Opinions please, sort of following on from the unrideable post..

Emma S

Emma S

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 September 2010
Messages
597
Location
Northants
Visit site
Sorry this might get long but I have had this plan for a long time and never shared it with anyone but I think some outside input could just push me to start it!
I have been a freelance instructor for years and worked at many riding schools also, so my plan has been developed based on experience.

I want to run a riding school that actually teaches people to own their own horse, rather than just get on a plod and follow 6 other plods around the school.

My idea is to take non-riders through the stages of learning to ride, learning stable management, deciding what they want from riding (pleasure/competition), when they are at a good stage, match them up with a suitable mount, take them to their first competitions, and sell them a suitable horse from the school. Possibly even loan depending on individual cicumstances.
That would be the basis.

The idea is that every rider ends up with a suitable horse that they already know, you don't have stale horses in the school because each one would hopefully move on after 1-2years at the most(preferably 6months). You are buying horses, potentially even some quirky ones out of the public market and finding them a good home.
You could also work this in conjunction with local livery yards where once these riders have bought the horse and the match is working they can move on to and continue to be supported.

Obviously this is just the bottom line of the plan and it is a lot to offer for a riding school, but I think it could help the horse market in many ways.

Opinions please, there is a lot more I have already thought through but didn't want this getting too long.
Do you think there is a market? and if this service was available to you would you have used it?

Cup of tea and a croissant for all replies :)
 
You get my vote, I am in Warwickshire and your idea seems perfect to me, being a mature beginner I don't have time to waste on riding school plods and would like professional instruction several times a week with a view to purchasing a suitable horse ASAP, I am keen not to overhorse myself and I am following the "other" thread with interest. Good luck.
 
I had a similar idea some years ago, setting up a RS doing mainly private lessons teaching people to actually ride rather than just follow. The figures just proved hard to get to work, running a small yard with a few ponies/ horses still required all the expenses and red tape of a big equestrian centre, the insurance was exorbitant and all of the requirements needed on the yard for health and safety had to be done before you could apply for a licence.

If you have your own yard and good facilities, planning permission for commercial use, plenty of parking and good access, a good catchment area etc etc, it may be worth looking into it further.

Your idea to get people to really know about looking after a horse prior to buying is great, the problem is many do not know they need this type of help until they have bought their first horse, getting that message across and making a profitable business out of it would be great I just think the profit could be hard to come by when you really look into all the outgoings to set up.
 
I think in theory it is a great idea, the problems could arise when potential owners disagree about when they are ready to own, and the type of horse that is suitable. By matching them up I'd imagine you are leaving yourself open to problems if the horse later proves to be the 'wrong' one. The time input needed for one individual to learn everything and going to competitions would be pretty intense too.

A better compromise may be to open a riding school and offer something like the BHS horse owners certifiicate, and offer quiet schoolmaster types for sale.
 
There is a riding school near me run by a competion rider that sells all the horses they use in the school, only they are a bot snotty and dont cater for beginners.
Think your idea is amazing! i really hope you do manage to get somewher with it, in all the riding schools ive used over the years none ever let you tack up so i learnt to ride but had no other basic horse skills when buying my own...i did bhs course and taught myself.
Good luck! I hope your near me ;-)
 
I use to keep my pony on a yard that did a similar thing (I was on the livery part not Riding School), where they use to get clients to buy the horses from them, but then keep them on 'working livery'. So the owners paid for livery, lessons etc. but the RS still got to use the horses for client lessons. It meant the RS still had a lot of control over the horse and the client that bought the horse. It was genius really, especially as all the owners were 'Novice' types so relied a lot on the RS to tell them what to do.
It's a good idea in theory so hope you can make it work.
 
Thank you for all your feedback, I know it will take a lot of 'wangling' to find a way for the figures to work.
The theory would be that every rider, whether ridden previously or not would have private lessons until they are capable walk, trot, canter and small x pole. Meaning 'group' lessons don't mean everyone has to follow each other.

I can see it would take time until the client base is at a stage for the turnover of horses to be at the desired level but I do think it could make a difference.

be positive - I think it would have to be run as quite a big outfit to hit the margins especially with the expense!

touchstone - I can see your points and do agree that there could me some disagreements on timescales for ownership. with the matching of horses and riders the aim would be that they have spent time in lessons and on the ground with said potential match and once owned would perhaps stay for a month under guidance to make sure it wasthe right one.

