Our Lesson Program

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 and jumping, dressage, western and recreational riding styles.  Gale is certified by the American Riding Instructors Association to provide instruction in each of these riding disciplines.

We specialize in teaching people about horsemanship, both on the ground and in the saddle.   

Children under the age of 16 will need to have a parent or legal guardian participate, minimally, in the “ground work” of our horsemanship program.  

See below about Parental Involvement

 For the safety of the 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 their 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 indoor arena.  As students progress, we also teach lessons in the outdoor riding arenas, on the cross country jumps and out on the trails.  

Gale truly enjoys starting the beginner rider…of all ages… she’s very good with new riders, being able to adjust her training techniques to accommodate the various ways that riders can learn.  Gale uses her over 40 years of riding instruction experience to specialize with working with adults learning to ride and also with adults returning to riding after being away from horses for awhile.  Her niche 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.

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 the riding lesson, including  grooming and tacking-up the horse, 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.  Keep this in mind when comparing stables.

After conclusion of the four intro sessions, ongoing lesson options include continuing with 45 minute private classes ($90 per session) or joining a group class ($85 per session).  




A normal group session actually provides about two hours of horse-contact time, as group lesson riders at Gale’s do the grooming and tacking up of their horses before riding and take care of the horse after riding as well.  As said before, we are a complete horsemanship lesson facility.  Discount monthly (4 sessions) packages are available for private & group lessons.  



Helpful Hints for Visiting the Barn and Taking Lessons

Students should dress for the weather. In hot weather, it is tempting to wear “beach wear” type of clothing, but this is inappropriate in our horse barn.  T shirts and other “well covering” shirt apparel is the dress code (meaning that you limit the amount of bare skin to be seen).  Absolutely NO FLIP FLOPS OR SANDALS are allowed in our barn or anywhere around our horses.  Shoes appropriate for being around animals should be worn by all.  Although, in warm weather, workers and guests can wear shorts,  our riders must still wear long slacks when riding.

In cold weather, layers of clothing are best, so you can shed a few layers when you warm up during your rides.  For starting out with riding lessons, 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 hand and improve grip on the reins.

Due to COVID requirements, everyone should provide their own, and wear, an ASTM approved equestrian helmet when riding here at Gale’s.  These can be purchased at Tractor Supply in Horseheads and Painted Post or at the riding equipment shops listed below.

Please do not wear dangling jewelry such as bracelets and earrings.  Please pull long hair back into low pony tail or braid. Do not wear any jewelry or piercings that could get caught on horse hair.


Our experience is that riders do better in the saddle with riding attire, specifically made for our sport.   State Line Tack has a major catalog and internet sales business, as well as Dover Saddlery.  Our local Tractor Supply stores can also meet some of your riding needs for helmets and such.  Thundering Hooves Tack Shop in Bath, NY is a nice tack shop which will assist in outfitting your riding apparel closet.  “Cowboy Up” owned by Hope Johnson,  is an eBay store, but operates from Hope’s home, just east of Corning. Phone numbers are available at our stable.

We will require your execution of a

 liability release

prior to your activities at the stable.  We also will require that you read and understand our

Quick List Rules (Click HERE for Rules).

We also have an

Operations and Procedure Manual (Click HERE for The Manual)

which outlines “how we do things” at Gale’s Equine Facility.  

And for new riders, here is a great link to give you guidance as a beginner rider:

“Seven Great Tips For Beginner Riders”

And a Picture Guide to Horsemanship

Click the ARIA Logo to learn more about the Association >>

Where to buy horse riding gear:

The Liability Release

 and Recommended Reading

Click our link to our “Lesson Horses” page to see photos of the horses used in our program at Gale’s.

Gale's Equine Facility About Gale ARIA Certification Our Lesson Program Lesson Horses The Facility & Horse Boarding Technology The Friesians News, Events & Photos Frequently Asked Questions Current Dressage Tests Ansur Saddles Calendar and Upcoming Events Contact Information

Every Olympic Rider Began as a Beginner Rider!

Everyone who comes to the stable must practice “bio-security”. It is important to not bring “horse diseases” into the stable.  If you have been to other stables, or if your clothing was worn at other stables, you must change and/or launder your clothing and disinfect your shoes/boots before you come to our stable. We are also following State Guidelines for COVID-19 Prevention.  

This should be a requirement at every stable.  It is very easy for humans to carry horse diseases from stable to stable and horse to horse. In the winter of 2016, a human brought a horse virus to our stable and this created many problems for us.  I am sure that you can understand that we do not want that to happen again.  


We normally start beginner riders with our four-lesson “Intro Package”.  Each of these four lessons is about 90 minutes long, and includes teaching of safety protocol, grooming, tacking up the horse, along with some basic horse psychology. Each lesson also includes learning to ride a horse at a walk and learning the classical basics of horse/rider communication.  The lessons conclude with removing the tack (the saddle and bridle), cleaning up the horse, and the post lesson care of the equipment.  By the fourth lesson, the student may be able to ride the horse at a walk/jog/trot around in our indoor arena.

The intro package costs $ 320 for the four- 90 minute long sessions. The intro lessons can be purchased for $85 per session, as well…up to four sessions.  

Parental Involvement Required

We require that, parents learn the “ground work” of the lesson prep, right along with their younger children. Just like any sport, in which a child participates, it is helpful if the parents learn the “rules” and know a bit how the game is played, so to speak.  Parents will learn to help to groom and tack up the horse with their child, and then enjoy social conversation with other parents during the lessons, or sit in our warm areas and read a book or watch TV during the riding lesson. If you or your child develop an interest in competitions, in the future, all of the horse care skills, including preparation for riding, and stall maintenance will need to be learned….so parents might as well start learning right at the beginning.  We offer education in all aspects of normal horse care.  Please contact Gale directly regarding information about our working student programs.  



So, how do you get started?  Contact the stable either via email @ info@galesequinefacility.com or call us at 607-796-9821 (leave message).  

We recommend setting up an introductory “meet & greet” appointment for all new students, but we may require such for children under the age of 18 years.

We want to be sure that your child will be comfortable around horses, will listen to the instructor and show competency to “pay attention” and not be easily distracted.  There is a certain amount of strength and balance required for horseback riding as well.  We can get a pretty good idea, during the meet & greet, if your child is ready to start taking riding lessons at Gale’s, or not. Because we do a bit of instruction during the meet & greets, we require a non-refundable pre- payment of $25.00 to reserve the appointment. The payment then will be applied to your first lesson package if you should sign up for lessons.

Lesson payments are NON-REFUNDABLE.

$85 for two-hour group session of horse time, including grooming and instruction for riding the lesson horses.

Please inquire about our customized riding lessons for the Tiny Trotters - children ages 3 to 7 years of age.

Write to:

galestinytrotters@gmail.com