Grand Slam Equestrian, LLC.- Nina M. Shaffer

Pay Now or Pay Later:
Rethinking the Pipeline of Lesson Horses

I feel like a lot of my articles have centered around the human factor of the progress in industry. But the horses are the center of everything , and if we do not maintain a large presence of reliable horse partners, then the human factor does not exist at all. I have learned, that in the world of horse riding instruction, you either pay up front, or you pay down the road. Barn owners face a stark choice, take the risk of buying cheap, genetically fragile horses that break down within a few seasons, or take the loss of a major upfront investment to secure a reliable, sound mount. When it comes to feeding a sustainable pipeline of lesson horses for young riders, the industry has backed itself into a corner. By breeding for flash, movement, and competition success across nearly every discipline, we have produced genetically delicate models. The question is no longer just how to afford horses, but where to find sound ones at all. The answer may lie not in the high-dollar breeding sheds, but in the most unlikely of places: the American Mustang.

The current crisis in lesson barns is a direct consequence of breeding priorities. For decades, the major registries including Quarter Horses, Thoroughbreds, Warmbloods have selected for extreme traits. Quarter Horses are bred for massive hindquarters and low, sweeping gaits, sacrificing hoof conformation and structural longevity. Thoroughbreds, despite their athleticism, increasingly show terrible bone density on X-rays, with shallow joints and upright pasterns that lead to early breakdowns on racetracks and in retraining programs. The result is a population of horses that are biomechanically unsuited for the repetitive, balanced workload of a lesson program. They begin to show signs of ring bone, navicular syndrome, and suspensory damage before they turn ten. A barn that buys these horses on a budget essentially signs a lease on heartbreak; six months of soundness followed by years of vet bills and a permanently lame horse.

This is the “pay later” model, and it is bankrupting trainers and parents alike.

The alternative, paying up front for a proven, sound schoolmaster, is becoming impossible for most lower-barn operations. A reliable, sane, sound lesson horse with ten years of work left can cost upwards of $15,000 to $25,000. Multiply that by a program needing ten to fifteen horses, and the math fails. So how do we feed the lower barns a reliable pipeline if we keep breeding delicate models? The answer is to look outside the established breeds entirely. We need a population of horses that has not been selectively bred for extreme performance, that retains sturdy bone density, and that can be acquired affordably. That population exists: the wild Mustang.

The Mustang program offered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is virtually pennies to enter the market. For a fraction of the cost of a Thoroughbred yearling, a barn can adopt a genetically untouched horse with thousands of years of survival breeding behind it. Mustangs have dense hooves, strong tendons, and a skeletal resilience that domestic lines have largely lost. They have not been x-rayed or selected for a certain trot; they have been selected by nature to travel miles over hard, uneven ground without breaking. Importantly, they are also blank slates—free of the behavioral baggage that often comes with off-track Thoroughbreds or rehomed Quarter Horses.

Of course, the Mustang is not a finished product. It requires gentling and training. But here is the risk-to-reward recalculation: a barn that invests ninety days of foundational training into a young Mustang ends up with a horse that, for under $1,000 in adoption fees, has the physical potential to work soundly for twenty years. That is the true “pay up front” model—not paying a high purchase price, but paying in time and expertise to build a sound mind and body from the ground up. For barns with experienced trainers, this is a sustainable pipeline.

Critics will argue that Mustangs are too small, too hot, or too unpredictable for beginner riders. But the evidence from programs like the Mustang Heritage Foundation and countless successful lesson barns says otherwise. A 14.3-hand Mustang with correct conformation is far safer for a child than a 16-hand Thoroughbred with bone cysts or a Quarter Horse with chronic hoof pain. Lame horses act out; sound horses, even those with wild origins, can become the most reliable schoolmasters in the barn.

It is time to think outside of the box...
To keep younger riders in sustainable programs, we must stop accepting the false choice between paying a fortune or losing a fortune. We must look past the dominant breeds with their X-ray nightmares and short careers. The path forward is not to breed more of the same, hoping for a different outcome. It is to turn to the horse that never lost its structural integrity in the first place: the Mustang. By investing in gentling and training these hardy, low-cost animals, we can build a pipeline of sound, sustainable lesson horses. That is the risk worth taking—because the real loss is continuing to bet on fragile bodies and broken careers.

Running a successful riding program does not necessarily require a barn full of school horses, a waiting list of fifty students, or lessons running from morning until dark. Some instructors teach only a handful of riders each week. Others have two or three suitable lesson horses, teach primarily on client-owned horses, or deliberately keep their programs small because they are balancing training, horse care, another job, family responsibilities, or simply a desire not to operate a high volume barn.

