01/29/2025
Why $50 to $80 for a Riding Lesson is the Bargain of a Lifetime! đ´
At first glance, $50 to $80 might seem like a lot for a riding lesson. After all, itâs just 30 minutes or an hour on a horse, right? But hereâs the kicker: that price doesnât even begin to cover the full value of what youâre getting.
Let me break it down for you:
When you pay for a riding lesson, youâre not just paying for the time spent in the saddle. Youâre paying for decades of knowledge, years of training, and an entire operation dedicated to creating a safe, fun, and rewarding experience.
Youâre paying for an incredible partnership between horse and humanâsomething most people only dream of experiencing.
Youâre paying for the *generations of knowledge and skill* that went into breeding or selecting a safe, reliable horseâa horse that can teach a beginner to steer or build confidence in an intermediate rider.
Youâre paying for the *thousands of hours* that trainers and instructors spent educating that horse, putting on the miles, and teaching it to be patient, forgiving, and downright saintly.
Youâre paying for the tack: saddles, bridles, bits, saddle pads, girths, and all the fittingsâcarefully selected for comfort, fit, and durability. Youâre also paying for the endless supply of grooming tools, from curry combs to hoof picks to detangling spray.
Youâre paying for feed: hay, grain, supplements, and the occasional treat. Youâre paying for veterinary care, including vaccines, deworming, dental work, and emergency visits. Donât forget the farrierâsomeone has to keep those hooves in tip-top shape.
Youâre paying for the blankets: rain sheets, winter rugs, coolersâwhatever is needed to keep the horses happy and healthy in every season. Youâre paying for the halters, lead ropes, and fly masks that keep them comfortable and safe.
Youâre paying for the facilities: the arena footing, jumps, fences, barn, and tack room. Youâre also paying for the equipment that maintains it allâtractors, ring drags, hoses, water buckets, muck rakes, shovels, and the never-ending repair bills that come with running a stable.
Youâre paying for the labor: the early mornings and late nights, the endless stall mucking, the feeding, and the hauling of hay bales. Youâre paying for the nights someone walks a colicky horse until the vet arrives.
Youâre also paying for the *risk*: every time a lesson horse takes a rider, thereâs a chance they could end up hurt or permanently lame. These horses are worth their weight in gold, and itâs my job to keep them safe, healthy, and happy. Thatâs why theyâre only worked a certain amount, jump sparingly, and have strict limits on their workload.
So when you hear, â$50 to $80 for a lesson,â what youâre really getting is the result of years of dedication, hard work, and care. Youâre getting a piece of a much larger puzzleâthe kind of puzzle that most people donât see but that makes those 30 or 60 minutes possible.
Itâs not âjust a lesson.â Itâs a lifetime of expertise and a whole village behind it.
*copied from another poster*
Jiggy and Emily snuggling before their lesson đ