Moon - thanks, I see it so often that riders cant even do up their girth or adjust their stirrups at RS where they have been for years!

JoBo - I have known a couple of RS to have a similar practice and it does work in the yards favour
 
Moon said:
Think your idea is amazing! i really hope you do manage to get somewher with it, in all the riding schools ive used over the years none ever let you tack up so i learnt to ride but had no other basic horse skills when buying my own...i did bhs course and taught myself. ;-)
Click to expand...

Same here. I'd been having lessons for ages and occasionally the tack bits would be explained. Totally by chance I made a new friend and then found out she was also a rider so i became involved in the yard she's on and was taught to tack up and groom. Im now getting quite confident on the ground and handling horses and am proud of my tack cleaning and grooming ability :)
Without this I would have had to find a course somewhere to teach me. I asked at the RS once but they did not seem keen to have an adult shadow someone for the day to see what needed doing.
Most people seem to get attached to the horse they learn to ride on so you might be on to a good thing here.
Best of luck with your project.
 
In theory, fab idea. There is a small rs near me does a similar thing. They buy cheap projects, bring them on & sell to clients after a few years. They do keep the more complicated ones, who compete & show so don't get sour. However apart from being a team effort, a lot of the pupils are horsey anyway, kids with their own etc, so there's enough good riders to bring them on. Something that's taken years to get to, & even now I can't imagine they are raking it in. Unfortunately with kids from non horsey backgrounds, the parents see them cantering & jumping badly in a few months at the awful rs locally, & not knowing themselves enough think that the cheaper place must be better. Obviously the good place turns a profit, but even with years of a good reputation can't be making a fortune.
 
It's a nice idea and it could work, but there's a reason people don't already do this. For a start a lot of novices don't want to learn. They want to canter and jump as soon as possible and be told how great they are. They want to hack out on safe, obedient horses and never school them (presumably thinking they stay safe and obedient by magic). Due to people falling off (which will happen if they're not always riding half dead zombie horses) and claiming for injury (and they would) the insurance would be sky high. Then clients caring for horses means work would be done slower. The people I know working on riding schools are mucking out 10 stables an hour, grooming and tacking up 5 horses in half hour for the first morning lesson. You'd fit less lessons in with clients doing the caring. Private lessons teach riders better but at 40 pounds an hour its a drain on the riding school, who can make 100 pounds an hour from a group of 5 people all paying 20 pounds.

Basically to make it work, your lesson costs would also need to be sky high, riding (particularly lessons) is seen as a luxury and most people consider themselves to be skint. This would price you out of the average market where people are already going out and buying an unsuitable horse (that they don't know is unsuitable) because its cheaper than lessons. I think there'd be a market for what you're offering, but it would be a niche market and you'd need to advertise appropriately to reach the right people. You'd be offering a valuable service that would save people money and heartache in the long run, but Joe Public won't realise this and will only look at the price. I think you'd be looking at possibly making a loss in the first few years until you became established, known and got a good reputation. So you'd need an alternative source of income for that time.

Also I don't know how much you know about business, but do market research properly. Don't just ask people on here or people you know, if they think its a good idea and would they use the service. What you'll find is people give an enthusiastic yes and all the words of encouragement, then when it comes to putting their hand in their pocket all the excuses come out for why they don't need your service at this time. And absolutely everyone you've ever met will be after "mates rates"! I'm not saying don't do it, but you'll be sinking in your savings or getting in debt to start up, so don't do it on someone else's whim. Research it and plan it properly and hopefully it would work. Good luck.
 
There is a riding school/livery yard near us which does a similar thing to this. The clients lesson starts with grooming and tacking up and ends with the horse/pony being put back into the field/stable and the tack being cleaned and put away properly.
If the client decides to go onto to buy a horse, the owner tries to match them up with the correct animal for sale in the local area or they take on one of the school horses as a loan. The horse stays at the school with the client paying for part diy livery which includes lessons. The client is not allowed to move a loan horse from the school/livery to another yard.
They hold regular affiliated and unaffiliated competitions and the clients are encouraged to compete, working their way through the various levels.
They also have courses which teaches ridersthe rules and regulations required for hacking/road works.
In The Netherlands young riders are not allowed on the roads/hacking alone without first passing this qualification. They can be stopped by the police and fined if unable to produce the pass that you are given on pasing this qualification.
It is a really good qualification because it includes theory lessons on all aspects on riding/owning a horse from stable management through to confirmation/feeding/ diseases.
 
