How do Private Lessons Work?

Hey Raynham Riders,

We’ve had a few students asking how private lessons work at Raynham! Here is an overview of how our program works. 

New Rider & Beginner Private Lessons

New and beginner riders must start with private lessons (or a Saddle Up program, if we are currently running one), as they need one-on-one attention for safety.  These private lessons are 1½ hours long, below is a breakdown of how the time is spent. As we book the time with the instructor in our scheduling program, you should arrive 30 minutes BEFORE the time in your reminder email and plan to stay 30 min after the mounted portion.

Advanced Beginner to Advanced Private Lessons 

Our more advanced riders can do either group or private lessons. Private lessons can be especially beneficial if they have certain skills or positional issues they need to focus on, as the lesson can be tailored specifically to the individual. 

Once riders are able to groom, tack-up, and mount independently, their coach & tack-up help will approve them to head to the ring 15 min before the start of their lesson time to mount and lightly warm up at the walk and trot before their instructional time begins. Then, riders will work for the full 30 minutes with their instructor and cool out their horse after the lesson ends. This means that riders are still in the saddle for 50 min in the saddle with a private lesson, which is the same duration as our group classes. NOTE: Riders MUST first be approved by their coach and tack-up help by demonstrating they can tack up, mount, and safely warm up independently (without interfering with the lesson still running). 

As always, please let us know if you have any questions or concerns! 

Nikki & the Raynham Team

York Region Reopened - Lessons Resuming!

 Hey Raynham Riders!

As I’m sure you have heard, York Region has moved back into red zone as of today, so we are permitted to resume classes.  We are VERY excited to be able to get our riding school students back to the barn.  In order to ease the school horses back into work, we are going to start with pay-as-you go lessons for the remainder of the winter session, details below.   

We have also starting to work on the schedule for the Spring Session. As March Break has been postponed, we are going to shift the start date of our Spring Session to Saturday, March 13th (and will close for the April break instead, April 12 - 18). If you have not yet done so, we are asking ALL students to please submit the Spring Session Availability form by SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28^th, even if you filled out a form for the winter session, so we have everyone's updated availability.  Ideally, we will have a tentative schedule posted by Fri. March 5^th so that we can work through any requested changes before the start of the session.

Pay-As-You-Go Classes: Feb 23 – March 12

• We are offering pay-as-you-go lessons through the online scheduler for the remainder of the winter session.  
• Spaces will be limited to ease the school horses back into full work.
• WEEKDAY classes will NOT have tack-up help - these times are only for riders that can catch their horse, tack up and untack WITHOUT ANY ASSISTANCE (or help from a parent that is riding at the same time). This will be riders 11 years old+, riding for at least a year, and be a strong advanced beginner or higher level.  If you think you are able to tack up independently but don't meet these requirements, please send an email to see if we're able to make an exception. 
• WEEKEND classes will have assistance, so they are open to all levels of riders. 
• These classes are ONLY open to riders that were enrolled in the fall session.  As spaces are limited, we are not accepting new students for these classes.  If you would like to join our waiting list for the spring session, please submit this form

If you have any questions, please let us know!  We look forward to seeing everyone back at the barn!

Nikki & the Raynham Team

Clarification of Reopening Plan

Hey Raynham Riders,

I was happy to hear so many of you are keen to get back in the saddle, I've already received dozens of emails in reply to my email blast last Thursday.  There were many questions that were the same, so I thought I'd just send another email blast to clarify, rather than answer the same questions individually. 

The past year has been incredibly challenging, with the constantly changing and evolving rules and regulations.  We have greatly appreciated everyone's patience and support while we "shift gears" once again.

The following details are all the information I have to give at this time.  I will continue to send out updates as I have further details,

We are VERY excited to have our riding school open again soon!

Nikki & the Raynham Team


Pay-As-You-Go Lessons for the Remainder of the Winter Session

• Tentatively, the plan is to offer pay-as-you-go lessons through the online scheduler for the remainder of the winter session, once we get official notice we are permitted to reopen.  The province has not confirmed a date yet, but it may be as soon as Mon. Feb 22nd. 
• You will have to book and pay for the classes using the online scheduler, you will not automatically have the same time as you did in the fall session. 
• Spaces will be limited to ease the school horses back into full work and we will only be allowing bookings from riders that can tack up and untack independently (or with assistance from a parent that is also riding in a lesson at the same time). 
• We cannot accept new students for the pay-as-you-go lessons as there will not be tack-up help during these weeks. This means there will not be staff available to assist new riders not familiar with our horses/program.
• The scheduler is not open for bookings yet, as we still do not know when we will be permitted to open.  I will send out another email with further details once we get an official opening date.

