Choosing a riding school can be a daunting task, especially if you are a novice in the horsey game. Whether you're riding on school horses or your own horse, it is up to you to ensure that you choose a reputable establishment, since legally nothing prevents an amateur from opening and running a riding school. So what should you look for in a well-run yard?

Arlene Mahon, owner of Willows International Riding Centre in Pretoria, currently the only GHS venue graded in all disciplines (dressage, jumping, showing, equitation and eventing) in North Gauteng, has been running her yard of 100 horses for 17 years. She suggests that when dealing with novice riders, the school should provide leaders to help control the horse until the rider has mastered the rising trot and can steer the horse.

The arenas should be double-poled and fully enclosed to prevent ponies from ducking out, and a fully kitted first aid kit should be readily available. She insists that no child should be allowed on a horse without a hard hat.

"You need facilities like lunge rings, schools, bridle paths and suitable school horses to safely teach the basics," says Arlene. "Once a beginner can control his horse at all gaits and jump small jumps, he is ready to specialise in a certain direction. I personally believe that it is good to develop sound, all-round equestrian skills and we encourage our riders to participate in multiple disciplines."

Arlene agrees that a pupil would then need specialised facilities and instructors. "We have ten dressage arenas and dressage instructors capable of teaching all age groups. You can't practice dressage tests without a level, correctly marked out arena. For our show jumpers, we have seven show jumping arenas, including a bank, dyke, steps and brightly coloured jumps with spooky fillers to practice with for shows."

Arlene also has vaulting horses and two vaulting arenas, tentpegging facilities, a dedicated utility course, grass showing arenas, a picadero and a cross-country track.

"We encourage our pupils to attend our specialised equitation clinics as well as the other jumping, dressage and showing courses," says Arlene, "since, as the owner of a livery, you have to keep your clients motivated if you want them to be successful competitively."

Not all yards may have the facilities for so many different disciplines, but Arlene says that the most important thing is to make sure the yard you choose is capable of supporting your chosen direction.

What about instructions?

As far as instructors go, she believes that a riding school should be able to provide you with a knowledgeable, qualified instructor, but she knows that many clients have a long-standing relationship with an outside instructor and she doesn’t mind them bringing in their own.

The manager and one of the directors of the Highveld Horse Care unit, Bev Seabourne, sees many cases of school horses that are underweight or expected to cope with badly fitting tack. She also points out that riding schools should have a sufficient number of horses in order to prevent overworking their mounts.

"A good yard should implement sound equine management practices, which includes feeding the horse correctly and adequately taking care of their veterinary and farriery needs. Sometimes short cuts are taken in these areas in order to make the riding school more profitable to the owner, at the expense of the horse's well-being," says Bev.

She suggests that you make sure the riding school you choose treats its mounts humanely and with respect, in terms of their age, health and level of schooling.

A well-run yard

Organising venue inspections on behalf of the Gauteng Horse Society is Vanessa Koekemoer, who elaborates on the criteria of a well-run yard: "Horses should have access to clean water at all times and should never stand for hours without food. Some form of fly and tick control should be implemented, especially in summer, and grooms should have a basic veterinary knowledge so that if a horse becomes sick, they can notify the stable manager immediately."

Vanessa also points out that it is good for a yard to implement "24 hour supervision", which implies that there is a capable person to deal with after-hour emergencies.

According to Vanessa, lesson fees and monthly stabling prices vary greatly, depending on what area the yard is in and what services are offered, but on average you can expect to pay anything from R1 000 to R3 000 per month for stabling, and R45 to R300 for a lesson.

In the end, we should bear in mind that the horse's well-being on all levels is the most important barometer of a yard. Since a horse's quality of life is so dependent on our choices for him, we owe it to these noble creatures to provide for them as best we can!