Conference noted::equitation

	Verrill Farm (Concord, MA):

	No such thing as a 1/2 hour
	$50 / hr for 1 hour private
	$35 / hr for semi private
	$15 / hr for group (3 or more)

	
	

    
    There is such a thing as 1/2 hr lessons.  Any good instructor will
    start off a beginner rider w/ 1/2hr lesson and keep them at a 1/2hr
    until they develop more muscle's and start to become less sour after
    there lesson.
    
    They prices you have stated are to high (IMHO) 
    
    MEC 1/2hr huntseat lesson $15.00 and 1hr $25.00 (that was as of '93)
    they may have go up slightly
    
    Maplewood - Dressage/Balance seat 1/2hr $25.00 1hr $35.00 (they just
    went up)  you can ride w/ 3 people for $30.00hr
    
    Louisa 

    My kids are both beginners, I pay $15/hr group, or $15 per half hour
    private for beginner lessons for them.  You really don't need the
    'best' when your just trying to get your bearings for the first few
    months.
    
    Group lessons are nice when you're starting (or anytime for that
    matter) because you get to take 'rest breaks' somewhat and as you watch
    the instructor work with someone else, you often figure out what
    they've been trying to get you to do.  I really enjoy group lessons
    because of that. 
    
    Sharon
    
    

    
    In my area (Southeastern MA, 495S down near the Cape):
    
    $15 per 1/2 hour private, $25 per hour (for English or Western
    lessons)
    
    $30 & up per 1/2 hour for Dressage Lessons ($ depends upon instructor)
    
    Lynne

    Where's the spulling chicker anyway?
    

    why are dressage rates so high?

    Everything for dressage is higher! It is supposed to require a higher
    level of training for the instructor, but there are no rules or
    requirements in PA for instuctors. I don't know if MA is different.
    In PA I am getting 1 hour of dressage instruction for $30 on my own
    horse, but at the local school with their horse it is $50. Their horses
    are much better trained for learning a good seat, whereas my instructor
    has to train the horse and me.
    

    In the UK I don't believe the difference between the disciplines is so 
    great.  Likewise, there are no rules or requirements for instructors.
    I think David Hunt is actually unqualified, which is obviously no
    reflection on his experience or capabilities. 
    
    I believe you generally get what you pay for though, with the better
    trainers being more expensive.  There is a limit though, in what the
    market will bear.  Some trainers may have studied for as long as is
    takes to become a barrister, but their rates would not be comparable.

    Here in Germany, I pay 40DM ($23.50 at today's exchange) for a 1/2
    hour private lesson with a school horse at a local barn.  If I were to 
    ride in a group lesson (for an hour) it would be 25DM (approx. $15) on 
    a school horse also.
    
    I consider my instructor to be one of the best I've ever ridden with. 
    I'm not positive how one qualifies to be an instructor, but I know that
    both a written and riding test is necessary to compete at the different
    levels of competition here, so I would assume that the same, if not
    more, is require to teach.  Tomorrow morning (at 8:30 a.m. - am I
    crazy on a day off work???) I'm having another lesson, so I'll ask what
    the rules are here in Germany for teaching.
    
    The rates mentioned in the base note are extremely high.  When I was
    back home riding on the North Shore (in Danvers), I paid my instructor
    (who was my former roommate, but no discounts!) $30/hour of private
    instruction.  Her rates were about average for other non-"name"
    instructors in the area.
    
    Janet

    I had thought you could map the rates on a curve, the prices
    decending from Boston to the NH border.

    Larkspur sounds like rt128 rates to me.  Makes Robert Dovers
    $100 an hour seem like a bargin.

    The unknown in those rates is the level of training of the
    school horses.  If your a beginner youl'l end up on a 15+
    year old very quiet quarter horse no matter which "style".
    (if not they should)

    Bill

    Please remember, though it doesn't necessarily reflect on the quality
    of instructors, Massachusetts does require all instructors to be
    licensed and all stables to be licensed.
    
    Just a point of interest.
    
    H

    
    <-- But neither are checked up on! (8
    
    

    I'm paying $20 hour at my instructors barn on my horse for an hour
    lesson.  It's a few dollars more if you use her horses.  I do 1/2 
    hour lessons on my Fjord because she can only handle the 1/2 hour
    lesson mentally, and that's half the hour rate.
    
    For her to travel, it depends on the distance and time for travel, and
    the number of lessons at the location.
    
    I've paid more for dressage and driving clinics, but then the formats
    are different.
    
    Michele 

	First, a point of clarification.

	Of course there is such a thing as a half/hour lesson.  They are just
	not offered at my barn.  While you may only spend 1/2 hour on 
	horseback, there is time and effort spend teaching you how to tack up 
	and care for the horse (cleaning before and after, etc).  We do not 
	have enough pure beginners to afford the help to keep horses tacked 
	and ready for students.    On another point, we do not have 'school' 
	horses.  All of the horses are privately owned and used by the 	
	permission of the owner for lessons.  


	I also find the difference in prices for dressage and hunt seat 
	lessons interesting.  While I am primarily a dressage rider, I find 
	that the basic principles are the same until you get to much higher 
	levels.  As someone once told me, Jumping is simply dressage over 
	fences.  The rider and horse must be trained.  Especially for 
	beginners, I cannot see paying the extra money.  If you cannot keep 
	your leg on, your heels down and your hands quiet, why pay more for 
	the lesson?