One RS I went to as a child, you could get there 1/2hr before your lesson, got the tack, groomed the pony & picked out the feet if it hadn't already been ridden that day - you were sometimes unlucky that the pony you were on was already being used on the lesson in progress - this was taught/supervised by the yard staff, and then tacked up ready for the instructor. If you were last lesson you were sometimes allowed to untack groom etc and put pony in the field. If you were really keen you could go all day and muck out, etc etc

I think it'd be a fab idea if as part of the lesson the above was included 'as the norm', so you also got 1/2 hour stable management. RS don't seem to do this now, am sure it'll be the insurance....
 
Thank you all for your imput, it really does help!

Like i said this has just been a thought for me for a few years so I certainly haven't got down to working out the finances to see if it was possible.

I had considered that a few full liveries would help with keeping the money flowing in but finding the right yard for this to be an option could be an issue.
Or to start up, possibly a full livery yard and 5 or 6 varying horses/ponies for lessons to get it going.

There is a lot to consider and it will certainly take some planning if i followed this through, and all of your thoughts/ideas are very useful :)
 
It could be a good idea if you have enough clients to have the horses working for 3 or 4 hours a day six days a week.

I am greatly saddened by the way teaching is conducted at many riding schools, it is boring to watch and boring for the pupils.

There is absolutely no reason as to why riding school animals should become 'follow the leader' - that is down to the instructor. A ride of eight pupils should be made to work in two rides, dividing off by numbers, crossing across the school passing each other, being made to be individuals rather than just following. It also makes the riders keep on their toes and learn to ride through things.

I went back to a riding school where I had taught for many years. The children I had taught were now parents and asked me to take their children for lessons. Poor kids were terrified as parents were telling them how tough and strict I was, generally putting the fear of God into them.

After the first lesson these children were asking if I would go back the next day and take them again. They worked harder in an hour than they had worked before. Ponies that were followers were going individually, no napping and all going forward when asked.

Ponies that always get landed with the novices deserve to be ridden by the better riders to keep them up to scratch.

The place I learned to ride at and taught for many years, had a great variety of ponies. There were at least seven that were JA. Several competed in PC and RC interbranch teams. All were ridden by all standards of riders.

It can be done but as I said earlier, it is down to the instructor to make lessons interesting for rider and horse.
 
To make it work financially one horse would still need to be ridden by several people which could lead to arguments if 'his' rider feels he is being ruined by others or worse if two people want to buy him so that needs a bit of tactful handling

I think a few group lessons to boost income wouldn't be a bad thing, the 'sharing a school' thread shows how some are intolerant of others or have no manners so small group lessons held intelligently wouldn't be a bad thing and a bit like antinatel classes it would provide a support network among those with similar abilities and aspirations

Good luck with it :)
 
Foxhunter49 said:
It could be a good idea if you have enough clients to have the horses working for 3 or 4 hours a day six days a week.

I am greatly saddened by the way teaching is conducted at many riding schools, it is boring to watch and boring for the pupils.

There is absolutely no reason as to why riding school animals should become 'follow the leader' - that is down to the instructor. A ride of eight pupils should be made to work in two rides, dividing off by numbers, crossing across the school passing each other, being made to be individuals rather than just following. It also makes the riders keep on their toes and learn to ride through things.

I went back to a riding school where I had taught for many years. The children I had taught were now parents and asked me to take their children for lessons. Poor kids were terrified as parents were telling them how tough and strict I was, generally putting the fear of God into them.

After the first lesson these children were asking if I would go back the next day and take them again. They worked harder in an hour than they had worked before. Ponies that were followers were going individually, no napping and all going forward when asked.

Ponies that always get landed with the novices deserve to be ridden by the better riders to keep them up to scratch.

The place I learned to ride at and taught for many years, had a great variety of ponies. There were at least seven that were JA. Several competed in PC and RC interbranch teams. All were ridden by all standards of riders.

