Setting up riding school

I have ridden at RS a lot over the years from went I went to Uni at 18 and no longer had my own pony until till I got my own pony again aged 35 after a few years of sharing.

The most important thing is to have happy healthy well schooled ponies and horses that get enough rest, turnout and variety of work.
Instructors who enjoy teaching and a variety of lessons, hacking and maybe shows or clinics as well.
More experienced riders may want to opt for a share scheme perhaps including one lesson a week and two unsupervised rides or options for working livery.
Maybe pony club camp type activities where a child or adult can learn to look after a pony for a week and have lessons on or do activities on it as well.
RS clients often have favorite ponies or horses and it nice they can be involved in their care a bit if it is safe to do so and they want to such as helping catch then in or turn them out or groom or muck them out.
Maybe a tea room or place for people to wait which has horse magazines to read or books to borrow.
 
Thank you so much everyone this is so so helpful and your experiences are good to know! At the moment cash is tight so hoping to get going and then if interest is good invest more. Just scared to invest in lots of of horses when its an unknown at the moment! We have a 13hh pony, 14hh cob and 14.2hh chunky cob, 14.2hh connie, 15hh TB, and 15.3hh Irish school master.
I know we need more to cater for adult riders but we darent invest in keeping more horses over the winter if no one turns up for our lessons! (Hopefully not!!)
From this id say probably 14stone weight limit max? Possibly 13 stone?
I like the idea of a waiting room but we are hoping to have an indoor built next year (half the reason why cash is tight atm), so not sure what we could do about waiting areas at the moment. We could incorporate a waiting / viewing area in the indoor hopefully, but until then we have an american barn stable system, so not sure where people could wait?
Also some people mentioned deposits as we are limited on horses, what would you consider appropriate and would it put you off?
Thanks guys keep them coming!! :)
 
Make sure that all stables have nameplates and all tack for each horse is together and clearly labelled! At one place that I rode we had to tack up before lessons - fine. However one day I got sent off to find a horse that I had never heard of before that was stabled on a yard that I didn't even know existed (it was away from the main riding school area near where the livery horses were). There was a tack room on this yard, but none of the tack was labelled. Arghh!
Additionally to nameplates, a small info sheet about each horse would be useful. Things like: a short description (colour, date of birth, height (makes sure the right horse is in the stable!)), likes and dislikes (especially if it is awkward to tack up or bites), brief description of tack (from an educational point of view, as well as informing clients if it needs boots etc)
Each horse should have its own grooming kit (again, labelled!), kept with its tack.
By labeling, it would be fine to have them just as stable numbers, as you don't want to have a bunch of things labelled as "Star", to then have to sell Star! Far easier to have things labelled "1", then you know that goes with the horse in stable 1.
If you have arena space/staff, how about mums and tots group during the week? Leid-rein/beginner lessons for small children while mums (or dads!) have a lesson together in a different arena? Godsend for parents who want to get back to riding but don't have childcare.
Following on from that, minimum age limit!
 
I think you probably need a couple of good small ponies, the 13 hander will be ok for younger children but the others will be too big for most under 8's and may be a stretch for many under 10 to get their legs round properly, a couple of 12 handers for bread and butter lead rein/ starters can usually be loaned easily enough and are cheap to keep over winter, you are likely to get more children than adults and need to be able to take then as soon as the parents approach you, turning them away because you don't have enough small ponies may mean you lose them.
The adults will probably be happy enough with private or semi private lessons while you build up what you can offer, look at getting a couple of working liveries, you get to use them for a set number of hours for a reduced livery fee, the owner gets their horse kept fit and saves money, you potentially get the best deal, a "free horse" that you don't have to kit out and can use it for possibly the more capable riders, many RS have this set up which means they can offer lessons on more quality horses that they do not have to buy or really maintain as the owner still pays most of the outgoings.
 
