Introduction

Investing in a lesson horse can be a significant business decision. You need to analyze your existing lesson program. You need to ask yourself; do you need more horses to meet demand or replace a retiring one? It requires careful consideration of both your business financials and business operations. Before purchasing a lesson horse, it's crucial to assess if your lesson program can support the additional costs and if the horse is the correct horse for your required lesson disciplines and teaching the various rider experience levels of your students.

Lesson Horse Considerations

It been documented that “a good lesson horse is patient, calm, well-trained, and comfortable to ride, allowing riders of varying skill levels to focus on learning proper techniques while feeling safe and secure, even when making mistakes; they should be able to tolerate a wide range of rider inputs, be responsive to basic cues, and have a pleasant temperament, ideally enjoying attention and treats.” 

When choosing the right horse, you need to prioritize safety and temperament. A good lesson horse is patient, forgiving, dependable, and trustworthy, especially when working with beginners.

You need to consider the age and experience of the horse. Older, experienced horses often make excellent lesson horses because they are dependable and have been exposed to various (scary) situations – that puddle of water has a shark in it.

You need to evaluate the horse’s health and soundness to ensure that the horse is healthy and able to handle the workload of your lesson program. It is suggested that you might consider seeking the advice of experienced trainer, veterinarians, and farriers before making a purchase. A pre-purchase veterinary exam is always highly recommended – have it done.

You might also consider seeking expert advice from experienced horse owners, trainers, and instructors to help you identify a horse that suits your lesson needs, business goals, and students’ skill level.

Lesson Horse Investment

The following cost and expense numbers are ball park guesstimates, but within the park.

The purchase price of a lesson horse varies based on age, health, breed, and training level. The purchase price can range from $2.500 to $12,500 for recreational horses - the better the horse, the higher the price.

As with many purchases that accumulate addition cost and expense after purchase, the initial purchase price is often the least expensive part of the purchase. You need to calculate your fixed and variable costs: Fixed costs like mortgage and utilities remain constant. An additional horse will have minimal if any effect on your fixed cost. However, your variable costs like feed, farrier care, and veterinary visits, etc., increase with each horse. When purchasing a horse you will need to budget for tack and supplies which can add an additional $3,500 for items like a saddle, bridle and grooming supplies. Annual maintenance cost for feed, bedding, farrier and preventative health care (vaccinations, deworming, and dental) can add another annual expense of $6,000 or possibly more. Let’s hope you don’t have to board the horse or you could be adding another big annual expense – several thousands of dollars. You will need a cash reserve (balance sheet account) to be prepared for potential emergency veterinary bills, which can easily amount to hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

The expense for a qualified lesson instructor can cost your business between $35 and $75 per hour and if needed, professional training for your lesson horse can cost between $500 and $850 per month.

You will need to invest in equine liability insurance to protect yourself from potential claims related to injuries or property damage and an additional horse may increase the premium. An attorney specializing in equine law can help you with contracts, leases, and liability agreements. Attorneys are not inexpensive. Make sure you get one who specializes in equine law or at least, understands equine law.

You need to be sure that your lesson horse can generate enough revenue to offset its annual costs and expense, an unexpected expenses (balance sheet cash reserve) and still provide a return on investment (ROI). . equineGenie tracks, measures, manages and reports your lesson horses’ and instructors’ cost and expenses individually and in total. equineGenie calculates and reports each lesson horse’s ROI.

 Most lesson horses work no more than four (4) days a week and no more than two (2) lessons a day. Lesson lengths range from 30 minutes to an hour. Most lesson students take riding lessons once or twice a week. However, the ideal frequency depends on the student’s goals, experience, and budget.

The potential revenue from a lesson program is primary income from group lessons and private lessons. Group lesson are typically priced from $50 to $85 per hour and private lessons are priced from $75 to $150 per hour. Horse boarding and training can increase your revenue and help offset expenses. Other services like specialized lessons, lesson camps, clinics, seminars and tack and riding accessories sales can also help increase revenue. You need to think about horse boarding as a potential revenue source. There is a lot of additional expense associated with boarding horses – feed, labor cost, and facility expense and management time to identify a few. Boarding horses is a difficult business to show a profit.  

Investing in a lesson horse can be a viable path to a fulfilling and profitable business if you plan carefully, choose the right horse, and manage your finances effectively. Business financial and management discipline is just as important as horse care and management – no money, no horse business – bad management, no customers. It's important to approach your lesson business with a clear understanding of the costs, expense responsibilities, and potential for profit.

If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it! Profit is an accounting opinion, cash is fact!

equineGenie’s core philosophy is supported by AI (artificial intelligence) algorithms for resource optimization, predictive modeling and heuristic learning. AI is used throughout equineGenie in financial analysis, horse care and management; business operations, purchases, supplier and supplies management; customer care, billing, invoicing and management; task, activity and appointment schedules and business reminders. equineGenie learns your lesson business and assists you in making better business decisions.

Sales are the life blood of a business, profit is the oxygen, and cash is the delivery system.

Be Sure to Read Parts (1), (2) and (3) in the Genie Academy tutorials