Not being able to afford ridibg lessons?

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horsey_mad123

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Has anyone any solutions for not being able to afford riding lessons? I know the obvious one would be to get a job, but with school, exams etc I definatly woundnt have the time, I would only have the weekends free and every job I've looked at wants me during the week. Has anyone made a deal like mucking out for free rides?
Has anyone else had this problem? Did you find a solution? Or did you just take a break from it all?
By the way I can ride showjumping 90cm and have done dressage and cross country, I've also ridden a few naughty ponies lol (I've also personal liability insurance) it's just funding such an expensive hobby *sigh*

Thanks
 
I used to volunteer a day at a local riding school and it got me a free ride. Not a lesson mind, just a ride.
 
EQUIDAE said:
Plenty of people are looking for a hand in exchange for rides (I'm one of them), especially coming into winter.
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Also if you can ride ponies rather than needing or wanting to ride a horse you could be very much in demand especially in the winter when younger children may also be busy with schoolwork/ activities over the weekend.
 
It used to be very common and is probably how many of us that are 30+ learned to ride

These days however there is the worry of the horse owner that they may be sued if someone falls off their horse or has an accident on the yard and I think this puts them off having strangers around
 
WelshD said:
It used to be very common and is probably how many of us that are 30+ learned to ride

These days however there is the worry of the horse owner that they may be sued if someone falls off their horse or has an accident on the yard and I think this puts them off having strangers around
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Ditto~This I would really agree with this, many people must have and need liability insurance these days to feel protected if any one rides their animal...be the local riding school to the horse owner...I have a friend that will not let any one ride her horse unless they have their own insurance....In my view as my insurance has liability and if I have given permission they can ride....gone are the days when you did not give it a second thought :(
 
Volunteer for the local RDA? They will offer rides / lessons in exchange for regular volunteer hours - and it looks good on any applications etc. Many pony club centers will also also offer lessons in exchange for help; although you do also have to be a center member. That covers then insurance wise as the PC insurance kicks in.

I used to do chores around the house in exchange for my mother paying for lessons - although I think I was probably a lot younger than you at the time. But I don't know if that might be something you could explore with your family? I used to get 2d per handkerchief I ironed (OK so I'm old!) and a lesson was £1!
 
WelshD said:
It used to be very common and is probably how many of us that are 30+ learned to ride

These days however there is the worry of the horse owner that they may be sued if someone falls off their horse or has an accident on the yard and I think this puts them off having strangers around
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Unless you had wealthy parents or lived on a farm this how most of us learned to ride in the old days.
It depends on your age, if you are over fourteen a good stables/riding school may let you help. Have a look at the cost of rider insurance for you and get the list of BHS instructors and see if they need weekend help on a yard, you may not get much riding but what you learn will be correct. Look at the cost of sharing, we used to share our ponies in return for help not money.
I have a young boy just started coming to learn, its like babysitting someone's child I have to be so careful, not everyone wants that responsibility.
 
I agree that volunteering with RDA would be a good way of making horsey connections but you should be aware that not all groups are in a position to offer rides/lessons in exchange for help, apart from anything else, that would mean that you are being paid in kind, not volunteering. However you might find that someone connected with the group, or the centre itself, will offer you opportunities to ride when they get to know you and your capabilities.
Unfortunately many people are wary of taking tenagers on as sharers/helpers, because as honetpot says there is a lot of responsibiity when you have other people's chidren on your yard, because some teenagers inflate their experience when describing what they can do and because some teenagers are unreliable.
If you do get involved with a group and let people see your committment and skills, I'm sure something will come of it for you.
Good luck!
 
Be very careful with this as there are many people who will take advantage of you. I did pretty much exactely what you describe I cycled to the yard on my bike before and after school everyday- mucked out all the horses in exchange for 'lessons' (I'd already learnt to ride at a school but was self taught jumping- so it was this I wanted to get better at) ended up me exercising horses for free with YO occasionally popping in to give me tips. Later I worked for my own horse's livery. The full time groom was sacked because basically I was doing it for free. I was 13 Sometimes I was completely unsupervised. I did however get a lot of experience with different horses and YO took me to loads of jumping clinics\shows and helped me buy my pony who is amazing. But I also had back problems as an adult which I'm sure is from heavy lifting there as a child. It was corrected with physio but was very painful for years. I eventually left the yard with my horse as I realised I was being taken advantage of. Its a bittersweet memory lol. Just my story If you were a friend of mine I would tell you to find a way to pay for lessons don't go down the road of unpaid slave
 
horsey_mad123 said:
Has anyone any solutions for not being able to afford riding lessons? I know the obvious one would be to get a job, but with school, exams etc I definatly woundnt have the time, I would only have the weekends free and every job I've looked at wants me during the week. Has anyone made a deal like mucking out for free rides?
Has anyone else had this problem? Did you find a solution? Or did you just take a break from it all?
By the way I can ride showjumping 90cm and have done dressage and cross country, I've also ridden a few naughty ponies lol (I've also personal liability insurance) it's just funding such an expensive hobby *sigh*

Thanks
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Really not meaning to sound patronising but how beautifully put. Some horse owners would be put off by your age (assuming you are still at school) when looking for help with horses but if you were to reply to me in the same eloquent manner as above I would not hesitate to invite you along to at least meet the horse and have a chat.

Keep an eye out for weekday sharers required, volunteer at the local RDA as suggested above and have ears flapping at all horsey occasions in case you hear of someone needing help.

I used to ride a friends mum's horse aged 12-15, in the end I would go up with her mum every weekend as my friend lost interest. Ok I was treated a bit like free labour (3 hours mucking out for a 10 min trot round) but I loved it.

God luck and I hope you find a solution :)
 
ElleSkywalker said:
Really not meaning to sound patronising but how beautifully put. Some horse owners would be put off by your age (assuming you are still at school) when looking for help with horses but if you were to reply to me in the same eloquent manner as above I would not hesitate to invite you along to at least meet the horse and have a chat.

^^ Thank you so much😄!
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Try be-friending all the local horsey people. Whilst I wouldn't reply to an ad, if I knew someone competent looking for riding, I would jump at it. We used to have three large ponies (sadly down to two now) and I really could have done with someone to ride the "spare" one out with us. I know several people near me who struggle to find the time to exercise their horses - but it would be a ride rather than a lesson.
 
How old are you? Most shops want saturday workers if you're under 18. I used to work in a bar on friday/saturday nights collecting glasses and then as a groom on sunday mornings and wedneday after school so I could pay for my horsey bits when I was 17/18.
 
FinkleyAlex said:
How old are you? Most shops want saturday workers if you're under 18. I used to work in a bar on friday/saturday nights collecting glasses and then as a groom on sunday mornings and wedneday after school so I could pay for my horsey bits when I was 17/18.
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I'm 16 and have just started my as levels
 
Hubby and I would jump at someone like you.. He gets fed up with ride and lead, and would love a bit of company.

A bit of mucking out, or the odd evening stables in return would be lovely.

Where do you live OP? There might be someone on here who would help..

Have you put an ad in your local feed merchants or tack shop?

Fiona
 
Aww pet..

We're NI all right but totally the other end of the country..

Definitely put an ad in feed shop, and if I were you, I'd keep as a medium to long term aim trying to join a pony club centre and passing some of their exams like D or C test.. Once you can put them on your cv it will be much easier to get rides..

Fiona
 
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