Does this seem insanely unreasonable?

[simka2]

Just wanted to add for anyones benefit that 10min time frame is very reasonable as well. This is a 2hr slot and sick kids. Even if I had 2 knowledgeable helpers and sick bomb proof horses, just teaching the grooming, tacking up and un tacking would take 45min. and that is only if things go perfectly!!!! (which never happens) On top of that you are getting a basic farm field trip would should include things like stall mucking and rebedding, basic feeds and feeding rotations, differences in breed types and what they can do...any number of educational things.

 

Whenever I do a beginner/ first timer lesson it is 1hr ($40) and about 25 min of rideing. The rest is how to catch a horse, grooming, tacking up, mounting...and then everything in reverse. After that, its $30 for 45min...and this is in the midwest where it's pretty inexpensive. My friend trains on the east coast...and charges around $75 per lesson...she's also a international competitor so that's part of it ;)

 

You also, have to consider that your getting the pinic for free. Many barns would tac on fees for "facility usage."

 

This wasn't meant as a reproof to the OP, but more as a clarification for those who thought there should be more rideing time...it's just not feasible with that many kids...or without makeing the timeframe longer and increasing the price.

[Vida Winter]

There is no way in the world we would consider lessons for all the kids at once. We have let the kids have lessons a few times over the years but nothing regular and permanent - now we don't do any riding at all.

 

Perhaps you could consider doing this only with your oldest child? It is a terribly expensive hobby, not just for the one paying for lessons. Her liability is high also. I wouldn't hold those fees against her any more than I would fault a ski resort for charging what they do.

[Kate CA]

I see your point. I think in some cases, it's about having the business vs. not having the business, ie, if I can afford to pay $50 for all my dc or no $ because the business won't take that, well then, the business gets no $. Also, she is just starting up this ranch and is trying to get the word out, establish the business, etc.

 

But two hours of *her* time for $50 just isn't worth it to HER. I work with a pony business and let me tell you, $105 is *CHEAP*. Horses are a lot of work and cost a lot of money. If you can't afford it then you can't afford it, but it is by no means unreasonable.

[angela in ohio]

It sounds reasonable to me. I think when you multiply most field trips by 7 kiddos, they sound expensive. :001_smile:

 

That said, if she was a smart business woman, she would offer these "field trips" at a very discounted rate in order to get kiddos and their parents to her ranch and interested in signing up for lessons. :D

[Caroline]

It sounds reasonable to me. I think when you multiply most field trips by 7 kiddos, they sound expensive. :001_smile:

 

That said, if she was a smart business woman, she would offer these "field trips" at a very discounted rate in order to get kiddos and their parents to her ranch and interested in signing up for lessons. :D

 

But if you cannot afford the field trip, then there is no way you can afford the riding lessons.

[carolinagirl]

I'm going to line up with the 'reasonable' crowd. But I've been used to paying a lot for the activities my boy's are involved with. Music lessons are $15 per child for a 30 min lesson and one of my children was doing multiple instruments, 2x a week. Our music costs were $400 a month until the piano teacher had to take a hiatus for a family emergency. The co-op classes they take range in cost from $40-$90. My son's art class is $90 for 6 weeks. For one child, it is fine, multiply it by 4 and suddenly it was over $200 for the fall semester.

 

The fact is, everything is costing more. Groceries, gas, clothes... *cry*

 

I really think she's got a wonderful field trip set up for $15! My kid's would've loved it.

[Haiku]

I don't think it's unreasonable at all.

 

Tara

[angela in ohio]

But if you cannot afford the field trip, then there is no way you can afford the riding lessons.

 

Oh, I don't mean in this particular sitatuation.

 

I mean advertising very cheap "field trips" to get people in the door and then hooking them into lessons once their dc fall in love with the horses. :D If she was really smart, she'd have a free "horse fair" or something like on the weekend that with snacks and games and horse riding demonstrations. That's what they do around here.

 

Honestly, though, for whatever reason, most of the people I know who have dc taking riding lessons are the ones who can least afford it. I don't know why. :confused:

[Kate CA]

Oh, I don't mean in this particular sitatuation.

 

I mean advertising very cheap "field trips" to get people in the door and then hooking them into lessons once their dc fall in love with the horses. :D If she was really smart, she'd have a free "horse fair" or something like on the weekend that with snacks and games and horse riding demonstrations. That's what they do around here.

 

Honestly, though, for whatever reason, most of the people I know who have dc taking riding lessons are the ones who can least afford it. I don't know why. :confused:

 

Oh I really disagree here. After working in the pony/horse/animal business for a while you see a trend. People only value what they PAY for and demand more when they get it for free. You would just not believe the stories if I shared them here.

 

She is a smart business woman for NOT selling herself short. Her time is valuable and those that see a two hour horse adventure for $15 as expensive are not seeing the big picture. At any fair around here a "ten-times-around-the-sweep" ride (at most 8 minutes) is $5.00. Where in the world can you buy two hours of anything worthwhile for $15?

 

Now the full price for seven people may be unaffordable to the OP and as a family of seven I totally understand that! :D However the upkeep and work it takes to get horses for seven people ready - that is 1-2 hours of work before they even show up. (And then there is their feed, vet bills, USDA licensing, care, etc., etc.) To have and show and use animals in a business - it just isn't cheap at all and most people have no idea. (An insider perspective for you!) :001_smile:

[lionfamily1999]

I can't pay anywhere near $100 to do something like this. It's not even really worth negotiating if this is the starting point.

 

One of my older dc used to take lessons and would love to again. But this same dd also does 2 x a week ballet and we can't afford both. So it probably wouldn't be a good idea to take her there and get her thinking about horses again LOL.

