We offer riding lessons for beginner to advanced riders, both English and western styles of riding. "We teach you how to ride the horse..not the saddle" is our motto, and therefore we welcome all styles of riding, believing that the basics are the same for all. You will see a strong "dressage" influence in our teaching, which we believe is essential for successful communication with the horse. We agree with and follow the education and safety format of the United States Pony Club. In fact, we recommend that all students of our stable purchase and read the USPC Manual of Horsemanship, D-Level, written by Susan Harris.  

We have instruction in hunt seat, dressage, carriage driving, eventing, jumping and western styles of riding. 

Our instructors all can perform and demonstrate the skills that they are teaching and are ready to get on a horse to "show you how". 

Taking lessons at our stable are riders at 6 years of age, right up through retired adults.  For the safety of horse and rider, we do have weight limits that our horses can carry.  The industry standard indicates that most horses can carry safely 20% of its body weight - which includes the rider and the saddle.  This means that a typical 1100 pound horse can carry about 220 pounds.  The typical western saddle weighs about 35 pounds.  This leaves about 185 pounds for the rider.  Thank you for understanding the limits of a horse's back.

Most of our lessons are taught in our beautiful large indoor arena. As students progress, we also teach lessons in the outdoor ring, on the cross country jumps, in the outdoor dressage ring, and out on the trail. 

We invite you to contact us to arrange for a visit or to discuss our rates and lesson opportunities at Gale's.   You can email us by clicking "here".

Thinking about taking riding lessons?   Here is a great article on the web about getting started with riding lessons:

Article on Equisearch.com

In this area of New York, Gale is one of the only instructors to be Level III Hunt Seat and Western Riding certified with The American Riding Instructors Certification Program. In fact, there are only about two dozen people in the United States with this particular certification.   Gale also has her Level III Certification in Recreational Riding specialties as well.  She is certified at the Level III rating for Dressage instruction and Level I for both Carriage Driving and Eventing.  There are very few people in the United States that have obtained this many certifications with the ARIA, and in fact, Gale was honored by the ARIA to be one of the Top 50 Instructors in the ARIA in 2007.  This award is given out every other year, and Gale just recently learned that she has received the award again for 2009 and will receive her award in November 2009 at the ARIA conference, which will be attended by horsemanship instructor greats such as George Morris, Susan Harris, Jane Savoie, Bob Allen and Peggy Brown. 

In April of 2011, Gale earned her LIFETIME certification of LEVEL 3 Hunt Seat and Recreational Riding by the ARIA.  This was achieved by scoring about a 90% on eight written exams and nearly a dozen essays, completing video presentations of her instruction, and presenting oral instruction at the testing center.  Her score sheet had a big "Outstanding" written across the top of it.  Gale is VERY proud of this accomplishment as it validates her abilities...and her enjoyment... in teaching others to ride.  In 2012, she retested her Dressage and Western Certifications, raising up to the Level III in both of these disciplines, and was the first instructor to earn the "Excellence" award on her Dressage exams for scoring a perfect 100%.  Gale now is a "Test Center Administrator" for the ARIA, providing assistance to the organization of testing new, and recertifying instructors.

Gale truly enjoys starting the beginner rider... of all ages...  she's very good with children, being able to adjust her training techniques  to accommodate the various way that children can learn.  Gale also uses her over 40 years of riding instruction experience to specialize with working with adults learning to ride and with adults returning to riding after being away from horses for awhile.  Her nitch is to work with the working adult professional that is trying to juggle all aspects of life in "too short of a week".  She offers flexible lesson schedules to accommodate the busy adult. 

A typical group lesson at Gale's

   Inviting fun jumps for the eventing personalities......

The pretty winter photo was taken by Deannda Neufer of "Gimmeaminute Photography". 

Our lessons encompass much more than just the riding portion of horsemanship. We believe that true horse people should be able to prepare their mount for riding including grooming and tacking-up, and should also be able to take care of their mount and the equipment after the ride, therefore our lessons, time wise, might be a bit longer than the standard lesson program.

Lessons are arranged by appointment with Gale. If you are a new rider, most likely you will have a private lesson. After a few rides, and you become comfortable to maneuver the horse on your own with walking skills, and some trotting, you may select to advance to a group lesson.

Carol On Casey

Helpful Hints

Students should dress for the weather.  In cold weather, layers are best, so you can shed a few when you warm up during your rides.  For starting out, new students should wear jeans or other sturdy long pants, high socks and a sturdy shoe with a small heel.  Fingered gloves are also recommended to protect hands and improve grip on the reins.

We will require your execution of a liability release prior to your activities at the stable.  We also will require the you read and memorize our Quick List Rules which is linked here.   For those with a lot of reading time on your hands, you can review the nearly 60 page long (BIG Adobe Reader File) of our Operations & Procedures Manual. (11th addition, published 12/10/10)  Click on the title link.