A small lesson program does come with limitations but limited does not have to mean inadequate. In many cases, teaching on a smaller scale gives instructors opportunities that are harder to create in a large, constantly moving program. The key is recognizing what your program can realistically offer and building around those strengths rather than trying to imitate a barn with completely different resources.

1. Know exactly what your horses can offer

When you only have a few lesson horses available, every horse matters. One horse may be wonderful for nervous beginners but not suited for advanced riders. Another may be suitable for riders who can canter confidently but not riders who need to learn to canter. Instead of thinking about your horses only in terms of beginner, intermediate, and advanced, look more closely at what each horse can actually teach.

One horse may be particularly useful for teaching steering because he requires riders to be accurate. Another might provide an excellent feel for rhythm. A sensitive horse may help capable riders learn to become quieter and more consistent, while a dependable older horse may allow inexperienced riders to concentrate on themselves without worrying about every small mistake. Those differences become part of your curriculum. The goal is not for every horse to do every job, it is to understand what each horse does well and match riders accordingly.

2. Don't try to accommodate everyone

One of the hardest adjustments for a small program is accepting that not every prospective student will be a good fit. If your largest safe school horse comfortably carries a certain size rider, that creates a physical limitation. If your horses are primarily suitable for beginners and low-intermediate riders, you may eventually have students who need opportunities your program cannot provide.

If you teach only certain disciplines, ages, or levels, prospective clients outside of those parameters may need to be referred elsewhere. That is not a failure of your program but problems begin when instructors try to stretch limited resources too far because they do not want to turn away income.

A horse that is technically capable of carrying a rider is not automatically the best horse for that rider. A horse capable of jumping a particular height is not necessarily suited to jumping that height repeatedly in lessons. Having one horse who can accommodate a certain type of student does not mean that horse should carry the entire workload for that category of rider. Sometimes the most professional answer is simply "I don't currently have an appropriate horse available for what you need."

3. Use variety without needing more horses

Having fewer horses does not have to mean teaching the same lesson every week. Instructors sometimes fall into repetitive teaching because the horse and rider combinations remain relatively unchanged. If the same student rides the same horse every Tuesday afternoon, it becomes easy for lessons to turn into the same warm-up, the same rail work and the same exercises.

Instead, vary the question you are asking. One week might focus heavily on rhythm. Another can concentrate on transitions, accuracy, balance, rider position, lateral control, independent planning, pole work, no stirrup work, patterns, equitation, or understanding how the horse's way of going changes in response to the rider.

Even a simple walk/trot lesson can be taught dozens of ways. The limitation of a small program can actually push instructors to become more creative because they cannot rely on constantly changing horses or dramatic increases in difficulty to keep lessons interesting. Progress does not always mean jumping higher, cantering longer, or moving to a more challenging horse. Sometimes progress means riding the same horse substantially better.

4. Make repetition purposeful

There is enormous value in riders spending significant time with the same horses. They begin noticing subtle changes. They learn that the horse who usually drifts through one corner requires preparation several strides earlier. They recognize when the horse is beginning to lose rhythm before the instructor says anything. They learn how much leg is necessary, what happens when their rein becomes too strong and how their own position affects a familiar horse.

That familiarity gives riders an opportunity to refine their skills instead of constantly adapting to a completely different ride. The instructor's job is to make sure familiarity does not become autopilot. Ask riders to explain what they feel. Have them identify what went differently between two attempts. Give them responsibility for planning portions of their ride. Occasionally allow them to work through a safe problem before providing the answer. The horse may be familiar but the rider should still be learning.

5. Protect your most useful horses

In a small program, losing one school horse temporarily can completely alter the schedule. That makes workload management especially important. The horse who is safe for nearly everyone is usually the easiest horse to overuse because that horse solves so many scheduling problems, there is always another rider who could be assigned to him.

Keep track of more than the number of lessons each horse completes too. Consider the type of work being performed, the ability and balance of the riders, lesson duration, footing, weather, jumping workload, consecutive working days, additional training rides and anything else the horse does outside of lessons.

Five easy lessons during the week with balanced riders may create a very different workload from five demanding lessons with riders who require significantly more physical and mental support from the horse. Build enough flexibility into your schedule that a horse can receive an easier day when needed without creating an operational crisis. A small program cannot afford to treat every horse as though he is endlessly replaceable.

6. Take advantage of smaller student numbers

One of the greatest advantages of teaching fewer riders is simply knowing them better. Teaching becomes more individualized when you are not trying to remember the development of dozens upon dozens of riders.

You can create longer term goals and build lessons around them. You can revisit something that happened three weeks earlier. You can notice small improvements that might easily disappear in a larger program.

7. Let students learn the horses beyond riding

A smaller program also creates opportunities for students to develop stronger horsemanship. If appropriate for your operation, teach students about the horses they ride.

