Should I wait

Hi everyone...I have been looking into taking english horse riding lessons. I'm 15 so I don't have my drivers license. My gram said she would be willing to pay for them once a week. ( I can't trust her because she always says she can do things) Since I have no transportation to a stable, I am feeling down. The other day, I found a stable that was only 15 minutes away from me. My mom emailed them yesterday and we haven't heard from them. Should we try to call them? Then there is a stable that my mom and gram could drop me off at on their way to work. It would only be like an extra 7 minute drive for them.

I heard that you can volunteer at a stable to get a discount or even free riding lessons. Do stables usually let people do that? Will I be able to get dropped off at like 7:30 am and picked up at like 5:00 pm? I am home-schooled and it would be on a friday or monday

I think you are asking a lot of a stable to allow you to be dropped off first thing in the AM and picked up at the end of the day if you have very minimal horse knowledge going in. But it can hurt to stop at the stables you are interested in and ask them if that is an option.

Stable owners/trainers are notoriously bad at calling people back. (Not all, but it seems to be common.) I vote you and your mother stop at both stables you are interested in and look around and get a tour and find out how they do things, etc.


Silly question - how are you home schooled if no one appears to be home with you all day?

That does sound like a long time if you're a green beginner, but it never hurts to ask around and see what's available and what you'd be able to do.

Alwaysbehind - I was a homeschooler for all of "highschool". Parents aren't totally necessary to "teach" a homeschooler. After 6th grade when I left public school, I basically taught myself. My parents helped me, kind of in the same way my friends do: quizzing vocab and holding flashcards type stuff, but there was never any kind of "Sit Down and Pretend Mom is the Teacher" mentality. I hid in my room and taught myself, and if I hit a roadblock I asked for help. It's a lot of freedom and doesn't work for everyone, but I survived, "graduated," did well on my SAT's, and got into a very good private college on (comparatively) very little money.

@ Wishingforahorse, you've got a great opportunity in the homeschooling, and as you get more into horses you'll appreciate the freedom and flexibility of it more and more. Being nosy... have you ever read The Teenage Liberation Handbook? If you haven't, it's worth a read even if you're already homeschooling.

Thanks..I just found out that the house that my aunt is getting is like 5 minutes a way from the stable =) She told me that she could pick me up and drop me off. So my mom and gram could drop me off and my aunt could pick my up.

I still haven't gotten an email yet. Should I try calling?

Would it be bad to ask before I evevn know them about helping out for a cpl of hourse for a discount on the lesson price?

I actually haven't read that before..I love the freedom of being home-schooled =)

Try calling or even just stop by the stable. Ask for the barn manager and talk to her/him. Stables especially busy ones are notorious for not emailing back becuase they're so busy they don't get time to go on the internet often. But yea, I'd try calling and if that doesn't work just stop by and talk to them.

Keep in mind only some stables allow help for a discount. Out of the 6 stables I've been at only the one I'm at now allows that. And they stopped doing that last year because it caused problems. Now I just work there, get paid, then pay them for board and stuff. It never hurts to ask though so definitely try. I'm 15{16 in May} also so as long as you have experiance with horses, even if it is a little, they might hire you.

I highly dought you will be able to be there from 7am to 5pm. I would call the two stables you are interested in, and ask what they have to offer. Or just stop by the stables and ask for the owner/trainer...