Lessons
We offer private and semi-private (2-3 students) riding lessons for total beginners up to seasoned dressage riders. We pride ourselves on offering an inclusive, lgbtqia+ friendly, and body positive environment. We believe your barn time should be your refuge and strive to bring patience and empathy to each lesson, meeting you and your horse where you are at and gently guiding you towards your riding goals be they competitive success or just becoming a better rider for your own enjoyment and your horse's well being.
DRESSAGE LESSONS
For the seasoned rider who is already well-versed in the sport of Dressage, we offer trailer-in lessons on your own horse or you can ride one of our kind and well-trained schoolmaster lesson horses.
We have equal respect for riders who wish to compete and those who are pursuing their education for the simple betterment of horse and rider that is offered by a sport focused on harmony, connection, and good horse and rider biomechanics.
When done well, dressage is both a sport and an art that can benefit any horse and rider of any discipline. Our instructors have a history in a variety of other horse sports before dedicating ourselves fully to dressage and are happy to help riders with a variety of needs, interests, and backgrounds from the simply dressage-curious to the highly-competitive.
WHAT IS DRESSAGE?
Dressage is a discipline, begun in ancient Greece and perfected during the Renaissance and Baroque periods. You start by learning to communicate with your horse so harmoniously that your signals to each other are virtually invisible to anyone watching. Then you take those signals and create what is essentially dance choreographies together.
There are more movements to learn than in any other riding discipline and a nearly infinite number of ways to combine them. True mastery of the art of dressage is a life-long pursuit. My mission is to help riders begin this amazing journey!
~ Cara Barker Yellott
BEGINNER RIDING LESSONS
Riding lessons at Privateer Riding Academy are taught at a beautiful facility in Manchester MI, minutes from Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan. We have an indoor arena that allows students to take lessons rain or shine, as well as an outdoor arena. This gives us the versatility to teach lessons all year round and gives our showing (always optional!) students a competitive edge.
We strive to make riding fun and challenging while still maintaining high standards of safety and animal welfare. Lessons are approximately 45 minutes to one hour in length. Beginner students spend the first portion of the lesson are taught on the ground and devoted to basic horse handling knowledge. These are the core skills students will need to become a well-rounded equestrian capable of safe and responsible horse ownership. From there, we move on to the riding portion of the lesson, sometimes saving a few minutes at the end to again work on ground skills. As students become more proficient, you will be able to groom and saddle up your own horse prior to your lesson time. At that point, the full hour will be devoted to riding.
Here is the current pricing for early 2025:
Private a la carte lessons $85
Private monthly lesson package $330 ($320 w/ early payment discount)
Semi-private a la carte lessons $65
Semi-private monthly lesson package $230 ($220 w/ early payment discount)
Monthly packages consist of one lesson per week. Depending on the month, that will be either four or five lessons per month (for example, if you normally ride on a Friday, some months will have four Fridays and others will have five).
We have a 24 hour cancellation policy. As long as you let us know at least 24 hours in advance, you can reschedule your lesson without penalty.
