I really want to ride like most of you know (from my last questions)band i have heard that sometimes you can work for a stable but get payed with horse riding lessons. is this true? and can you give me some info about it e.g. How long the lesson is, how old you have to be to do this.and where you do it (if you do it) and anymore information thanks loads i look forward to your answers!!!

Yes! I started doing this when I was 9 years old. Every Saturday, I donned my overalls and muck boots and traveled to a farm half an hour away. My parents signed all the consent and risk waivers and since I wasn’t getting paid money and I had no set hours, there was no minimum age requirement. I mucked stalls, cleaned run ins and paddocks, groomed the arenas, swept the aisle, and fed, watered, hayed, turned out/brought in all of the horses. I also helped get horses ready for other lessons, exercised and groomed horses that needed it, learned how to run an AI business and held horses for the vet and farrier. It taught me so much, and never cost me a dime! It was fantastic. With my particular agreement (yours will be different and you are allowed to haggle with whomever you work for) I was allotted one half hour semi-private lesson per Saturday, as well as how ever many supervised exercise rides were needed. There were often other opportunities to ride, and I was always invited along to shows, clinics and seminars. I was also allowed discounted private lessons if I wanted to pay for them (and I did!). I spent my whole Saturday at the farm, doing chores and riding and it was great! I stayed at this farm until I was 14, and they were forced to close due to bankruptcy (unfortunately, it costs a lot to run an equine business and when you don’t charge for your services and you keep buying tack, horse trailers and horses, you run out of cash quickly!) From there, I moved to another farm and did essentially the same thing, however, this farm had no where near the horses, the experience or the trainers that the first had. I was very thankful to have learned under some very knowledgeable and smart equestrians first, so I would know if what I was being "taught" by other so-called-horse-experts was correct or not.

For you, you have to find a farm that is willing to agree to such a proposal. A lot of larger farms will have one or two kids "working" for lessons, as they always need more hands to get things done, and one more kid in the group lesson isn’t that much more work. It will help if you have some experience, but a lot of the time someone will be willing to teach you, as long as you are willing to learn and respectful of their wishes. I would avoid private farms, as, at least in my opinion, the quality of horsemanship and the drive to know more about horses seems to be considerably less at these farms, when compared to larger farms who employ the best and expect more from their staff. Good luck! Have fun and learn as much as you can!