Oh my word - have you seen the price of riding lessons??

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skewby

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Just went on to a local RS website to find out about booking their XC course. Went to look for prices and saw the price of lessons - oh my Goodness. £25 for an hour's GROUP lesson, a few quid less for half an hour of the same.

No wonder so many horses are ending up with too novice owners - parents will just do the sums and at that price it has to be cheaper to just buy one
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Also, they now charge kids to help out for a day!!!

Is it the hefty insurance prices? Such a shame (for the horses really) if it is. Good riding schools should be encouraged, not squeezed out of business.
 
When I was growing up (I'm 30 now - eek!) I/my family couldn't afford riding lessons. And we *certianly* couldn't afford to own.

Same for most city-based low-income families now I think. Owning isn't really that cheap unless you have the time (often means a well-paid OH!) and/or the land (which is itself a valuable asset.)

Have a horrid feeling that besides the work-for-rides stuff which people do have to be more careful about in terms of the number of hours worked at a given age, child-protection etc, etc nothing much has changed... and personally I'd actually want a child to be supervised to an extent that it really was a 'stable management lesson' to start with anyway.

Sharing costs me 20/week plus chores now. Defintiey not something that we/I could have afforded when growing up.

We are all priviledged! Nothing wrong with that - I love it! - but we shouldn't forget it either.
 
Well.... I'm paying £35 this weekend for an hour's private lesson (not at a RS though!) which is the most I have ever paid for a lesson!

It's always been expensive though. We couldn't afford lessons when I was little so I was told to start up again when I could afford to pay for it myself, which I did!
 
I agree it is expensive,but horses are an expensive hobby.
The RS has a tonn of overheads to cover before they make any money,as costs rise so do the prices.
Will be paying £13 for half hour lesson for son when he starts (this month
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) which IMO is not too bad,although a lot more then other sports(swimming£5 for a few hours for example).
 
I pay £30 an hour for my RI at my yard. If I take one of mine for a lesson to the local RS (specialise in dressage and SJ/eventing) for a lesson it is £35 for 40 mins or £40 if it is on one of their horses (all fabulous schoolmasters though). A good instructor is worth their weight in gold and I would rather have one good lesson a month than a poor one with a cr@p instructor.
 
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Also, they now charge kids to help out for a day!!!



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Really??? Are you sure this isn't an "own a pony day" with organised activities and riding? Our YO is not one to miss a trick when it comes to making money and she pays the kids to help out (they can have credits for lessons but it is all on a proper hourly rate) you aren't allowed to just have random people on the yard helping now. It is over 14s only and they have maximum hours and are paid.
 
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A good instructor is worth their weight in gold and I would rather have one good lesson a month than a poor one with a cr@p instructor.

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I couldn't agree more. We pay £35 per hour for a lesson on our own horse - this is a western lesson with one of two leading trainers tho. We also pay £9 for petrol for the one that travels to us and it is worth every penny.
With a good instructor you are paying for their experience, what it has cost them to train, their insight and skill, plus the cost of the insurance they have to have.
If you're having a lesson on a school horse, there's also its upkeep and training - if you're having and XC lesson, presumably it's on a horse that is experienced XC and ditto a dressage lesson etc.
It's still dirt cheap compared to other hobbies such as golf etc, and if you're having a lesson on your own horse, you're actually investing in its training. Rant over!
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Katt I think all yards do it differently now to ensure they are covered. If they get their help via a paid club type scheme and count it as 'training' the kids then it covers them.
 
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Katt I think all yards do it differently now to ensure they are covered. If they get their help via a paid club type scheme and count it as 'training' the kids then it covers them.

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I think that if they get the kids to pay to do it though they do actually have to provide recognised training and adequate supervision. It can be safer and cheaper and more reliable simply to pay staff. *saying* it is training and not providing adequate training and supervision is a quick way to invalidate your insurance and get into all manner of trouble!
 
Local RS is £25 for a half hour single lesson. My instructor charges £20 (including fuel to come out to me) for 40 minutes ish (depending on how good the horse is being/needs!) Unfortunately my horse is no longer up to lessons and even if the local RS was good enough to want a lesson there, I wouldn't be able to afford it at that price.
But I do think Slinky has a good point- rather have one expensive, good lesson a month than 2 or 3 or more lessons a month that are cheaper but not as productive.
 
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