I will start by saying that we stumbled upon Hailey's while looking for a facility to take couple's…read morelessons in Western riding. Since they confirmed this was an option, we went ahead and booked a meet and greet to check it out and get the tour, which I thought was a great thing to offer prospective clients.
First impressions, the facility was clean, well kept, well stocked, organized and all the horses we saw were healthy, happy and well mannered. These folks clearly care about the animals and have deep bonds with them, something which was evident not only in the animals and their surroundings but also how the staff interacted with them. Everyone we met was respectful and friendly, both to each other and to us, so that was nice to see.
While on the topic of first impressions, there are a few things that could have been better and which, in concert, stopped us from returning after the tour. For one thing, we never actually got to meet Hailey, due to some kind of scheduling goof at her end. No disrespect to James, he did a fantastic job in her place, but it was very awkward to show up expecting Hailey and having no clue what was going on until James stumbled upon us, figured out we were Hailey's prospects and introduced himself. It may not be a big deal to some folks, but this is one of my pet peeves. If I'm looking to spend THOUSANDS with your barn and you can't be bothered to even be present for the meet and greet, then intentionally or not, you convey to me that I'm not worth your time. This goes doubly when your absence is a total surprise. If I'm not worth your time, not even an email or text to let me know James is filling in, what does that tell me as a client? Call that the first strike and the first dropped star.
Another thing which was compounded by Hailey's absence was that we didn't really get a sense for whether couple's Western lessons were really a thing at this barn or not. I saw virtually no Western tack and there was lots of commentary from James that what they mean by "couple's lesson" is that you will pay for two trainers to work with you simultaneously, in separate parts of the facility. To me this is NOT a couple's lesson, it's just two people taking lessons apart from each other at 2x full price. Additionally, we couldn't get clear answers on taking specifically Western lessons. I was told that whether we would ride/learn Western or English would depend first on the tack that was best for the horse and that we'd use a mix of English and Western tack depending on what we were learning that day. I also was told that James is primarily a Western trainer while Hailey's background is English. I had a hard time understanding how we'd be doing couple's Western lessons if there's one Western trainer and one English trainer and sometimes one of us would be learning English riding in an English saddle with an English trainer. Again, that is NOT a couple's Western lesson, it sounds like two people taking lessons in different disciplines, apart from each other at 2x full price. Call this the second strike and second dropped star.
After the tour and subsequent follow-up emails, we reluctantly decided to look elsewhere for our lessons. To be clear, it was never about the money, it was about spending time and learning together as a couple. It just didn't seem like that was an option here. When a barn has a fundamental misunderstanding of what clients are looking for in a "couple's lesson", they probably shouldn't offer them in the first place.
Anyone that spends any amount of time working with horses will quickly learn that behavior is a language. Unfortunately, as seems to be the case here, some trainers don't appreciate that their own behavior is a language, let alone what it's saying to their clients. I have said before and will repeat it here: riding instruction is a people business, NOT a horse business. You will be more successful and attract more customers if you act like you understand the difference.
Bottom line: I think this might be a good place for individuals looking for English or maybe inter-disciplinary/mixed riding lessons, but if you're looking for couple's lessons, or specifically Western instruction, neither seems to be offered here and you'd be better served elsewhere.