You should be able to get some tiny ponies on loan, or as freebies. Best to keep ponies outside with minimal stabling, but feed well and rug.
Concentrate on ponies/kids, don t worry about giving them facilities, tea rooms etc
Get customers and keeping them happy is more important.
Keep toilet paper in the tack room, there always seem to be an isuue with this.
Once you have a tea room/classroom you can start a pony club, where the youngsters get involved every week, with horse care etc, , and you can do craft lessons indoor if weather is too wet for riding, [you need alternative plans]. Remember, kiddies can't really cope if cold and wet. They should come if they have a lesson booked, but if it is bad, spend time with them grooming, tacking up, removing tack, groom pony, clean tack, so they might only ride for 15 mins of their hour. Exlain to parents what you are going to do and how important it is for most kids to learn how to do "hands on"
Most kids want to have "a pony for a day" type activity once they are capable.
 
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With regards to deposits I pay in advance and there is a 48 hour cancellation so you need to give at least 48 hours notice of cancelling or you lose your money. I think that's fair enough.
 
Good luck with your new venture! I too am keen to know where you are, as I am also in Yorkshire, and I often get people enquiring about lessons, but I only teach people on their own horses.

1. Assessment lessons... I would fully expect to pay for this. The bonus would be that you would only pay for a standard group lesson, but would get a private lesson.

2. Weight. We had to get OH his own horse to learn on as riding schools by enlarge were dire if they would take his weight. IME weight can be managed - in that people over a certain weight can have private lessons of half an hour only. That way they learn balance quicker, the horse does not have someone lounging about on them in a group lesson when they are a beginner, and you only need one weight carrier.

3. Social. For adults it is awful to be treated like a child. We found that when we tried a RS for OH he was talked down to.

4. Hacking. Again, we had to get our own horse for OH before he could hack out.
 
Do let me know when you start - if you're within travelling distance I'd be interested.

You do need to protect yourself from those people who cancel, possibly at short notice, or just don't bother to turn up, particularly if you are a small establishment. A riding school I went to only allowed cancellation if more than 24 hours' notice was given - if not then full payment for the lesson was expected. They also asked for payment in advance.
The introductory deal sounds like a good idea - maybe offer the first lesson at a reduced price, or as others have suggested a block of 3 lessons for the price of two as an introductory offer, that kind of thing?

A disclaimer won't protect you against everything, but does put it into the rider's mind that they are accepting it's a risk sport and if they have signed it is useful evidence in case of a claim.

Whoever posted about weightcarriers - really good point. I know several women who are 11-12 stone and although within weight limits, feel very awkward if put on a 14.2 weightcarrier as they feel their arse looks too big for the pony.

Also, limits of 13 stone will almost certainly exclude many men. My OH is 15 stone and therefore he would not be allowed in most schools. That's one potential reason there are so few men who take up riding!

Most riding schools do seem to be aimed at mainly catering for small children, which is a shame. The riding school I went to was quite popular with horse owners too, either for the rider to learn more advanced moves or because their own horse was out of action - it's potentially quite a big market. To have a well-schooled horse available is a good idea, though I can imagine you might want an assessment lesson first.

I also agree that it's essential that people can get hold of you! It's odd how many riding schools don't even have an answerphone, so the phone just rings and rings and you're expected to just keep trying. If you can offer e.g. Paypal payments, or other online forms of payment, that's worth considering. Cash or cheques only makes paying in advance quite hard. A book of lesson vouchers is also an option.

Wishing you all the best!
 
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It might be a good idea when you are planning your indoor arena to add in a viewing room/office area this could then be used for booking in and waiting for lessons. If you plan ahead this could have the added facility of a cafe/tea room at a later date.
 
Fabulous ideas everyone im getting very excited! For those asking where we are, we are in East Yorks (nr M62 jnct 37).
For those talking about paying in advance in case of cancellations that is a good idea, i fear we are too honest so we excpect naiively that everyone else would be!! How do you pay in advance, do you pay cash for your next lesson when you are there, do you paypal, cheque bank trans or ? Ideally i dont want to have to scour the bank every day to check if so and so has paid or not before their lesson, so how do you recommend we go about this???
 
I know that 13 stone is 13 stone argument etc but is it at all possible to associate weight limits with experience? I am more than 13 stone and don't feel awkward on my 14.2 welshie :p and he doesn't have any issues with me so I'd like to think I could ride your 14.2 weight carrier or your 15.3 irish. - I wouldn't ride the TB :p. I have had a few schoolmaster lessons to do some fancier stuff recently and ridden a range and although I had made sure they knew my weight they really weren't too fussed and had quite a lot of blokes riding too so perhaps were more used to it.

