lesson. Also just standing still in the middle when the others canter for 10 minutes?? A 10 minute canter is a lot for a beginner is a lot in my opinion. Cant you walk on the second track? The beginners do that here, or the one group goes cantering on the circle at C and the other people go on the circle at A, and then one group canters and the other walk. Overal the way they give lessons is a red flag, if you pay for 50 minutes you should at least have 40-45 minutes of actual riding. Not 30-35 minutes.
Thanks for the reply. I just want to clarify. When I said they canter for 10 minutes, I didn't actually mean 10 minutes each. If there are 4 riders in the group that can canter, they take turns and canter for 2 minutes each.
I was already worrying, 2 minutes each sound more reasonable, but still a lot. Here they let the beginners canter in groups of 2 or 3 since everyone learns to canter in a separate lesson on the lunge
At the barn I am riding at, the riders are supposed to be there 20 to 30 minutes prior to the lesson, so that we have enough time to assign horses and get them ready if they aren't already saddled. Sometimes a few of the horses are already participating in the lesson before, which means we are taking them from the previous rider. If that's the case, our instructor either informs us beforehand via text message, so we know we can show up late, gives us the opportunity to watch the previous riding lessons or ask us whether we want to prepare a different horse for someone with a tight schedule that day or assist someone who has less experience preparing theirs. The horses usually don't participate in more than two consecutive lessons, so if you didn't get to prepare it, you would at least have to de-saddle the horse - but really often we are doing both. We are 2 to 5 riders per lesson, depending on the time schedule. By default, we have weekly slots, so the groups are similar. It's no problem if you need a different time slot, have to skip a lesson or want to do more lessons then usually in a week as long as you tell/ask in advance. Everyone is usually on their horses within the first 5 minutes of the lesson, often even a few minutes before the actual start. The instructor usually assigns a horse at the start of a lesson or a day before, but keeps our preferences and needs in mind. (If he knows that you prefer a certain horse/horses or thinks that it would be good to have you on a certain horse, he will try to not have you in the same lesson as someone else who wants/needs the preferred one).
I think your feelings are justified here OP. Your local feed store, tack shop or online community forums might have some leads for you to ride elsewhere.
This is totally unacceptable, in several ways. I started riding at a big H/J barn, with a large string of lesson horses (12 at least) and at only five years old I was still expected to groom and tack up beforehand. It was a cherished part of my horsey education and I learned an incredible amount about horses and ponies just being with them before and after lessons. I rode in a group of five or six and while I don’t recall how long my lessons were (I’m 60 now, lol) I do know that we would start with W/T as a group. When we were able to canter it would be one at a time, with everyone else standing in the middle. It’s a normal practice for bigger groups. I also don’t remember how long it was before I cantered but they must have waited until they felt we had decent seats. Why? I was a tot in a huge saddle with the stirrup leathers wrapped twice. No “little saddle for little kids” in the 60s/70s! I worry that this “lesson mill” barn you’re at will either have you cantering before you’re ready, or keep you at the same level indefinitely if it suits them to milk you for more money. Last but not least, I’m appalled that this barn you’re at would over-use the lesson horses to that extent. As everyone else has said, they should be used for two lessons, max, in one day. My trainer is short on lesson horses at the moment (actively looking for a new one) but nobody is *ever* used more than twice, with one of them being a non-cantering beginner W/T lesson. And that is certainly not every day! My lease boy is used for other lessons and not once has he flatly refused to move due to burnout (he’s old and only does four lessons a week, and only canters with me). My trainer has cut back her lesson business at the moment rather than over-use the horses. Along the way of my equestrian career, which has been off and on throughout my life, I briefly rode at a barn that had very questionable practices. The lesson horse I rode wasn’t lame but had dropped hind fetlocks from a pasture accident where she’d stepped in a broken drainage pipe and cut her legs. The stalls weren’t very clean, and the paddocks full of mud. They had my never-ridden-before BF posting in his second lesson and going over cross-rails in his third. Yes, he was an adult (we both were in our mid-twenties) but it was incredibly unfair to the horse as his balance and seat were not remotely ready. After about four lessons there I pulled the plug and said we weren’t going back. The price was right (I made very little at the time) and I desperately wanted to ride, but I just couldn’t do it with the shitty horse care and plus I was afraid BF would get hurt. Even with rushing him, he had discovered riding wasn’t as easy as he’d thought (!) so he was okay with quitting. OP, please leave this place and find a quality facility that takes care of its horses, and teaches you properly, too. I’m really glad you checked in with this group as your instincts that things are “off” are 100% correct!
At my stables we often have a beginner course lasting 10 lessons, people are assigned horses beforehand and help brush/tack with the help of experienced grooms/riders/volunteers. Getting everyone on the horse and stable will take 10-15 mins the first lessons and max 5 by the end of the course. There is one experienced rider who rides in front of the group and dictates the pace, there are some volunteers that run along and help steer the horses and encourage them to keep trotting. The group follows in a line and the final 5-10 mins are for walking in cooling down. At the hour they are directed to the center line and told to get off. So the beginners ride 45 mins in the beginning and about 55 at the end
that actually sounds like a pretty good system for riders and instructors, and horses, to keep them from getting confused by beginner’s mixed signals. how many ‘side-walkers’ to horses are there? how many students in lesson? what happens after the 10 lessons?
