FAQs
- What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?
Private lessons are $150/hour. This rate applies to riding school horses at my home stable, trailer-ins at my home stable, or me teaching at the customer's stable. If I'm teaching you at a barn other than my Frederick or Highland location, there is a travel fee - $15/local, more for barns outside my area. Clinic fees are the same with an added travel fee. I will travel up to 30 miles to teach at the customer's stable. If a stable I'm traveling to requires an arena fee, for outside instructors, the customer covers that charge in addition to the travel fee.
- What is your typical process for working with a new customer?
I first invite you to meet myself and the horses I teach on at my home base. I encourage you to watch me teaching someone else, so you can get a feel for what my lessons are like. If you want me to travel to you, I first make sure that the stable I'm going to allows outside instructors, I find out if there is a fee and I make sure they have my teaching insurance information if they need it. I'll guide you to my website, where you can read about how my lessons are structured. You can choose to pay ahead of time online, or bring cash, a check, or pay via your phone online at the time of the lesson. At the beginning of your lessons, we'll assess where your starting point is, and address any questions or issues that you have outlined. We'll make a note of your goals, and then we'll methodically work through skill building to help you achieve those goals.
- What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
I became a Mary Wanless Accredited Coach several years ago, and am now in the process of applying for the next level of Coach Accreditation in her system. In 2000 I graduated with one degree in Equine Management - Teaching Track, and another in Equine Facilitated Therapy. I trained in England for 7 months with Mary Wanless, world renowned biomechanics expert, and then trained with a student of Mary's for 3 years upon returning to the States. I've gone through the TAGteach certification, which is a method of using very simple phrases and positive reinforcement to make the teaching/learning process extremely efficient. It's a way of boiling down the instruction into bite-size pieces, and the student gets to practice each piece to become fluent in it before moving on to something harder. Riding well is an extremely complicated endeavor, so there are many, many ways the instructor can shape the rider into a more effective, more skilled "captain of the ship". I am constantly attending seminars, clinics and trainings of all kinds to expand the depth and breadth of my knowledge so that I can be my students' best support. I read all sorts of horse training and riding books, participate in discussions with my peers about the nuances of the rider/horse relationship as well as ethical horse care, and have several school horses that I care for and ride myself to keep in good school shape.