Our Philosophy
Baywood Farms offers riding lessons in all English riding disciplines, focusing on
Balance-Seat, and Hunt-Seat Equitation riding. We also offer instruction in Dressage. Whether you are a beginner, intermediate, or advanced rider,
we have a lesson program available to fit your needs, and all of our lessons are taught
by instructors with years of riding and instruction experience. At Baywood Farms, we sincerely believe in teaching sound riding skills while developing horsemanship in our students. It is our
belief that if we take the time to properly teach your child how to ride, we will create
an equestrian for life. Besides, riding should be fun; and we try our best to make it that way for your child.
Beginner Rider Program
Our beginner rider programs focus on teaching
sound fundamentals while emphasizing rider
safety. It is our belief that mastering the
fundamentals of riding will help build rider
confidence, thus allowing the rider to advance
their skills at a faster pace.
Our beginner riders are taught in 45 minute
private lessons until they are capable of controlling
a horse or pony at the walk and trot. At this
point, they are placed into a small group of
similar age and riding skill for lessons. Riding
in a group atmosphere encourages rider
improvement through comparison and camaraderie,
while establishing new friendships, often
lasting a lifetime.
Rider Evaluation
Each new riding student must first sign-up for
an evaluation ride with one of our instructors.
We will then discuss your riding goals with you
to help us determine the best riding program for
you. We offer private and group lessons for
both children and adults. Whether your goal is
to become a better show rider, or simply
improve your confidence in the saddle, we have
a lesson program to help you achieve your
goals.
Each rider evaluation session lasts approximately
45 minutes, including grooming, tacking
and untacking the horse.
Group Lessons
Our group lessons are arranged in 90 minute time
blocks. This allows ample time for the students to
get their assigned horse or pony from its stall,
properly groom their mount and pick its hooves,
and tack up prior to their lesson. We encourage
teamwork in our riders. If your horse is being used
in the lesson before yours, then help another student
groom and tack their horse. We also provide an
employee to assist in preparing our lesson horses.
This makes it easier for the smaller students to tack
their horses, while
still teaching them
proper horsemanship.
It also means
your child is
supervised at all
times, not just
when riding in the ring. Unlike many other riding
programs, our “in-saddle” time for our group
lessons is a full 45 minutes. The size of our groups
is limited to no more than four riders. This allows
ample one-on-one time between each student and
their instructor during the lesson. This is especially
important if one rider needs a little more attention
than the rest of their group. We then allot 15
minutes at the end of each lesson for the riders to
untack and properly cool their horse, thus completing
the 90 minute lesson time block.
Private Lessons
For those riders desiring one-on-one instruction, we
also offer private riding lessons. Private lessons
can be scheduled individually, or as a regularly
scheduled riding appointment time. Private
lessons are scheduled in 45 minute or 60 minute
time blocks, which includes grooming, tacking,
riding, and untacking.