New rider - hello and a leasing question!

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Cotswold_girl

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Hello all, nice to meet you :)

I'm Rach - a complete novice - 9 half-hour lessons so far, and about double that in tacking up and grooming. I live in Canada, but I'm an ex-pat :)

At the beginning of the summer, my wonderful husband bought me a course of ten lessons, knowing I'd always wanted to ride. Well, now I only have one lesson left, and I'm not sure how to continue my riding - the school is wonderful, but it takes me over an hour to drive there, which won't be possible during the school year when I'm teaching.

I have two choices - 1) I can continue having lessons, at a closer school, but would only be able to afford 3x1 hour lessons per month. 2) There's a small horse farm close to my home, offering "half-leases". The owner is aware of my inexperience, and very willing to give some lessons in the ring as part of the lease, and I would do two trail rides per week in a group. I'd combine this with 1-2 lessons per month, probably from a freelance instructor coming to the farm.

I haven't asked yet how much care (if any) the clients give the horses, and the degree of commitment she's looking for - I wanted to get some advice on whether this was a realistic or desirable situation overall before seeing if the specifics were realistic too. The last thing I want to do is endanger myself or any horse, or spoil a good experience, but I am eager to be around horses as much as possible, and ride as much as possible, so I can make progress and enjoy myself - with a view to owning a horse one day far in the future!

Thank-you for reading, and also for any advice you can give me! :)

Rach.
 
My first thought would be that more lessons would be the best option as you are so new to horses.

Will the lease horse be a real schoolmaster and look after you on the group hacks?
Will the others that you hack with go at your pace?
Will there be someone at the yard to help you if you have a question or problem?
How often will you be given lessons?

Could you have more lessons and then do the lease in the future?
 
Hi Faracat, thank-you so much for your reply!

As far as I gathered from my quick conversation with the owner earlier, and from the photos I saw, the other riders are not massively experienced either - I think the hacks would be fairly sedate affairs. However, if I'm wrong, or if there's any kind of minor problem, I would have problems keeping up... And I don't think that would be enjoyable for anyone.

For the other questions - as much as the lady I talked to was very helpful and positive, she is advertising a group ride, not lessons, so I think I have to assume negative answers!

I had a gut feeling that this might be a bit ambitious/crazy, but it was so tempting that I definitely wanted to make sure I wasn't passing up a great opportunity! I think your reply and my answers definitely point the way to (a lot) more lessons, so I can have the backup I need to develop some really solid skills, not to mention confidence with these amazing animals.

Thank-you again, your reply was exactly the advice I needed! :)
 
Hello! :)

Personally, I'd keep going with lessons. 4 a month is a standard kind of number so I don't think you'll be losing out on 3 lessons a month :)

There's no point running before you can walk. I'd go for several months of lessons and then have another look at the sharing option. If you go for it, don't forget to keep having regular lessons! :)
 
Hi! Thanks, that's great to know about the four lessons - the lady who runs the stables closer to home had told me I needed to go at *least* once a week, or I wouldn't make any progress, so I feel reassured! Even if I progress a bit more slowly, that's fine, if I get there in the end :)
 
Well, three a month isn't that much less than four! :)
(When I said "standard", that's what I always had, even after I got ponies of my own, and most people I've encountered who have lessons at riding schools have one a week. I was friends with two sisters, they went fortnightly, but once a week would have been double the cost for their mum!)
 
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