Also 11.2 ponies are bread and butter money, at the RS I worked at we had more of them than anything, and a lot of 14.2-15 handers for adults, we rarely had anything much bigger height wise.

Shorter lessons for small children. They cannot concentrate for more than half an hour. I think there is an art to teaching them proper stuff but also keeping them interested when they don't think they are learning. I remember some parents who were insistent that their 4-5 yo had a 'proper' private lesson whatever that is :p. which would frequently result in a bored child that gave up. Younger kids are better if more than one of them IMO with sufficient helpers and lots of balancing stuff/games in walk/walking over and between poles to focus them rather than too many circles ;). Those that I taught certainly never seemed to lag behind those that had the 'proper' lessons ;).

Definitely good communications.
 
jenz87 said:
For those talking about tacking up /untacking / grooming. Do you do this unsupervised, do you arrive for your lesson early to get your horse ready? I understand why you would want to as i would have as a child, but just trying to sort logistics in my head as to how we would do it / health and safety etc. Thanks!
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When I was at the RS, this became expected of me after a few years when I knew the ponies and could tack up myself. Tbh, as a beginner I wasn't comfortable around horses and was glad that they were tacked up and waiting.

Once I'd been riding a few years I didn't think twice about tacking up. I also didn't ride the horses that would do a few lessons in a row or where commonly used in lessons (or my own horse, naturally was expected to have him tacked up!) at that point and I'd also been taught how to tack up properly and I was confident around the horses.

Clearly labelled tack and tack pegs are also really important! I kept my horse on working livery and nothing annoyed me more than finding my boots on a different horse or that they had vanished off my saddle or bits of bridle had gone, or things put back in the wrong place! One of the best systems I've seen is a tag with a number on the bridle and on the saddle, that matches with the stable door as well as the number being above the bridle hook and on the saddle rack.

Also if the horse has boots/rainsheet make sure that's kept near them. One yard kept all boots in a big box but finding a matching pair could be hard (and often those on working livery had boots put in the big box) and I ended up leaving mine either on my stirrup leathers or in my stable. So if possible a box/place to put boots that belong to the horse.

Also leadropes and headcollars, it's better to have too many than too little. Cob sizes used to always vanish - as well as my headcollars that hung outside my stable! I even had one with a nameplate that I found being used on a riding school pony, despite having my horses name on it.

So make sure there's a clear difference between riding school and livery stuff - if it means liveries get a different tack room or everything is super super labelled, then so be it. Nothing annoyed me more than having to get a new set of overreach boots every other week. The only way I got round it was buying everything in bright pink because they stood out and everyone knew my horse was the ridiculous looking one with hot pink legs.
 
jenz87 said:
Fabulous ideas everyone im getting very excited! For those asking where we are, we are in East Yorks (nr M62 jnct 37).
For those talking about paying in advance in case of cancellations that is a good idea, i fear we are too honest so we excpect naiively that everyone else would be!! How do you pay in advance, do you pay cash for your next lesson when you are there, do you paypal, cheque bank trans or ? Ideally i dont want to have to scour the bank every day to check if so and so has paid or not before their lesson, so how do you recommend we go about this???
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When they phone up to book they need to be able to pay by card over the phone. Or by card machine after their lesson for the next one.
 
shadeofshyness said:
When they phone up to book they need to be able to pay by card over the phone. Or by card machine after their lesson for the next one.
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Ys, but until the busines is making a profit it is best to try to do without a card facility, it is not free to the vendor. To be honest, if they don't turn up once and no call, then they probably wont be able to book again.
Any RS relies on word of mouth and regular customers.
I have never been asked to pay in advance even if I was unknown.
 
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jenz87 said:
Fabulous ideas everyone im getting very excited! For those asking where we are, we are in East Yorks (nr M62 jnct 37).
For those talking about paying in advance in case of cancellations that is a good idea, i fear we are too honest so we excpect naiively that everyone else would be!! How do you pay in advance, do you pay cash for your next lesson when you are there, do you paypal, cheque bank trans or ? Ideally i dont want to have to scour the bank every day to check if so and so has paid or not before their lesson, so how do you recommend we go about this???
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OOOh, I am just up the road :-) I will be interested when you do start.