It can be done but as I said earlier, it is down to the instructor to make lessons interesting for rider and horse.
Click to expand...

This is exactly why this plan came about in the first place, so I'm glad someone else is of the same opinion!
This is also why I would like to run it with a fairly quick turnover of horses, so they don't become bored or stale and there is the oppurtunity for them to compete/be kept busy.
 
WelshD said:
To make it work financially one horse would still need to be ridden by several people which could lead to arguments if 'his' rider feels he is being ruined by others or worse if two people want to buy him so that needs a bit of tactful handling

I think a few group lessons to boost income wouldn't be a bad thing, the 'sharing a school' thread shows how some are intolerant of others or have no manners so small group lessons held intelligently wouldn't be a bad thing and a bit like antinatel classes it would provide a support network among those with similar abilities and aspirations

Good luck with it :)
Click to expand...

Each rider will not just stick with one horse all the way through, otherwise it would be difficult to match them to a suitable partner.

Group lessons would still be included after a stage, the aim would be for all riders to be capable of the basics i.e walk, trot, canter and a x pole in balance and control before venturing into group lessons. This means group lessons can move at a quicker pace and everyone would be at a similar level. These groups would still be split into capabilities and discipline so those who did not want to jump could work on test riding to Novice level ect.
 
Agreed but when someone finds a horse they like the decision to purchase will be planted but not instantly so you will be in a situation where someone clicks with a horse and there will be a period of them getting used to each other before the decision to purchase is made, this will be the tricky time as they may not want other riders on it in case it gets 'ruined' or worse someone else falls in love with it, if you break your ethics and sell it to the first person to come up with the money you break the trust of the pupils and if you don't you may be stuck with a mutinous pupil adamant that no one should be near 'their' horse

It's not an impossible situation but one that will need careful managing that's all!
 
Great idea, but to make it financially viable you might need to compromise a bit. For example, having group lessons for all abilities, but making sure from the beginning all clients learn to work independently and in open order. The place where my mum has lessons also likes all riders to come half an hour early and tack up their own horse, then untack and turn out afterwards. You could organize lots of evening and weekend classes and 'own a horse' days where clients learn all aspects of stable management. And you could make everyone aware that all horses are for sale, as well as offering a working livery service.

Maybe you could run it as more of a riding club than a riding school, with regular clinics and shows that clients could hire school horses for? My ultimate goal is to be able to do something like this - I'd love to do it with a large proportion of ex-racers, as well as few ponies/cobs.
 
Speaking as someone who has run riding schools in the past (among many other horse-related things), and since I now have nearly 40 years in the horse business in one form or another, I urge you to look at the bottom line with great intensity. In all honesty unless you are in it for the love of it, the amount of effort will never equal the returns. Lovely idea, and the way it "should" be, but in the real world this is just not economically feasable.
 
Agh! Internet just lost my long comment!

I was going to say that though your stable would work in an ideal world, in the real world it would be problematic because people would drop out, strop out, be flakey or unreliable or simply be unable to keep up the commitment for other reasons. I guess that's why the traditional model is more flexible.

BUT re. sour horses that have been in riding schools for two long.

This summer I talked to someone who runs an innercity riding school that also provides care/soft-skill education to local kids who are having trouble in the education system or at home. She told me that they keep their horses for (I think) a maximum of a couple of years before selling them on, simply because inner city life wasn't great for a horse's entire lifetime.

There are always buyers for the horses because they are bombproof. I bet sometimes they go to former pupils who have struck up a relationship with them. And they never get badly sour.
 
To capitalise, you'll need to fill your RS at times other than the peak after school and weekends So evenings till 9 or 10 for the workers who might otherwise choose to go to a gym, and also classes during the daytimes to capture the mums whose kids are at school,a lunchtime ride targetting office workers if there's some suitably large companies nearby, you could sell the beneits to the company in terms of good for helth, good for morale etc and see if they would like to book a corporate slot, also corporate days/mornigns as team building exercises. Groups sessons for Browni , Guides cus etc to gain their riding badge (and then hopefully carry on riding) Tiny tots for half hour lead rein walks in the afternoons before school finishes (might need some extra helpers) etc etc
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top