How Much Are Horse Riding Lessons?
What actually decides the price, what should be included, and how to check a riding school is approved before you hand over any money.
How much are horse riding lessons?
Prices vary between riding schools. They change with whether the lesson is private or in a group, and how long it lasts.
What actually decides the price
The four things that move the number
- Private or group. A private lesson is typically two to three times a group one, hour for hour. It is the single biggest factor.
- Thirty minutes or an hour. Not simply double. Many centres price the half hour closer to two thirds of the hour.
- What is included. Hat hire, insurance, and any membership the centre requires before you ride.
- Where you are. Lessons near a city cost more than lessons in the countryside, for the same reason everything else does.
Our own account of the variables, from keeping horses rather than from a price survey. The figures themselves are local and change, which is why they are not on this page.
What should be included, and what to ask about
Ask what the advertised price actually covers. The three that catch people out are hat hire, insurance, and membership: some centres require you to join before you can book, which is a real cost on top of the first lesson.
Then ask about block bookings and, more importantly, what happens if you miss one. That is where the terms differ most and where the value of a block either holds up or does not. Insurance is worth asking about in the same breath, because the cover a school carries is not the cover a riding holiday expects you to hold, and what that amounts to is set out in riding holiday insurance.
Finally ask what happens if the weather closes the outdoor school. A centre with an indoor school is worth more in January than the price difference suggests.
Our own horses at Noonvares Farm, west Cornwall, on a frosty morning.
How to check a riding school is approved
Two organisations run approval schemes for riding establishments in Britain: the British Horse Society and the Association of British Riding Schools. Both publish lists of the centres they have approved.
Check the scheme’s own list, not the badge on the website. A logo on a page is a claim; the list is the record. This is a two-minute check and it is the most useful thing you can do before booking anything.
Approval is about standards of horse care, rider safety and instructor qualification. It is not a guarantee that you will like the place, which is a separate question and one only a visit answers.
Lessons for children, and for adults starting again
For children, ask the minimum age, whether the first session is a led pony or a real lesson, and how many children are in a group. For adults, ask specifically for adult beginner lessons rather than being put in with children, which happens more than it should. A week in the saddle in Italy, or on a ranch in the USA or Canada, asks a different kind of fitness from a weekly hour in a school, and the long mountain rides in Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan ask a good deal more again. A riding safari sits apart from all of them, because what you come to see decides where you ride.
If you are returning after years away, say so plainly rather than describing yourself as a beginner or as experienced. Neither is accurate and the centre needs the real version to put you on the right horse.
Riding in Cornwall
If you are looking for somewhere to ride down here rather than for lessons in general, the beaches, Bodmin Moor and what to check before you book are covered in horse riding in Cornwall. If you are bringing your own horse, that is take your horse on holiday.
Lesson Notes
What people ask before booking a first lesson.
Are private horse riding lessons worth the extra?
For a nervous rider or somebody with a specific problem, usually yes, because the whole half hour is yours. For a child starting out, a group lesson is often better as well as cheaper, because watching other people ride is part of learning.
How long is a horse riding lesson?
Typically thirty minutes or an hour. Thirty minutes is enough for a beginner and for most children. An hour is a lot of trotting if you are not used to it.
Do you need your own hat and boots?
Not to start. Most centres lend hats, and boots with a small heel are enough. Buy your own hat once you are sure you will keep going, and buy it new: a second-hand hat may have been dropped.
Are riding lessons cheaper if you book a block?
Usually, and most centres offer it. Ask what happens if you miss one, because that is where block bookings differ most.
Can adults learn to ride from scratch?
Yes, and a good number of riders start in their thirties, forties and later. Ask specifically for adult beginner lessons rather than joining a children’s group.
How do you check a riding school is approved?
Check against the approval scheme’s own list rather than a badge on a website. The British Horse Society and the Association of British Riding Schools both run schemes, and both publish who is on them.
Written at Noonvares Farm in west Cornwall. We keep horses and we do not run a riding school, teach, or take a fee from anyone who does. The two approval schemes named are the British Horse Society and the Association of British Riding Schools; check their own published lists rather than this page. No lesson price appears here because we have not checked one.