I would agree with another poster, cash on arrival. If someone does not turn up they are informed that they have to pay the cancellation fee. If they do not, fair enough, but they are not welcome to book again. In my lessons if someone has a genuine reason I waive the fee anyway (e.g lame horse, box won't start, rider sickness). It is really to cover your expenses, for example if you turned down another booking because they were expected.
 
My girls learnt at riding school,so I had nearly 4 years of watching them. I would say,somewhere for parents to watch and have a cup of tea. Clean toilets, pony days,groundwork lessons, hacks, clearly signposted buildings. Introductory emails,telling people where to go when they arrive,who to ask for,there is nothing worse than turning up at a big,busy yard not knowing where you are meant to be.Good luck and keep us posted.
 
sasquatch said:
When I was at the RS, this became expected of me after a few years when I knew the ponies and could tack up myself. Tbh, as a beginner I wasn't comfortable around horses and was glad that they were tacked up and waiting.

Once I'd been riding a few years I didn't think twice about tacking up. I also didn't ride the horses that would do a few lessons in a row or where commonly used in lessons (or my own horse, naturally was expected to have him tacked up!) at that point and I'd also been taught how to tack up properly and I was confident around the horses.
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My daughter has an hour long lesson, part of which is grooming and taking up, it's an important skill to be able to get your horse ready and something that she enjoys.
 
Just remembered another thing: timing of lessons! Make it clear that e.g. a one hour lesson will include time at either end for getting on/off horse, otherwise you may get grumbles from some people who feel they haven't had their full hour's teaching time. Yes, it happens. Be clear from the outset, it will avoid problems.

At the same time, grumbles might be justified if the previous lesson overran by 10 minutes or more, but you end the next session exactly on time...this has happened to me a few times. Especially if it happens on a half hour private lesson 10 mins less is just not on really - they are expensive too.
 
teacups said:
Just remembered another thing: timing of lessons! Make it clear that e.g. a one hour lesson will include time at either end for getting on/off horse, otherwise you may get grumbles from some people who feel they haven't had their full hour's teaching time. Yes, it happens. Be clear from the outset, it will avoid problems.

At the same time, grumbles might be justified if the previous lesson overran by 10 minutes or more, but you end the next session exactly on time...this has happened to me a few times. Especially if it happens on a half hour private lesson 10 mins less is just not on really - they are expensive too.
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The riding school I learned at had an 8.30 lesson, a 9.45 lesson and an 11.00 lesson just for this reason. Same in the afternoons. It made for a nice atmosphere at changeover time, and made sure nothing was missed due to rushing.
 
Red-1 said:
The riding school I learned at had an 8.30 lesson, a 9.45 lesson and an 11.00 lesson just for this reason. Same in the afternoons. It made for a nice atmosphere at changeover time, and made sure nothing was missed due to rushing.
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What a sensible idea.
 
I learnt at a RS as a 7 year old and have been to a few good and bad RS since. Things that I remember and think make a good RS are:
1. Friendly smiley staff
2. Clean and tidy yard
3. Cups of tea available
4. They answer the phone (or ring you back quickly if they don't)
5. Run 'own a pony/horse for a day' for all ages!
6. Stress the fact that new comers (with or without any riding experience) are welcome
7. Encourage a friendly and accepting manner to all staff and people who ride there
8. Card payment facility
9. Clean toilets, with loo paper in abundance!
10. Lesson times to suit adults who work
 
Great job guys! Loving the ideas. Im searching online for card payments, there seems like some companies that have no subscription fees, just a charge of 2.5% on each payment. Would people object to paying a fee to use their card (obviously we would accept cash as well). Probably something like 50p a go? Is this reasonable?
Hoping to build a small coffee/viewing area when indoor goes up, so for now will have to manage!!
A few people mentioned info on ponies etc. Some ponies are living out so will be brought in for tacking up (into stables etc), but not necessarily THEIR stable, so would people find it important if we did an "info wall" or something like that with pictures of the ponies so you knew, or is this not THAT important??
 
