We started small, as many lesson businesses do.
We had two horses, Zahtar and Heaven, our personal riding horses that were old enough, schooled enough and safe enough to use part-time as lesson ponies. We thought they could teach three or four lessons per week to help earn their keep.
And earn their keep they did: suddenly, we had twenty students, summer day camps, in-house schooling shows, and the phone just kept on ringing!
The ponies were definitely teaching lessons more than three days a week … and getting cranky about it.
Out came the saddles, back went the ears
Zahtar, our resident saint, started drifting longingly toward the gate, and could only be coerced into the trot after a lengthy look at the crop.
Heaven, normally a Ferrari disguised as a horse, became similarly reluctant to canter – assuming you could catch her in the first place.
We were learning a persistent truth about the lesson business: finding good school horses is hard, making good school horses is harder, and keeping them good is hardest of all.
Eventually, we had a much larger equine workforce that could share the load, and our horses gained a reputation for being rock-solid, lovable partners.
Along the way, we developed some strategies to keep our horses physically and mentally sound.
When your business booms, you have to become an advocate for your horses as well as for your bottom line:
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Maintain your school horses as well as you would a show string. We’re only too aware of the strain a herd of ten horses can put on a budget, and we understand that not every school horse can get monthly visits from an equine bodyworker.
But we're also aware of the strain that carrying unbalanced beginners places on a horse's body. The better you care for your horses, the more they can work and the longer they last - there’s a solid return on investment.
What does this maintenance look like? First, hooves must be trimmed on a regular schedule. Tripping over long toes is a liability as well as a soundness threat. If your horses are barefoot, make sure they are living a lifestyle that supports healthy hooves: limited simple carbs, lots of movement, and work on different surfaces.
Next, make sure their teeth are checked on a regular basis, by the best equine dentist or veterinarian you can afford.
Check saddle fit FREQUENTLY. Keep a sharp eye out for signs of ulcers or chiropractic issues, and address them ASAP.
Treatment is expensive, but so is your best school horse bucking off students or missing months of work!
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Check in with your golden oldies. Some older horses are only serviceably sound. That can be okay IF they are still comfortable and happy in their work.
Look carefully for signs that they are not. This could be stopping at fences, getting disunited in canter, or a reluctance to go forward. Do they need a rest or some joint support? Is it time to start backing off their work? Always rule out discomfort before addressing behavior, especially with a high-mileage horse. -
Turn them out. In our experience, this is the best (and often cheapest!) joint maintenance there is. Even paddocks with strategically-placed free choice hay can help keep your horse’s legs in working order and their bellies comfortably full. It can also make your beginner mounts safer: pent-up energy is not our friend in the arena!
If you aren’t blessed with an abundance of land or grass, see if you can create sacrifice lots and rotate herds through them. If you have the best of both worlds and have turnout AND stalls, a great compromise can be to bring horses in for a quiet hour or two (with hay!) prior to your after-school lesson rush. - Invest in footing. Eventually, we want our students learning to ride on all of it: soft ground, hard ground, sand and grass and pavement. But if your horses are working on the same surface day in and day out, the ground they work on can have a big impact on their comfort and soundness. Replace or spruce up your footing as necessary, and stay on top of maintaining it.
- Variety is the spice of life. Our students tell us one of their favorite things about our program is that they aren’t just going around and around on the rail. They are playing games, making up jump and obstacle courses, getting out of the ring, tackling new polework setups, and learning new things ALL THE TIME. We think this variety goes a long way toward keeping horses as well as people fresh.
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But … it means you need to lesson plan carefully. Consider the needs of your horses when you are scheduling your lesson content each week. If you aren’t careful, you’ll have your horses doing gymnastic grids four days in a row, and THAT is a great way to make them lame and sour.
It’s a really difficult juggling act, but if you have to make hard choices, try to lean on the horse’s side whenever possible. If you can’t, make it up them after with an extra rest day or some easier lessons.
Of course, one of the most important things we can do for our horses is to create compassionate students who prioritize the horse's well-being over their own goals
Teach your students to read subtle equine body language, and emphasize the importance of unmounted education (including basic horse psychology) from their very first lesson.
If you don’t advocate for your horses, you can’t expect your students to!
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Save a horse, ride a barrel. There are many skills that our horses probably wish their students would master BEFORE getting in the saddle: rein handling, posting, and emergency drills at the top of the list! Even the most well-intentioned beginner will make mistakes.
Rather than abusing the forgiving nature of school horses, we should look for methods of teaching potentially-aversive skills off the horse first. Saddles can be placed on barrels, logs, or sturdy stands; bits and reins can be held or fastened to jump standards or fence posts.
As a bonus, once you normalize off-the-horse “riding” lessons, you’ll have an indoor alternative for a rained-out ride. -
Make time for tune-ups. Unfortunately, your horses will get progressively “untrained” by your beginners over time.
You may find it helpful to hop on occasionally and remind your horses that they can carry themselves in a comfortable balance, they can move away from the inside leg, they can perform prompt and light transitions. Make these sessions POSITIVE and FUN - you are not punishing or even correcting really. You are showing your horses that things can be and will be better... with lots of sympathy for their fitness and physical condition. -
Make the arena a happy place. How often do your horses step into the arena to play instead of work? Creating positive associations can go a long way toward preventing ring sour behavior. Occasionally feed lesson horses dinner in the arena, or let them roll in the sand after a shower, or practice some positive reinforcement training.
Helping your horses feel relaxed and enthusiastic about their workspace is always time well spent. -
Go for a gallop. Do this yourself or send out an advanced student. Our working students eagerly put in the barn hours because they know that eventually they will be rewarded with the privilege of a play-day hack.
Let the horses have a grand old time: jump logs, race up hills, ride on a long rein, be silly and fun. Just remind them they are also capable of being quiet in the field before you put a beginner back on!
We expect our school horses to turn a profit, and we expect them to work long hours along with us
In exchange, we want them to think their lives are pretty great.
It takes happy horses to make happy customers… and if your horses aren’t happy, then your lesson program might be missing the point!
Want teaching resources that make horses happier?
- Introduce equine behavior theory and groundwork skills with lesson plans and worksheets for the HorseCentered curriculum.
- Establish a successful unmounted program, teach fun off-the-horse "riding" lessons, and create educated equestrians with the help of THE BIG BOOK OF BARN LESSONS.
- Teach students to consider stable management practices from the horse's point of view: Teaching Guide - Orange HorseSense - Think Like a Horse.
- Plan for routine health and vet care: HorseSense Equine Record Book.