The 3h hands-on part of your Orientation will happen during regular Beginner Horsemanship Class! These are:

• Children: alternate Saturdays @ 8:30am-11:30am

• Teens: alternate Tuesdays at 3:45pm-6:45pm (we know it's a weird time. It does work, though, we've workshopped it!).

• Adults: Fridays @ 8:30am-11:30am

After Orientation, these will also be our regular class times!

We are so sorry to hear that 😔 These are the times that are available for us right now to teach new students and beginners, but hey, please make sure you get on our waitlist! Things evolve all the time here at Hatha Equus, so you might get notified of a change or that sometime!

We get it. You have been a whole childhood of riding behind you, maybe you've even owned horses before, or maybe those few times in which you went trail riding with your family, you felt like you were doing pretty well. And you don't want to "do beginners things".

Well...Consensual Horsemanship really is...DIFFERENT. It is actually usually humbling for experienced horse people to come to Orientation...and realize how much they actually...have YET to learn about horses subtle communication, consent protocols, species-appropriate management and intrinsic motivation!

So, please come open to re-explore your foundations and find. anew level of depth in your horsemanship!

Also, just so you know, we always tailor the tasks and challenges to your experience.

Nope! Not yet! And there is very good reason! Please refer to the section "A Note on Riding", a few paragraphs above this one on this page, for a fuller explanation.

First of all, that's fantastic. Secondly...she STILL will need to do our New Student Orientation. Again, we prepare students to be happy sidekicks to happy horses, here, and to that purpose, unfortunately, it doesn't really matter that much that the human already knows how to trot, canter and jump on horse-back!

If you'll want to trot, canter and jump within our program — which you totally can! We love and do all that! — we insist that it be consensual. And it takes tools, time, knowledge and feel (and a good degree of self-awareness!) to get there 🙏🏻🤗

Gosh, it would be so wonderful for us to welcome such spontaneity! But, sadly, our insurance is not so happy with that notion. So we ask you to please book through this official channel 🙏🏻 Thank you. for understanding!

Yes! We LOVE it when siblings want to start this adventure together, or when a parent wants to get to know horses too (that IS, in our experience, a very responsible choice if you child or teen is going to own a horse. Not to mention that...hey...no harm done in coming out to have some serious fun with horses, and letting them change your life fo the better! Sometimes us parents are so focused on making our kids' lives amazing, that we forget to treat ourselves with living our childhood dreams, too!)

Anyway, upon booking the second "Orientation spot", please use the code "ORIENTATIONFAMILY": the second student will receive a discount of $50!

Advanced students only! In order to take them out on a trail ride, we need to know that they have developed solid safety instincts on horse back, confident seat and cues, and especially a trust based relationship with the horse they are going to partner up with! So if you wanted to call us because your granddaughter’s birthday is next week and you wished to take her on a trail ride…we are probably not the right fit for you! 

Orientation naturally segways into our horsemanship half-days: the place for all-round horse-related learning. This is where you learn the skills and the knowledge to train and care for horses. Month by month, we rotate among different horsemanship frameworks and activities. These classes happen in a half-day group format and we request your attendance twice/month.

Investment: $149/session

YES! 🤪

Now in all seriousness, talking about the type of saddle we use misses the point for Hatha Equus. We draw from different disciplines and horsemanship frameworks (which we practice on horseback and on the ground), to teach our human students of any age how to support horses physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually…and vice versa! Sometimes a certain type of saddle supports a horse or rider better for their personal goals (ie- a jumping saddle for someone who wants to jump is more comfortable than a western!).

But we can do dressage in a western, or trailride in a dressage saddle!Many new students also ask us what sort of clothes they need to wear for lessons. We have no other standard than comfortable and safe (we will be more specific as you join our programs of course!)…for the rest, you do you!

We are lucky enough to have many horse teachers among our herd, of many different breeds and talents, each of whom will teach your teen incredibly valuable lessons! At the beginning of students' journey with Hatha Equus, we try to pair them up with as many horses as we can, so that they can learn to communicate with as many horsenalities as possible! As students make their way to intermediate and advanced level, they might even start considering leasing opportunities with a horse in particular!

Indeed! Leasing opportunities often come up at Wildsong Ranch, and Hatha Equus is excited to facilitate horses and humans finding each other in more committed partnerships! As soon as our beginner students get handy with the horsemanship tool kit we teach and are able to cross a few safety and consent items off of our “leasing eligibility checklist”, then beautiful conversations can happen 😍 Remember, all the horses at Wildsong Ranch have owners so it doesn't depend on us. We can just say that we have seen over time that the universe has a way of opening up opportunities at the right times.