Reasonable to expect a riding school to let me groom and tack up?

[jkitten]

Tomorrow is my first lesson in twenty years and my first time sitting on a horse in at least 10. I am finally in a stable enough life position that I can hope to turn this into a longterm hobby and possibly in time get my own horse, so I am extremely excited!

When I spoke to the riding school to confirm the lesson, I asked about tacking up and was told 'oh we do that for you'.

I completely understand that they'd do that for a first lesson, but if I become a regular student, I would like to be allowed to groom and tack up before riding, and untack, rub down and give the tack a wipe afterwards (or at least the first two, I can take or leave the tack-wiping!). To me this is all part of the fun, plus another thing I need to get comfortable with again if I am to progress to loaning or owning a horse in time.

However, since I haven't been to a riding school in twenty years, I'm not sure if this is a reasonable expectation on my part? What do you think? I will definitely ask tomorrow, I'm just wondering what the general feeling is in this day and age?

Many thanks!

 

[Sail_away]

Probably not at the moment due to Covid - but usually on a small yard, if they think you’re competent, they’ll be happy for you to help. On a bigger, busier yard extra people can get in the way and of course there’s the health and safety aspect. But most yards I have been at will allow you to help in some capacity. You may just need to wait a while until restrictions ease again.

 

[Equi]

Is it a group or private lesson? In group lessons it’s just easier to have the horses all tacked by staff due to time constraints. I’ve had a private where I was expected to tack up but then I had no break I just didn’t have a horse at the time and was working at a riding school so was trusted to get on with it. But again time may not be there for you to do this with supervision (insurance may also come into it cause they would have to recheck everything you’ve just done anyway)

 

[JulesRules]

Don't forget that the horse may well be used before or after your lesson so may well already be tacked up, and might just need girth loosening etc after riding.
Maybe have a few lessons to get back in the swing and then look for a share. Lots of owners wil be happy for sharers to have a lesson on their horse

 

[jkitten]

Yes of course, I had 'forgotten' about COVID for a minute there, thank you Lillian! If I like the feel of the place I will ask their general policy tomorrow anyway.

Thanks Equi, when I posted I was actually thinking more along the lines of health and safety/insurance reasons. When I was a kid we weekend stable girls pretty much had the run of the place as enthusiastic free labour, but thinking back on that time now as an adult with a legal background, the idea of a bunch of teen and pre-teen girls running around two dozen cheeky ponies, some of them known to be more than cheeky, with virtually no supervision is enough to make my hair stand on end!

 

[Equi]

Oh that still happens! But kids are less likely to sue ?

 

[jkitten]

Don't forget that the horse may well be used before or after your lesson so may well already be tacked up, and might just need girth loosening etc after riding.
Maybe have a few lessons to get back in the swing and then look for a share. Lots of owners wil be happy for sharers to have a lesson on their horse

Thanks for the advice! I have actually been looking at ads to share just to see what's out there, and unfortunately it seems to be very limited and nothing remotely suitable for me. Being at best a novice who has never been responsible for my own horse in any way, a lot of owners quite naturally don't want me anywhere near their horses, and the ones which do are stabled in places I can't really get to as I don't drive). There is one livery yard which offers a few horses for loan or share, at least one of which looks like it might be docile enough for me. If that doesn't work out and I get into riding again enough to make a commitment, my plan is to buy the most bomb-proof forgiving plod I can find, beg the local fancy retraining livery to take me on full livery, and pay for as much ground and riding education as I can get. But first things first, got to have that first lesson!

Edit: Sorry, should have said that the local livery offering shares expects 'some experience', so I have messaged to see if that could include me (as one of the horses they have is listed as suitable for novice). If the answer comes back no, I will continue at riding schools until I at least have the movement/muscle back and then look to buy as I said.

 

[jkitten]

Oh that still happens! But kids are less likely to sue ?

True but have you met their parents?

Edit: Just to be clear, if I'd been kicked in the head and permanently disabled as a child my parents would have gone absolutely legally ballistic, rightly or wrongly.