I think it's important - too much risk of someone accidentally putting the wrong tack on if you allow people to tack up. It also makes it so much easier than looking around for something that might be right.

How about having a board and numbering the horses? The horse could have a numbered tag on its (field safe) head-collar so when it is brought in they just grab the tack for that number. And if all tack is in number order it makes it easier that trying to find names.

I do like the idea of the notice board with pictures. I also like the idea someone mentioned with likes and dislikes of the pony and any warnings like no treats or that they may nip when doing the girth up.
 
I think an info board with pictures is a brilliant idea. It is good in terms of helping people get things right, good organisation, and also potentially something interesting to look at whilst waiting. On a 'softer' level, I think it implies you care about your ponies as you've taken the time to write a little bit about each one - and also help people maybe feel more part of the yard because they now have that information too. Feeling like an outsider is horrible. Having info about the horse's tack etc would be really useful, as well as maybe some 'fun facts', like breeding (if known), or if they have a favourite place to be scratched.

I think information and creating a sense of inclusiveness is really important. As a child, I always felt left out because others knew about things going on that I didn't. Making sure everybody has equal access to information is key.

Re: card payments - I know you can get little devices that work through your mobile now. I saw them in Screwfix recently. Not sure what the options are in terms of charges for payments made with them, but might be a bit cheaper in terms of equipment? I don't like having to pay a card surcharge usually, but I totally accept it when I know it is a business just starting up, so I think that's fair. I would definitely rather have to pay a small surcharge than not have the option of paying by card.
 
Ive just launched our new website (its quite basic at the moment, as well, we're just starting out, so its all a bit open?!). If anyone wants to have a snoop and tell me if theres anything youd like to see on it, PM me.Im not in the hope of advertising as 99.99% of you wont be anywhere near us anyway, but a friendly eye would be appreciated! :)
 
jenz87 said:
Great job guys! Loving the ideas. Im searching online for card payments, there seems like some companies that have no subscription fees, just a charge of 2.5% on each payment. Would people object to paying a fee to use their card (obviously we would accept cash as well). Probably something like 50p a go? Is this reasonable?
Hoping to build a small coffee/viewing area when indoor goes up, so for now will have to manage!!
A few people mentioned info on ponies etc. Some ponies are living out so will be brought in for tacking up (into stables etc), but not necessarily THEIR stable, so would people find it important if we did an "info wall" or something like that with pictures of the ponies so you knew, or is this not THAT important??
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Don't know if the rules/law are the same, but when my friend had a shop she wasn't allowed to charge extra for a card fee i.e. she had to pay the % out of the profit. Maybe find a website about setting up a small business that could give you all the legalities?
 
wkiwi said:
Don't know if the rules/law are the same, but when my friend had a shop she wasn't allowed to charge extra for a card fee i.e. she had to pay the % out of the profit. Maybe find a website about setting up a small business that could give you all the legalities?
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Look at the smallprint on receipt on your supermarket shop - they charge for card services even if you pay cash...
 
Re weight limits of horses, our local RDA has a clear table of what a horse can carry weight wise, inc the weight of their tack and the exact maximum left for a fully clothed rider. It's been signed off by a local vet so they can help avoid the arguments. Obv it's not a perfect science, but going lower than the horse could really carry to account for novice riders won't do any harm.

Re instructors, if they have nothing, at least put them through a basic qualification, UKCC level 1 isn't too expensive and gave me some really helpful hints and tips despite me having been teaching for a good few years prior to doing it.

Make sure your instructors are riding at a really good level or they'll start holding your customers back, I've seen this pan out in real life and it never ended with happy clients! Also make very sure they are consistent in their ethos of what's right and wrong to your own standards. You may want different instructors to be able to step in and teach where the regular one is off sick/on holiday. As a former regular RS client it was never nice being told in one lesson 'yes that's fine' and in another 'no that's not how you do that'.

Good luck!!
 
EQUIDAE said:
Look at the smallprint on receipt on your supermarket shop - they charge for card services even if you pay cash...
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Thanks Equidae - I have never looked.
What a rip-off! I will have a look and see if all supermarkets do it; if not then my feet will be doing the voting!
 
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