Cost of lessons

[Christmas Crumpet]

Just curious to know how much everyone pays for their lessons - if you go for a lesson at someone's yard, do you get charged extra for use of the school?

How much does it cost to hire a school and then have an instructor on top of that?

What is the price difference between adults and children?

 

[milliepops]

I pay £70 for 45 mins, don't need to go very often as they are so good for me and my horses so I can work on my own a lot in between. Have had cheaper lessons in the past but didn't get as much from them... IMO if you want to aim high, you've got to go to someone who has trained other people to the top levels.
I go to him, no extra charge for arena use - just as well, I'd drop down with shock

Arena hire varies hugely around me, I'm not sure what my YO charges but it's not a lot - some places are up to £25 ph!

 

[PorkChop]

At the moment we pay £25 for half an hour which includes arena hire, I consider this to be incredibly cheap.

Have paid anything from £25 an hour upwards. When we lived in Cornwall it was £15/£20 to hire an arena for an hour.

 

[Sukistokes2]

Depends where I am having the lesson. I currently pay £30 for the instructor. For the indoor school I pay £13 and for the small outside one, at a friends £5, If using the indoor at night I pay an extra £2 for the lights. Poles and jumps are also extra. This is in Kent.

 

[shadeofshyness]

I pay £15 for half an hour - she comes to us. She's BHSII, BHS examiner and NVQ assessor but most importantly she explains things in a way I 'get' so it feels like money well spent!

 

[Equi]

£10 for half an hour here, at home. She passes my yard coming home from work so its convenient! Shes amazing, my confidence and horse hav improved so much. He looks different physically too!

 

[Ben2684]

£10 per half hour but I believe this is a discounted rate for liveries (she is my yard manager) my riding has come on in leaps and bounds since lessons started with her!

 

[fabbydo]

£60 an hour. No charge for the school. Worth every penny. Always plenty of homework to do so I only go once every 4-6 weeks.

 

[Micropony]

£25 for 30 minutes. With YO so no extra cost for school. Worth every penny!

 

[sarahann1]

My main, weekly lesson, instructor is £20 for 30mins, she's a list judge, competed to a good level and is very well qualified, my other two, once a month lessons, are £25 for 45mins and £30 for 45mins. Not sure about outside hire costs as I'm lucky enough they all come to the yard.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

I pay £70 for 45 mins, don't need to go very often as they are so good for me and my horses so I can work on my own a lot in between. Have had cheaper lessons in the past but didn't get as much from them... IMO if you want to aim high, you've got to go to someone who has trained other people to the top levels.
I/QUOTE]

Totally disagree! Until you reach a certain level it is a waste of money training with these highly priced specialists, but they will be happy to take your money when they are charging £100 per hour as your instructor/trainer is. Dressage trainers are specialists at relieving clients of vast amounts very quickly. Even Dick Turpin had the decency to wear a mask when he robbed you. Cheaper instructors will give you a great lesson & plenty of homework to do after a lesson as well, you are not getting value for your money.

If you were to contact someone like Tim Stockdale for a show jumping lesson he would not take you on unless you were competing at Foxhunter & above. He would direct you to one of his staff who would give you a lesson at the standard you are currently at. Needless to say the cost of a lesson with his staff would be cheaper than with him.

 

[blood_magik]

I currently pay £40 for 30 minutes with my dressage trainer, £10 of which is 'arena hire'.

There's no arena hire charge with either of my jumping trainers though. One charges £30 for 30 minutes and the other is £20 for 30 minutes at home or £30 for 30 minutes if he comes to me.

 

[AML]

I agree with milliepops and train with people who have or are competing and training horses to a much higher level than I ride at.

I jump with a person that events at 4* and show jumps at 1.50 and they have taken the time to disassemble my awful jumping and put it back to together so that I am now getting compliments from people.
My wobbly green horse that struggled to canter in a school has come on beautifully under the eye of my flat trainer who rides at PSG.

I find that they see the bigger picture of where one is heading and have more exercises, more tools and my progress goes in the correct direction. It does depend on the individual teaching -if Tim Stockdale choses not to teach those at a low level that is his decision - but I'm truly grateful that my jumps trainer was happy to watch me over x poles so that I can maybe reach Foxhunter one day.