 

[zandp]

The BHS riding school I used to work at as a groom - we didn't have time to let most people tack up before lessons but we did encourage everyone to untack / sponge down / hose off and rug up when appropriate after lessons. We used to leave 1 or 2 horses at the end of the shift for their riders to tack up because they'd asked us if they could to learn - but only if we had time. We had 3/4 hour in between lessons to muck out 6 stables, turn often 6 horses out into fields up to a mile away (and often not going into the same field) and get up to 6 horses ready for the next lesson and we had 5 or 6 lessons in a shift - with 6 horses in each.

I'd ask if they'll let you, currently riders at the RS have to be able to bring their allocated lesson horse out of the stable, tighten girths etc and mount by themselves due to COVID.

 

[Rumtytum]

My riding stables is very busy, they have a system and I think them trying to remember to not tack up my horse would be well nigh impossible. Pre-Covid I used to clean the bridle after the lesson. If my horse is not being used afterwards I can spend as much time as I want with him in his stable grooming, massaging etc. It’s a great yard, I love being there and try hard not to get in anyone’s way ?

 

[Keith_Beef]

Is it a group or private lesson? In group lessons it’s just easier to have the horses all tacked by staff due to time constraints. I’ve had a private where I was expected to tack up but then I had no break I just didn’t have a horse at the time and was working at a riding school so was trusted to get on with it. But again time may not be there for you to do this with supervision (insurance may also come into it cause they would have to recheck everything you’ve just done anyway)

I'm a bit surprised by this. Maybe riding schools in the UK have more staff than over here in France, or your group lessons have fewer people at a time or there is a longer break between lessons.

Where I ride, there is a lesson starting on the hour, every hour, through the day on Saturday and Sunday (with a break at midday).
There's no way that our instructor, even if he had a couple of helpers, could groom and tack up eight to twelve horses before a lesson.

 

[Widgeon]

Maybe riding schools in the UK have more staff than over here in France

The place I went to for lessons as an adult was tiny, no staff at all save the lady who owned and ran it so once she'd assessed that I was competent enough to tack up / untack I tended to just turn up early and do it. Saved her a job. That was private lessons though so it was very quiet.

 

[Starzaan]

I have been an instructor for a long time, and at my busiest was managing a very large yard where we had two lessons running at a time, from 8am to 9pm six days a week, with up to six horses in each. We had an excellent team of staff, but we had almost 300 horses to look after as the yard was also a full livery yard.
Insurance wise we couldn’t leave any ‘Unknowns’ to tack horses up, and simply didn’t have the time for a member of staff to supervise when they could usually do it themselves in half the time. we could have people helping out at weekends, but they had to pay for stable management lessons and reach a certain standard before they were allowed to come and help, to ensure they were safe and weren’t going to end up hindering rather than helping.
I love sharing the horse world with people such as you who are enthusiastic and keen to learn, but I’m afraid I wouldn’t allow anyone to tack up before their lessons unless they had been assessed and were under our insurance. it’s also worth noting that a lot of horses do multiple lessons, so your horse may well be tacked up. They are also groomed at the start of the day to save time during changeover. Changeover is STRESSFUL - we could have up to 24 horses coming back from hacks and lessons, and 24 more going out on the next two hacks and lessons, and that all has to be managed with military precision.
I would recommend asking to book some stable management lessons, and then looking to take on a share rather than racking up the horse you ride in lessons. ?

 

[ester]

I'm a bit surprised by this. Maybe riding schools in the UK have more staff than over here in France, or your group lessons have fewer people at a time or there is a longer break between lessons.

Where I ride, there is a lesson starting on the hour, every hour, through the day on Saturday and Sunday (with a break at midday).
There's no way that our instructor, even if he had a couple of helpers, could groom and tack up eight to twelve horses before a lesson.

Nope every hour on the hour here too.
That's where your teenage helpers come in or your staff if you are bigger/busy on weekdays.
If something only has one hour not being ridden it stays tacked up with girth loosened
Tacking up usually starts 20 minutes before the start of the next hour.
Instructor doesn't get involved in tacking up just teaching or escorting as appropriate.

At RS since I've been grown up I have offered to untack which is usually appreciated and tacked up at quieter trekking places. Allowing people to tack up would often need someone else to check it all anyway though, to ensure it was correct.