 

It's really the price I'm asking about. I just thought this would be a fun field trip, ok, so it's too expensive, we won't do it. No harm done!

Is she aware that you are not interested in riding lessons at all? It sounds, imo, like she's hoping to 'hook you' into lessons. If she knew you didn't care to ride and just wanted to wander a bit and look around perhaps she would lower her price (to nothing).

[Ottakee]

I would ask about a bit shorter program. Once I realized that your kids have never been on a horse, etc. the 10 minute ride might even be a bit much for the younger ones. Five minutes being led around might be enough for the younger ones. You have to think of the horse as well. Going for 70 minutes in a circle at a walk with new riders on isn't a lot of fun for the horse and you need a very safe and quiet horse for this.

 

Could you see about the riding just for the kids and not you or the 2 year old? Before letting them ride though, I would make SURE that she has helmets in the appropriate size. Even just being led around, I would require helmets for all riders.

 

Do you have another adult that could go with you? Depending on the ages of your little ones, I would want more 1 adult per preschoolers for a horse activity. Even when I have my niece and nephew come (they are 3 and 5) I require 1 adult for EACH child in addition to myself as I am handling the horse.

 

This is a hard call. I used to pay $15/hour for my 2 girls to go to a lady from our church to ride her horses. They were led around on the horses (lady and her daughter each had one) and then did some brushing, tacking/untacking, putting out hay, cleaning up poop/stalls, etc. in order to get the feel of what having a horse was like. She though did not use this as a money making thing, just a service to our family.

[Parrothead]

No, I do not think $15.00 for 2 hours of horse training is too much. Last time dd had riding lessons I paid $20 per hour.

[JFSinIL]

I don't think it's unreasonable :) .

 

Is it expensive for your family, sure...but not an unreasonable amount to charge for upwards of 3 hours of somebody's time and talent.

 

I do think that they should be able to ride longer though...a half an hour would be nice :) .

 

As a business owner I've encountered this issue as well. I offer a service that costs a certain amount per person. I understand that if you have several children it's going to cost you more...but I'm still putting the same amount of work in per person regardless of how many children you have. It's not fair to the family that pays full amount for each of their two or three children to then allow you to pay less. It's also not fair to expect me, the business owner, to work for less money because you have more children in your family.

 

I concur. I only have four kids, and, yes, there were some events, etc. we had to skip.

[PiCO]

So, she wants me to spend $105 for this?!?! I mean, I didn't expect it to be free, and I don't mind someone making a decent hourly wage (although she is just starting up).

 

I think this is a bargain. That's about $50 per hour for her time, horses, and equipment. She has to pay taxes, feed her horses, pay her mortgage, electric, water, etc. She is not getting rich off this... I doubt she is breaking even on this.

[Tammyla]

That would be a lot to budget for a field trip, but individual cost per child isn't that high.

 

Have you offered to barter. I helped clean out stalls when I was a kid, so I could ride for free.

 

 

 

I got a email from my homeschool group forwarding info from a young woman who just started a ranch near me (within 15 minutes or so). She is going to offer horseback riding lessons, stabling people's horses, etc. The email mentioned field trips. So I thought, well, that might be kind of fun, to take my 6 dc at home over to this ranch, see the horses, etc. So I emailed her. Here is part of her response:

 

 

 

So, she wants me to spend $105 for this?!?! I mean, I didn't expect it to be free, and I don't mind someone making a decent hourly wage (although she is just starting up). She was homeschooled and has taught before. But this seems, like I said, insanely unreasonable. Maybe it's just because I have no money LOL. So I figured I would ask on here. Would you pay this for a field trip? If you think her prices are out of line, should I email her back and say so?

[katilac]

It's perfectly reasonable.

 

I just checked, and that's the exact price charged by a local stable for educational field trips, one and a half hours instead of two, including only "a short ride" and I doubt they would do it for only seven people. One hour group lessons in riding are $40 per person (groups of four to six), so that would be $280 for a group of seven. A 30 minute semi-private lesson (2 people) is $45 per person.

 

If someone just wants their kids to see farm animals up close and take a short pony ride, the local farm that does it still charges $10 per person, no formal presentation or teaching included.

[Pretty in Pink]

I think it's a reasonable price per person though I see that it would be quite expensive for your family. I would try to arrange a (free) sitter for some of the children and take only the oldest or the ones who are truly interested.

[Nestof3]

I think the question to ask is, "Is $15 per person unreasonable?"

 

Lots of places charge by person (buffets, amusement parks, etc), and families have to decide how much they are willing to pay for family fun. Group rates are usually only applicable to large groups.

 

For example, we went out to eat as a family more when it was just Aaron. Just a few minutes ago, my husband considered buying tickets to the Lion King musical. Back when it was just the two of us, we wouldn't have blinked at spending $50 per ticket, but now, it just ends up being too much money to spend.

 

That doesn't mean that they are asking too much.

[HappyCrazyMama]

Based on your replies to some of the other posters I think you should consider emailing her back, being more specific of what you are looking for and asking if you can work something out. Prehaps something like, Dear ____, thanks for getting back with me. You two hour feild trip sounds fantastic but it is not in our budget and not quite what I had in mind. I wanted to see if you would consider letting our family come for an hour to look at the horses up close and chat with you about them? I think this would be more appropriate for our needs, especially with the little ones, and riding isn't necessary. Is there a possibility you could accommodate us for something of that nature as a compromise? Thank you....

 

You could probable say it better but I'm in a hurry and I'm hungry, lol.

[mcconnellboys]

Riding here is generally $25 per hour. Sometimes it's $25 per half hour. That includes grooming, tacking, safety, and all other things you need to learn to do with regard to riding, too. Horses are an expensive hobby....