Frequently Asked Questions

Each lesson takes about 2 hours from your scheduled time: 30 minutes to prepare your horse, 45 (private) or 60 (group) minutes of riding, and 30 minutes to untack and clean your space. For your first lesson, please come 5-10 minutes early so we can complete waivers and check that your equipment is suitable. Riders are welcome to come early or stay late, but children at the barn outside of their lesson time are expected to be supervised.

Each rider needs:

• Long Pants: No jeans please! Leggings or riding breeches both work well.
• Boots with a heel of at least 1.5cm: Approximately the width of a finger.
• An ASTM certified riding helmet: Different from a bike helmet. If you don’t have your own, you can rent them from us for $5 per helmet per ride.
• Clothes for the weather: in the winter, our arena and barn are protected from the wind but not the cold.
• [Optional] An apple or carrot for your horse!

Open toed shoes are not permitted in the barn. This applies not just to riders, but also anyone else in the barn.

If you are looking for riding gear, we have a small selection of used riding equipment for sale. This includes tall riding boots, paddock boots, half chaps, breeches, show shirts, show jackets, and safety vests. Ask your instructor if you are interested in checking things out.

Anyone 6 and over. Adult students are always welcome and I’ve been strictly forbidden to say the ages of my oldest students.

For younger children we can do a shorter more simple pony ride. The rider gets a very basic lesson on lead, and they won’t be as involved in preparing the horse.

Book a lesson by emailing [email protected]. We will work with you to choose a time slot that works for your schedule and your riding level.

All lesson packages, with the exception of one-time rides, must be paid by the 1st of the month. Payments after the 1st of the month must include a $25 late fee. Payments can be made through e-transfer or cash.

If you have to miss a lesson, please let us know by email at least 24 hours in advance. One lesson can be made up at the end of the month. Lessons that are not cancelled 24 hours in advance, or made up at the end of the month, are forfeited. If you frequently miss lessons, you may be asked to choose a different time slot that works better for you.

Lesson packages only ever include 4 weeks of lessons. The 5th week of each month (29th, 30th, 31st) is set aside as rest days for our horses, and there are no lessons on these days.

Lessons are cancelled day-of in the case of road closures or weather below 20C (excluding windchill). In this case, we send notice through Facebook and the mailing list, and lessons are made up at no additional cost on a later date. Riding lessons may be swapped for theory lessons in the case of dangerous weather.

It depends which package you go with. The more lessons you commit to, the better the deal per ride. If you don’t own your own certified horse riding helmet, a $5 helmet rental fee applies per ride.

There is parking beside the outdoor arena, the small garage, and the house. Parking in front of the indoor arena is not permitted.

In general, please avoid blocking any gates or doors with your vehicle. Ensure there is always enough room along the “U”-shaped driveway for a large trailer to pull completely around, for when we have horses coming and going.

Yes, I travel to outside barns for coaching. Pricing for off-site lessons are the same as standard lesson packages, but gas and mileage fees apply. Gas/mileage can be split between students for group lessons, or if multiple riders schedule lessons on the same day.

I try to stay within an hour’s drive, but I will travel outside of that if group lessons are arranged in advance.

Yes, students can bring their own horses. Riding off-property is a great way for riders to prepare their horse for shows, and our indoor arena is convenient in the winter when weather isn’t always co-operative.

Yes, most horses can be taught to do anything with patience and a firm grasp of what your trying to teach. Step by step tricks are easy to teach. The Spanish walk, rear, lay down, bow etc are all tricks that I can teach you, to teach your horse.

I specialize in dressage training, and I have also competed in hunter/jumper, eventing, and both performance and speed Western events. Every discipline I have ridden has given me tools and techniques to make me a more well-rounded trainer.

English, Western, Driving, and other styles of horse sports are all based in the same principles to me. I want my horse confident, willing to please, happy, and so well trained the rest of the world thinks I’m just sitting there. One of my favourite things to tell my students is to make their friends think, “I could do that!”

I use short frequent training sessions to keep my horses learning, and enjoying their training. This approach helps them learn everything so thoroughly they can be ridden without a bridle: they steer completely off my seat, weight, eyes, and legs. A clinician once told me it was impossible to ride upper-level dressage movements without a bridle, and I’m out to prove him wrong.

We do, we can accomodate up to 40 horses on our property. Check the boarding section under ‘More’ to see more information on the packages offered.

Blankets and fly masks are included in the indoor board price. The barn staff will put on and remove as required. It is up to you to keep them in good repair, and replace them as needed if your horse requires them.

If your horse requires extra grain or supplements outside of what we already feed, we are happy to feed it at no extra cost. You must provide these extras, and include them in your board contract so all barn workers can be made aware of dosages.