I don't consider their charges extortionate, just a fair reflection of the skills they bring to the lesson.

 

[debbielinder]

£50 for 45 mins from a list one judge she travels to us. Shes come out once a week unless shes away judging, worth every penny.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

If I go to SJ (accredited and bloody good) trainer, its £30 for 45/50 mins - this is each, for myself and friend. Trainer is £70ph plus travel usually, but we go to him and use his fantastic arena & fences.
I think I get value for money & come away with plenty to work on. I only go once a month or so tho.

 

[milliepops]

Totally disagree! Until you reach a certain level it is a waste of money training with these highly priced specialists, but they will be happy to take your money when they are charging £100 per hour as your instructor/trainer is. Dressage trainers are specialists at relieving clients of vast amounts very quickly. Even Dick Turpin had the decency to wear a mask when he robbed you. Cheaper instructors will give you a great lesson & plenty of homework to do after a lesson as well, you are not getting value for your money.

If you were to contact someone like Tim Stockdale for a show jumping lesson he would not take you on unless you were competing at Foxhunter & above. He would direct you to one of his staff who would give you a lesson at the standard you are currently at. Needless to say the cost of a lesson with his staff would be cheaper than with him.

Well I'm not sure why I have to justify my choices to you, but as my horse is training medium and starting toward AM then I don't consider it a tremendous jump to train with someone who has ridden & trained Grand Prix. I want us to learn things the right way, with an eye on the future. I don't want to pay peanuts for the BHSAI down the road, I want someone who can see the potential in both of us and help us to develop.

I did the same when I was eventing (Novice/CCI* if it matters), I trained with an Olympic event rider and it paid dividends.

I find that they see the bigger picture of where one is heading and have more exercises, more tools and my progress goes in the correct direction. It does depend on the individual teaching -if Tim Stockdale choses not to teach those at a low level that is his decision - but I'm truly grateful that my jumps trainer was happy to watch me over x poles so that I can maybe reach Foxhunter one day.

I don't consider their charges extortionate, just a fair reflection of the skills they bring to the lesson.

^^ this, exactly this, for me. Not many people would look at my current ride, a 14hh section D with an attitude problem and say "yep, we can work with this" and see her talents, her ability to sit and quick hind leg, that is going to be really trainable at the higher levels. Most people would say I've got the wrong horse - that's not much use to me when it's the only one I've got.

Each to their own, but usually you get what you pay for IMO.

 

[ester]

I think I've concluded fewer lessons with the best you can afford is way to go £45 for 45 mins with FBHS, £35 for yo who has competed psg. Both good but fed worth the extra tenner!

 

[HufflyPuffly]

Also agree with Milliepops, training with someone who has themselves trained/competed to a much higher level is very sensible as they will assess the horse from the start and get you on the correct basics which will not change as you move up the levels. They will know what needs to be absolutely spot on even at prelim level, that will be the foundation to build on as you and the horse move up. In my experience if the trainer hasn't ever trained to the higher levels then it will be much harder for them to know how the correct foundations effect the later levels.

Saying that I pay £30 for about 45 mins (or until we've achieved what was needed), that's if I travel to her or she comes to me, though she tries to coordinate a few of us if she comes to us. No arena hire, but to hire our school is £5 per hour, school up the road is £20 per hour (though it is massive lol), we're north west.

 

[chaps89]

£40 for half hour, £50 for 45 mins and £60 for an hour. Instructor comes to me, share horse has schools at his yard so no school hire necessary there but if I'm having a lesson on mine if I hire the school it's either £5 an hour or £15 an hour depending which I use. Worth every penny.
I have another instructor who comes and schools mine, she's £25 and that includes her getting pony in and ready, 5-10 min hack to the school, half hour schooling session then taking her back.

