Horse riding lessons

[Painauraison]

Hello,
My daughter loves horses so was thinking about lessons.
Can anyone with insight tell me some basic info on costs? What sort of price would a lesson be? What sort of cost is the equipment/clothing? Before I offer this as an option I want to check we can afford it!
Thanks

We’re in the north and pay £30 for a 45 min lesson.
For a decent hat and body protector you’re looking at £150. Any decent evil with have ones you can borrow initially. You can get boots for about £40.

Prices vary quite a bit by area, near me (Scotland) I think it’s about £35 for a half hour group lesson.
Clothes & boots are as expensive as you care to pay.

you need to consider the possibility that you end up buying a pony and then wave goodbye to every penny you earn :)

South East and pay 45 to 60 for a half hour lesson depending on where you go. I pay 55 but the school is mostly aimed at competing riders though they do teach novices like myself and are very supportive.

A good hat you're looking at 70 to 120 depending on where you buy it and head shape. Riding tights with a sticky bum would be advantageous and they'll set you back about 30 to 50 pounds again depending on where you buy from. Amazon is cheaper. Any boots with a small heel are fine but long ones are easier to ride in. More grip.

Unless you have your own horse all other equipment is generally supplied by the school.

But you will get the bug. Prepared to go for a 30 minute lesson and end up there for 3 hours grooming and socialising.

Most schools offer 30 minute shared lessons and provide equipment except boots (fine to wear wellies or shoes to see if they like it at first). If they enjoy it, farm supply shops are good for equipment or often you can buy it from families at the riding school who have outgrown. The chest protectors are important though not everyone has them.

Beware though, lessons get longer then there's weekend pony club ...

Oh my god these prices!

We are in South Staffs and pay £17.50 for 30 mins, with £1 for the loan of a hat so £18.50. I thought that was bad enough.

We use Vinted for my daughter’s jodphurs and riding boots which my is brilliant, I’d thoroughly recommend looking on there to cut costs or until you are sure she/he wants to stick with it.

One thing you need to hear in mind is that the cost of lessons can and is likely to go up - ours has increased twice in the past year.

Crazy expensive. I used to have my own horses and now I wince at the thought of booking a ride - my local stables is £60 an hour. It is absolutely not a cheap hobby and there are no easy ways to save money, especially as a beginner where safe horses and good instruction are vital to progress and enjoyment.

Best to Google your local stables and check the price list and what is included, as it varies a lot by area. Good luck! It is an addictive hobby so plan for it to bankrupt you and it will be less of a shock

We pay £25 per lesson (45 minutes) but can purchase a block of 4 lessons for £88 saving £12.
We buy second hand body protector and boots - I’d say £35-£40 for a body protector although you can get them cheaper on eBay. Boots on Facebook marketplace less than £15. Some riding schools supply free helmets. Trousers, shirts, gloves etc I’d say £50 every two years.

Teenagers over 13 get a chance to work at the stables in exchange for a free lesson and some small cash.
My dd also rides for free exercising and training the ponies of one of her instructors.

DD has been riding for a year. We're in greater London and pay £24 for a 30 min group lesson including hat hire. I bought boots from Vinted and she just wore leggings the first few times but now I buy clothing from Vinted too.

North East England and I pay £37 for a 30 min private lesson for my DD. Iirc it's £28 for a group lesson but my DD is not keen on them as she spends a lot of the lesson just trotting around and obviously doesn't get the 1:1 instruction that you do in a private.

Riding tights with a sticky bits on the bum and thighs are a must once you start trotting for grip on the saddle.

Outfits can be cheap! Amazon jods, marketplace boots, new hat off eBay, and a cheap waterproof jacket.
You don't need 1:1 lessons initially, she can do a group lesson (far cheaper).

Borrow a hat until she's obsessed then for Christmas take her to get one fitted - 100 quid minimum.

Body protector, boots and jods all fb marketplace or ebay.

Ask the instructor what size body protector she'd need then if she's not competing or in Pony Club any cheap one off FB marketplace is fine.

Gloves - get the cheap stretchy 'magic' gloves from a farm shop

It's birthdays and Christmases for years and there's nothing better. Enjoy!

£55 for a group hour lesson or £50 for a 30 minute private in SW London. Group lessons are only for age 7 and up.

She has a Whitaker adjustable riding hat that was about £60 but since it’s adjustable it should last. Riding tights from Amazon maybe £20. Boots were Decathlon, can’t remember but that weren’t expensive. Got the body protector handed down from a cousin that had barely used it before giving up riding which was good as they’re about £100 normally.

Really depends where you are. Group lesson is £25 for 30 mins. This is cheap. It's not the newest of facilities to say the least but the kids love it. They work Saturdays in exchange for a ride on Sundays.

Hat around 100. Please don't buy one off eBay.

Don't go all out and buy a load of kit in the beginning. She can start with wellies and tracksuit bottoms and she should be able to hire a hat from the yard. Make sure it is BHS accredited and it's useful if a Pony Club centre too.

It's £39 for a half hour private child's lesson here (Midlands) although if you buy tokens for 10 lessons you get 10% off.

DD's previous riding school was about £17 for a half hour group lesson though it's probably gone up since then.

Another place was £150 for six 30-minute group lessons, which had to be booked in advance. There was no discount if you were on holiday one week.

It's such a great hobby but not without an element of risk. Please check out British horse society approved centres first as you then have a certain amount of confidence in the standards and don't have to check safeguarding, first aid, insurance, council licence yourself. Anyone can set up a ' riding school ' in a field and you would have no idea if any of the above is in place. There can be some great places who are not BHS or ABRS approved, but you'd need to check qualifications etc yourself. Parents are often just looking at the price but good to look at other things too. There will be a reason someone on FB is offering lessons at £9 and hour.
Prioritise a hat fitted properly at a tack shop with the correct kitemark etc ( not all decathlon ones have this). Everything else can come later ( vinted if they like brands) and be second hand. It's definitely a great source of ideas for presents and a healthy way to spend time.

Some great advice here and info. Thankyou, I will look into local schools 😀