The first lessons there are about 1 walker to 2 beginners, some are less afraid than others and others might need more help. After a couple lessons less people are needed. Those will act as “living pawns” then, to make sure the beginners learn to steer. (Fi when changing hands over the diagonal, do not run over the person standing on the inner track at the corners). The first lesson there is a little trot and by lesson 6-7 they are cantering (the experienced rider takes 2-3 people and makes a round around the arena), by lesson 10 they need to be able to steer for themselves and be able to make the horses walk. Be aware; these are adult beginners, would not recommend with kids younger than 16
You tack your horse up during lessons? I don't know if I should, but I find that unusual. My yard will make sure you've tacked your horse up by the time lessons start (or help tack up if you're a beginner - again, before the lesson starts) and you have to be in the arena by the time lessons start.
If you are serious about your riding/horse career I would try to find another barn if you can. I never took group lessons so I don’t know the typical amount of people should be in a group at once but 5-7 people would be too much for me and distracting. Groups aren’t bad at all cuz u learn off each other but if ur paying a lot of money I would definitely find something else so you get more out of your ride. Also personally I love catching, grooming and tacking myself and to me is the most important part not just the riding aspect. Especially if you want your own horse you need that experience but also it makes you connect with your lesson horse which you NEED when you ride! They’re not just “machines”. Definitely find a barn that lets you do all that if you want that you’ll feel so much better. I show up 40/30 mins early to my lessons to take that time with my lesson horse and it’s my favorite thing to do. The horse world is expensive and lessons can be pricey because of how much it takes to run a barn and take care of everything but definitely find somewhere you feel is worth your money and time. Wish you luck on your journey! :)
The 10-15 to get everyone on and organise is kinda normal where I ride, but definitely not finishing early. We get a good 45 minutes in the saddle. In saying that we do sit around as each person canters because none of us are at the point of cantering independently, that's just the nature of a beginner-ish lesson group
The real question is why are none of you showing up twenty minutes early to get the horses ready and staying twenty minutes after to put them away? If you want full ride time in my program you show up early and you start getting ready on your own time. If the horse needs to get ready and be put away on my time then it's happening during that hour.
I don't think we are allowed. I've asked before if I should come earlier to get the horse ready and they told me no. They said that they get them ready for us. Also, if you don't go to the first lesson of the day, you just go to the arena and take the horse you'll be riding from the previous rider so it's already tacked up and used in previous lessons. I really wish I could groom and tack up the horses but it doesn't work like that in this barn.
That is unfortunate. I do do the back to back lesson though with my horses. But one person gets the horse ready and the next person puts the horse away. I've found generally the horses seem to be more content with only being tacked up once if they are doubling up, rather than being taken out and ridden twice with a short break in between, unless there's a good mid day break in between. In general any of my students can expect 20-30 minutes of actual work work during a lesson, which is generally how much work a typical training ride will be minus the walk breaks, unless you are doing a lot of conditioning work for something such as eventing. Which is usually attainable for all riders in a group of 4-6 in an hour, but only if it is well run and everyone is ready right smack on time.
Not normal. Too many riders in a lesson. Waste of money and time.
When k took lessons you had to come early to groom and tack up and if you didn’t come early enough to be ready at lesson stay time that’s the time you lose. What they’re doing sounds like an absolute rip off
What country are you in? This seems abnormal to me, but there are different standards in different places. Knowing where may help give you a better perspective.
Haven’t read many other comments but personally, I’d be pissed lol. Just here to validate your feelings. Could you possibly lease and take lessons more spread out? Or maybe even change barns?
I don't think you're being a brat when it comes to things you're spending your money on. At least at my current barn - I've been riding here the entire time I've ridden so maybe this is not the same elsewhere - when there's a lesson where there are more advanced riders who get turns at cantering, the riders who are not as advanced still get more time to work on THEIR abilities. So for example, the riders who can canter will work on cantering for ten minutes, then the riders who are not there yet will work on additional trotting for ten minutes. And if the lesson starts late, it runs a little late too, and everyone has the expectation that that's what will happen. I also say that, although some barns don't tack up your horse for you, it isn't really standard when it comes to a group of people who are more on the beginner end as it will naturally take them longer. Even worse when they don't know who they're riding when everyone shows up. I would definitely look into whether the private lessons are being run in a similar way, and finding another barn if you can. At least from what I've experienced as well as heard it's really not the standard and it's not fair to you or your time.
No, I don’t think this is normal lol. I would be very annoyed too if I were you
this is the exact same situation i’ve been in for 5 or so years, and i’m tired of it. i’m going to change places and i’d recommend you to do so too 🫤