 

[Ben2684]

I think it can depend on aspirations on what you would be prepared to pay. My usual instructor teaches pony club, various locals, is very 'old school' and is one of those people that has been around horses all her life. No qualifications at such but has competed to AM and evented in her younger years to quite a high level. She charges £10 per hour as a discounted fellow livery rate. No my horse and I are never going to set the work alight but with the confidence she has given me I have been out competing for the first time in my life (highest place so far is 1st at prelim and 3rd at novice) and this is roughly a year on from being a happy hacker. I will also access other trainers through clinics for variety and am happy to pay 15-30 pounds ish for group clinics which give me a bit of variety (something lessons with her have given me confidence to do!!) If it works for you it works for you, no matter what you pay. I know people that haven't 'got on' with trainers that are £10 an hour and also £50 for half an hour. I really value my instructors input, thrive on the confidence she gives me and really value our lessons

 

[Hannahgb]

£35 for the one who comes to me
£50 for the one I travel too.

Totally worth the extra money..

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

milliepops you don't have to justify how you spend your money or on what. As with everything labelled 'Equine' or 'Equestrian' it automatically carries a premium price.

When someone has a lesson from an instructor they pay a reasonable price however when the 'instructor' calls themselves a 'trainer' the price doubles? When the price works out at £100 per hour (£75 per 45 minutes) I question how someone can charge that & more to the point why do people queue up to pay that? Crazy.

 

[Llee94]

Depends who I train with but with my usual instructors it is £30 per hour or less. One of the instructors has competed around badminton and now rides to a high level dressage, one used to train the saudi showjumping team and the other has also ridden to a high level in eventing and dressage. No extra charge for arena hire. In devon.

 

[milliepops]

milliepops you don't have to justify how you spend your money or on what. As with everything labelled 'Equine' or 'Equestrian' it automatically carries a premium price.

When someone has a lesson from an instructor they pay a reasonable price however when the 'instructor' calls themselves a 'trainer' the price doubles? When the price works out at £100 per hour (£75 per 45 minutes) I question how someone can charge that & more to the point why do people queue up to pay that? Crazy.

I don't think the title has anything to do with it , what an odd comment. People queue up for good training full stop, regardless of the name. They have facilities to maintain, rates, staff and mortgage to pay... All that costs money and I don't begrudge him making a living having devoted so much time to learning how to train horses and riders.

Personally I don't see how anyone can run a business as an instructor with cpd, insurance etc if they charge £10 ph as someone mentioned up thread but that's their business.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

When someone has a lesson from an instructor they pay a reasonable price however when the 'instructor' calls themselves a 'trainer' the price doubles? When the price works out at £100 per hour (£75 per 45 minutes) I question how someone can charge that & more to the point why do people queue up to pay that? Crazy.

Put it into context tho, if you take your car to a main dealer, it can be over £100 per hour - for a trained technician to work on your car (def the case for BMW, Merc etc).

Plumbers, usually costing at least £65 plus vat per hour, I could go on with other professions, but you can see where I'm heading - trained, qualified pro's in most sphere's will be a market place cost.

So, IF you value someones expertise, you pay for it

 

[FfionWinnie]

£1 a minute private and 50p a minute two sharing which includes the arena hire. No difference for kids!

 

[milliepops]

So, IF you value someones expertise, you pay for it

yep
Really don't understand the issue over instructor/trainer thing, it's just a word - people tend to ask who you 'train with' so trainer ends up falling off the tongue - incidentally in my case he's also FBHS so has been through all the traditional 'instructor' training too so if it's more palatable to call him an instructor then that's fine with me.

Funny about the words you use - to me 'instructor' carries with it a picture of someone standing in the middle of the school telling you what to do second by second, whereas 'trainer' to me is more about coaching the rider to learn for themselves, more about guidance rather than 'do this, now do that' rote learning. We all have our own prejudices!

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Instructor, trainer, coach, advisor, mentor, all different names with slightly different meanings to different people

 

[MuddyMonster]

I pay £65 for 90 minutes.

They've ridden to a fair, fair higher level in more disciplines than I ever aspire too, but to me they are worth every penny

 

[Nugget La Poneh]

£15 per 1/2hr, either at the yard or theirs - 4* eventer, BHSII. Lesson with same instructor at local indoor arena £35 per 1/2hr.

Equally paid £55 for 45 mins with an instructor recently who sat down through most of the lesson looking bored and tbh I haven't ridden properly since as felt so deflated afterwards that I didn't see the point of trying.