Why does this horse wear this particular tack? What does his normal warm-up look like? How does he communicate discomfort? What does he find difficult? What does his workload look like during the week? How is his feed or turnout managed? Why might today's lesson be modified because of yesterday's work?

These conversations help students understand that lesson horses are not pieces of equipment assigned according to availability. They are individual animals whose physical comfort, training, confidence and workload affect what happens during a lesson. That is an important lesson regardless of whether the rider eventually owns a horse.

8. Be careful with scheduling

A small program can become surprisingly complicated when every available horse is essential. One cancellation, one lame horse, or one rider who needs to change lesson times can create a chain reaction so avoid building a schedule that depends on every horse being available every hour. Whenever possible, leave some breathing room. That may mean limiting the number of lessons you teach in a day, avoiding back to back use of the same horse, keeping certain time slots open, or establishing clear policies about makeups and rescheduling.

It can be tempting to squeeze another lesson into the week because the income is available but maximizing every available hour is not always the same as maximizing the health of the program. A schedule should work during an ordinary imperfect week, not only when every rider arrives, every horse remains sound and nothing unexpected happens.

9. Teach within your program's ceiling

Eventually, some riders may progress beyond what your current horses or facilities can reasonably provide. That conversation can be difficult, especially when you have taught someone for years but retaining a rider should not become more important than continuing that rider's development.

Sometimes the next step is helping the student find a lease or encouraging them to purchase their own horse when they are genuinely ready. Or they ultimately should move into another program. You can still consider that successful teaching because a program does not have to provide every stage of a rider's career in order to have played an important role in developing that rider.

10. Do not confuse growth with size

There is tremendous pressure in the horse industry to make everything bigger. More students. More horses. More lesson days. More staff. More revenue.

Growth can certainly involve expansion but it can also mean improving the program you already have. Perhaps your schedule becomes more efficient, your horses have more manageable workloads, your lesson retention improves, or your riders become more independent. Perhaps your teaching becomes stronger because you have time to prepare rather than racing from lesson to lesson. Or you charge appropriately enough that you no longer need to teach an unsustainable number of hours. Those are all meaningful forms of growth too.

11. Build the program YOU actually want

A small teaching program works best when it is intentional. If you ultimately want twenty lesson horses and several instructors working underneath you, your current small program may simply be one stage of building toward something larger but expansion does not have to be the objective. There is nothing inherently more professional about operating a massive lesson barn than teaching a carefully selected roster of riders with a few, well managed horses.

The important questions are whether the horses are being cared for appropriately, students are receiving quality instruction, the instructor is being compensated fairly and the program can function sustainably. Small-scale teaching requires instructors to be realistic. You cannot manufacture suitable horses, hours in the day or opportunities that your facility simply does not provide.

What you can do is become exceptionally good at using the resources you have. A small program may have fewer horses and fewer students but that does not mean it has to offer a smaller education.

Today marked another career milestone as Cordisco went down centerline at Devon. He is the first of my string of thoroughbreds to achieve this honor at this prestigious venue.

Thank you to all of the volunteers who continue to make Dunmovin' Dressage Days possible. Thank you, Doreen!

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Bits, bits, bits… many of us could spend all day talking about bits- our favorites, how they function, and much more. Over the next few weeks, we will be discussing the different parts of driving bits and how they work together as a whole.

Starting with cheekpieces, a driver has two main options: direct action (snaffle) bits or leverage bits. In a direct action bit, the rein is connected to the bit at the same level as the mouthpiece. These bits may be joined or unjointed- the term “snaffle” doesn’t exclusively refer to the mouthpiece, but rather the lack of shanks on the cheekpiece. There are a few different types of snaffle cheekpieces, and therefore a variety of options to achieve the best setup for your horse.
-The half cheek (or half spoon): This guides the jaw of the horse and prevents the bit from being too mobile in the mouth due to the lateral rein movement that comes with driving.
-The full cheek: Common in hunt seat disciplines, this bit has similar action to the half cheek, but can interfere with the blinders on a driving bridle.
-The Boucher (AKA hanging cheek): A Boucher has a purchase above the mouthpiece similarly to a Liverpool, but lacks shanks. This is typically used with a mouthpiece that must remain upright in the mouth, such as an arch of 45-degree mouthpiece.
-Ringed snaffles: The O-ring (loose ring), D-ring, eggbutt, Wilson (four-ring) and other various cheekpiece configurations are common in many ridden disciplines, but avoided in driving with the concern of them becoming stuck on the shafts of a cart.

Stay tuned for our discussion about leverage bits later in the week! Thank you to Myrna Rhinehart, Driving Digest author, for providing the information in this post. You can explore her four-part series on bitting in issues 258-261, available to order on drivingdigest.com.