Cavvietta Quarter Horse
& Cattle Company, LLC
STOCKMANSHIP * HORSEMANSHIP * SPORTSMANSHIP
Event Venue & Equestrian Center
Lessons
We offer a truly unique, but rewarding lesson program. From 3 years old to, well, very "mature" riders, we welcome everyone! We have lessons for those who have never ridden to those who have ridden their whole lives. Whether a riders wants to develop better foundational horsemanship, or hone in on specific skill sets, we would love to help you out!
We schedule lessons every Sunday night or Monday morning for the week, so just text Gracie with your availability for the week and we will work you in. This way we can plan around weather, cow catching gigs, your family vacation, etc. NO CONTRACT REQUIRED. We stay pretty busy here, but we want to have you!
We realize that most lesson programs are run differently, but this happens to work out really well for our ranch family.
Most of our lessons are set up with multiple students in the arena (a big ole 150x250, by the way--with lights!).
The first several lessons you take (if you aren't bringing your own horse) are going to be one-on-one, and they will last about one hour. We will go over our routine on how we catch/groom/saddle/mount/dismount and turnout your horse. Oh! And you'll get a short ride, also!
After a rider is proficient in the aforementioned, we'd like them to be able to catch/groom/saddle and warm up their horses on their own. That way, you can show up, do all of the above, and your lesson will start when you are warmed up, at the designated time. When you're flying pretty much solo on the basics, your lessons will likely not be a full hour (but sometimes they are--and sometimes they're much longer), but your ride time will typically exceed an hour, by the time you've warmed up and done a nice cool down on a trail, out in the cow pasture, or up the driveway.
Also available to those who can catch/groom/saddle and warm up their horses on their own are lease rides. You must be in weekly lessons to use lease rides. Lease rides are rides outside of lessons on a horse from our Cavvy so you can practice what you have learned.
We highly encourage group lessons. This helps us work everyone in who wants to ride, and gives students the opportunity to fellowship, learn with, and learn from their peers!
We love to take students to shows, trails, clinics, etc. when they're able!
You are welcome to take as many or as few lessons as you'd like.
HORSEMANSHIP LESSON PRICING
Private Lessons on a Cavvy horse $100
Private Lesson on your own horse $85
Group Lessons on a Cavvy horse $75
Group Lesson on your own horse $65
Group Lesson Package on a Cavvy horse $195 (pack of 3)*
Lease Package $400 (3 lessons, 8 lease rides)
Single Lease Rides $40
LITTLE RIDERS LESSON PRICING (6-8 year old beginners)
$40 for 30 minutes
TINY RIDERS LESSON PRICING (3-5 year old beginners)
$30 for 15 minutes
LESSONS WITH CATTLE**
One rider $150/rider
Two riders $100/rider
Three to five riders $90/rider
ROPING LESSONS ON THE DUMMY (on the ground)
One hour $45/person
*All package lessons must be used within a calendar month. If a lesson package is purchased up front, additional lessons during the month may be added for $65.
**The more riders, the longer the lesson typically. Please note, part of the cattle lesson will be "dry". This means we will get a game plan, discuss expectations, and go over drills beneficial to working cattle. Lessons with cattle for 1-2 riders will be 30 minutes to an hour.
There are many, many factors to consider when signing you or your child up for any type of lesson. In *most* instances, a participant in an activity is learning how to handle inanimate objects, preform a task solo, or work with a group of other individuals who are mainly self sustaining. However, riding lessons require two athletes and a coach that can simultaneously watch and critique both athletes, of two different species, while keeping the biomechanical and mental health of both in good working order.
When you pay a facility for lessons you are paying for (at minimum) the following:
1) Years and years of lesson expenses, where a trainer dedicated their time to becoming an expert in their field.
2) Continuing education or peer review. A trainer who is doing the BEST for their students and equines will either have accolades, be in consistent lessons, or will be showing in a discipline (and often all of the above). All of which cost time, money, and labor.
3) The facility. A mortgage or lease. The electric bill that covers fans/lights run in the barn, arena lights, structural insurance, etc.
4) Professional liability insurance. Don’t ask how much that costs in the equine world. It’ll hurt your feelings.
5) Bare minimum nutrition for the horses. Quality feed and hay—and y’all, that stuff ain’t cheap. Plus fresh water at all times.
6) Labor. Whether that be from the instructor tuning up horses, paying a trainer to ride lesson horses, or farm hands who muck stalls, mow the grass, feed the horses, etc.
7) Taxes—cause, well…Uncle Sam.
8.) An accountant to make sure you don’t genuinely screw your whole business up.
9) Fuel—yes…fuel is a BIG one. Fuel to drag pastures, to drag arena, to put hay out, to travel to the facility to teach or take lessons, fuel to run the water truck, fuel to go to Lowe’s to pick up parts for things that fall apart on a daily basis.
10) Maintenance. That fence, ain’t gunna fix itself. Let’s factor in the cost of insulators, wire, posts, etc. Did I mention you need labor to put those things up? And good labor to make sure the fencing is safe for the equines. Anyone can rig a fence, but horses can be bubble wrapped and still injure themselves.
11) Routine care. Twice a year the vet comes for vaccines. Every SIX WEEKS a farrier has to do a horse’s feet. Dental work should be done every 6 months to a year, depending on the horse. PEMF, Chiro, and body work are needed for some horses also. Oh! And don’t forget injections that cost several hundred dollars every 6 months to 2 years.
12) Ever had to go to the ER or Urgent care? Yeah, horses need those emergency bills paid too when they decide to impale themselves on something it shouldn’t even be possible to impale anything on.
13) Barn supplies and equipment: fly spray, grooming supplies, water buckets, water troughs, feed bins, hoses, zip ties, duct tape, light bulbs, brooms, mowers, tractors, weedeaters, bush hogs, tractor drags, golf cart/side by side to do chores on, a dependable truck and trailer for emergency vet visits, tires, oil changes, etc.
14) Helmets. Those need to be replaced every couple years.
15) The time someone spent marketing to even let you know there are lessons available.
16) TACK! GOOOOOOD Tack. Tack that won’t sore you up and teach you bad habits. Tack that won’t sore up your horse. Tack that won’t break in the middle of your ride. And the upkeep of that tack requires supplies like leather conditioner, brushes, rags, etc.
17) Oh! And let’s see….horses! Have y’all checked out the horse market recently? “Pick two: sound, cheap, broke.” If you can find a GOOD, SAFE, SOUND lesson horse, you’re paying a pretty penny to purchase it. You’re also paying a good penny to keep it broke and/or keep it maintained.
18) There’s so much more, but this is the general info that I can come up with off the top of my head without getting into the nitty gritty.
So if you see somewhere that’s charging the same price as ballet lessons for riding lessons, you probably need to walk away….And yes, your 8 year old should pay more for lessons than an 18 year old, because you need someone special, patient, and super detail oriented to work with the 8 year old. “They just want to ride. They don’t want to learn anything else. We don’t need to learn how to tack up or clean a saddle.” Well, put a quarter in the horse at the mall. These equines have a special job—to teach people how to safely interact with and communicate with their species. They are living, being creatures and riding facilities owe these horses welfare.
A lot of people have no idea what goes into it, but I hope this short list gives insight as to why it can be costly to go to a good facility for lessons.