Spring Lesson Session: NEW Start Date - Saturday, March 13th

• As March Break has been postponed, we are going to shift the start date of our Spring Session to Saturday, March 13th (and will close for the April break instead, April 12 - 18).
• We are asking ALL students to please submit the Spring Session Availability form, even if you filled out a form for the winter session, so we have everyone's updated availability.
• We are going to be cautious as we reopen and will start with accepting a limited number of riders.  If pandemic restrictions and conditions continue to improve, we will consider adding more riders mid-session.  The more availability you are able to provide, the more likely you are to get a spot. Priority for spaces will go to boarders, part-boarders, and those that were enrolled in classes during the fall.
• Please do not send an email to register for the spring session, I can no longer keep track of requests through email.  All riders need to submit the Spring Availability form.  

PAY AS YOU GO DETAILS AND SPRING AVAILABILITY FORM HERE

Virtual Lesson Reminder - Tonight @ 5:00pm!

Hey Raynham Riders!

In case you missed my last email, we are going to do a SECOND virtual lesson this evening!  We received tons of great feedback on the first lesson, you can view the videos from the first lesson here.  

To participate in the lesson this evening, please register here.

I hope to see many of your faces through Zoom tonight!

Nikki

LOCKDOWN UPDATE

Hey Raynham Riders,

We hope you all had a wonderful, relaxing holiday and a Happy New Year. I apologize for the delay in updating everyone about the plan for the next session. We have created a tentative schedule for the winter session, but I am hesitant to post it until we know when we’ll be allowed to resume classes and what the regulations will look like going forward. We are closely monitoring the updates from the province and our local public health office. As of right now, the provincial wide lockdown is due to expire on Saturday, January 23rd, which means tentatively, classes could resume that day. We aren’t sure if the lockdown is going to be extended or if there will be new indoor gathering limits, so we are waiting for further details before posting a schedule.

We know everyone is missing being at the barn, so we are excited to announce we are going to do a SECOND virtual lesson on Friday, January 15th @ 5:00pm! Thank you to everyone that participated in our first virtual lesson before the break. We received lots of terrific feedback and it was a ton of fun! I have posted all the videos from the first lesson on our YouTube page. There are listed privately for now, here is the link. If you would like to participate in our second lesson, please register here!

We hope you are all staying safe and healthy and look forward to having everyone back at the barn soon!

Nikki & the Raynham Team

Virtual Lesson Tonight @ 5:00pm!

Hey Raynham Riders,

I hope can attend our virtual lesson tonight at 5:00pm!  We've been busy filming all week and are excited to test out our new format!

 https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0rd-6upzouH9VexPA_hTX2-yCSvpZ_F8at

Nikki

YORK REGION IN GREY ZONE - FACILITY CLOSED

Hey Raynham Riders,

As I’m sure you’ve heard, York Region is moving into the grey zone as of tomorrow. Unfortunately, this means that our facility is shut down, other than for our boarders, until January 11th.

Looking on the bright side, at least the 28-day lockdown falls over the planned two-week closure for the winter break. Fortunately, this means we’re only missing one week of classes this session, so we will be offering a virtual stable management lesson in lieu of the last class. We will run a LIVE session via Zoom on Friday, Dec 18th @ 5:00pm with stable management topics presented by our coaching team, Ask the Coach (anything you’ve been wanting to know?), or Nikki and Lindsay could do some riding demos if you’re interested! Comment on the Topics facebook post by Tuesday with what you’d like to see! If you are interested in participating in lieu of your final lesson this session, you can register here. If you can’t attend live, we’ll record the session for later viewing too! For the January session, we will just adjust the session fee based on when we are permitted to resume classes. I am still working on the schedule for January and will have it posted as soon as possible.

Please let us know if you have any questions! Thank you for your continued support during these challenging times.

Nikki & the Raynham Team