 

[scats]

I did a fair bit of freelance teaching at various riding schools and we largely relied on the teenager helpers to have everything tacked up and ready for lessons. For more beginner riders, the helpers would bring the ponies round to the school and more experienced riders would get their own. I would turn up and be given my schedule for the day, which was on the hour, every hour- a mix of group and private lessons. The yard helpers were pretty good, we usually had one or two slightly older teens who kept everything in check and were good at making sure everything ran as efficiently as possible. This was a generally good system but occasionally a pony would slip through the net and I’d go looking to find it still stood in its stable without tack, so I’d have to hunt a nearby helper down or go and tack it up myself, which isn’t ideal when you are on a tight schedule. If a pony had an hour break, it would generally stay tacked up but with a loosened girth. Longer than an hour and it would be untacked.

 

[zandp]

We had 2 grooms and an instructor on the shifts I used to work - 3pm to 8.30pm, lesson each hour and often a private or shared lesson between 2 people at 8pm, we used to leave the instructor to put that horse away. Max 6 riders in any lesson.

 

[EventingMum]

In normal times I would be happy for a client to do this once I knew they were competent however, at present we are not letting any clients in the stables. Our procedure is currently - all clients have to arrive, wait outside (not go into the office), use hand gel and have their temperature scanned. We then bring the horses to whichever arena we are using and hand over to the client, wearing masks and gloves, after the lesson staff take the horse from the client, again wearing masks and gloves, in the arena before returning to the stables sanitising all the tack etc. I have had a few clients unhappy with the arrangements but I have a duty of care to keep my staff as safe as possible. Good luck with your lesson.

 

[Wishfilly]

Definitely at the moment due to Covid it is a non-starter. Riding schools are trying to minimise the number of people touching equipment and in enclosed spaces such as tack rooms/barns. At a lot of riding schools at the moment, clients wait in the school/outside and have the horse brought to them. They then get the horse ready to mount unassisted, and do a handover at the end of the lesson. The client is expected to wear gloves, so they don't actually directly touch any of the tack, and reins etc are sanitised between riders.

Without precautions like these, it's very possible riding schools would not be allowed to open, and of course staff and other clients would be put at risk.

As others have said, it may also not be realistic to groom and tack up, as the horse may be used in earlier lessons but in normal times if you are competent, it will probably be possible to tack up or untack some of the time. But if you really want to be responsible for horse care, the answer long term is probably to look for a share and it may be worth investing in some stable management lessons once these are available!

 

[18hhOlls&Me]

Tomorrow is my first lesson in twenty years and my first time sitting on a horse in at least 10. I am finally in a stable enough life position that I can hope to turn this into a longterm hobby and possibly in time get my own horse, so I am extremely excited!

When I spoke to the riding school to confirm the lesson, I asked about tacking up and was told 'oh we do that for you'.

I completely understand that they'd do that for a first lesson, but if I become a regular student, I would like to be allowed to groom and tack up before riding, and untack, rub down and give the tack a wipe afterwards (or at least the first two, I can take or leave the tack-wiping!). To me this is all part of the fun, plus another thing I need to get comfortable with again if I am to progress to loaning or owning a horse in time.

However, since I haven't been to a riding school in twenty years, I'm not sure if this is a reasonable expectation on my part? What do you think? I will definitely ask tomorrow, I'm just wondering what the general feeling is in this day and age?

Many thanks!

Haven’t been on a riding school yard for years. But yes with COVID restrictions and health and safety (riding schools have to ensure themselves up to the hilt) I would imagine the tacking up, untacking and grooming is done by yard staff, and especially until they know you and your ability. They most likely don’t have time to show everyone individually and are covering themselves in case a novice makes a mistake and gets injured putting liability on the yard potentially. That said, the riding school I worked at did own a pony day (in fact I used to run them as a teenager) where they taught basic horsemanship but be warned average age of the the group may be about 7 yrs old!! Other option is ask if they offer one on one lessons on correctly tacking up, grooming, cleaning tack (can be harder than it sounds if you’ve never done it and you accidentally take the bridle apart and can’t put it back together!!). I’m sure if you express an interest as time passes they will happily let you do more and hopefully COVID will bugger off leaving our human interactions back to normal whatever that is!! ?