Membership is not required. The Essex Equestrian Center is open to anyone who shares an interest and passion in the horse, and wishes to further their knowledge and expertise.

Discount Packages

All Lessons are available in packages of eleven lessons for the price of ten. Note that students will be required to purchase and maintain a package to qualify for standing lessons. For further information please click on the Options tab. All packages are non-refundable, non-transferable, and subject to cancellation. Packages will expire twelve months from the date of purchase.

RIDERS MUST WEAR SHOES WITH A HEEL. NO SNEAKERS!

HELMETS ARE MANDATORY FOR ALL RIDERS.

In the event that the student is late we will attempt to compensate him or her for the lost time if both the instructor and the horse's schedule allow. In the event that it cannot be accomplished the time will be forfeited without the right to future compensation. If the instructor or the facility causes the tardiness, the student's lesson time will be extended so as to achieve the entire lesson time or the student will be compensated for the missed portion.

Please note that lesson time includes tack adjustment, warm-up, cool-down (on or off the horse) and tack re-adjustment in preparation for exiting.

Although we will always attempt to accommodate a client's request for a particular horse, we can not guarantee that the requested horse will always be available. If you would like to ensure that the same horse will always be available, please talk to your instructor or someone at the desk for our options on leasing horses. Instructors will encourage riders to learn to ride on several different horses during their lessons to make them a better rider.

"Group Lessons" are defined as three or more students in one group being taught by one instructor. Prior to entering a specific group, the student must first obtain written approval from their instructor.

Group lessons offer students a chance to ride longer, save some money and still maintain a one on one relationship with the instructor.

Standing Lessons

A "standing lesson" is defined as a recurrent weekly reservation for a lesson on a particular day and time with the same instructor. These lessons need not be actively scheduled every week by the client but rather will be automatically scheduled every week in advance by the staff for the benefit and convenience of the client. Due to an increased demand, effective September 1, 2000 any standing lesson cancelled or postponed by the client for more than two consecutive weeks will be dropped from the standing schedule.

The cancellation policy for standing lessons is the same for all of the types of lessons: A 24-hour notice is required or the client will be charged. In the event that a standing lesson is cancelled for more than two consecutive weeks, that time slot will be made available to other riders unless the original rider holds the slot be paying for the missed time in advance.

A standing appointment should only be scheduled in person. At this time, the client must purchase a lesson package and maintain a balance of at least one lesson. When the balance falls to one lesson, the client will be notified and additional lessons will need to be purchased or the client will forfeit the time slot.

From time to time it will be necessary for you to cancel a lesson. Due to the nature of our business and the schedules for both instructors and horses, you should cancel your lessons as quickly as possible. In order to avoid being charged in full, all cancellations must be made at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled lesson time. For example, a 10:00 A.M. lesson must be cancelled prior to 10:00 A.M. the previous day.

At the time that a valid cancellation is made, the desk staff accepting the cancellation will issue a "cancellation number". Please note this for your records.

Cancellations must be called in to a person in the office. E-mail cancellations will not be accepted. Messages left on the answering machine after business hours will not be honored for the purposes of cancellation.

In the event that 24-hour notice is not given, the client will be charged for the full amount of the lesson.

Instructor Cancellation

If a particular instructor is unavailable on a given day, the Essex Equestrian Center will make every effort to provide a qualified substitute instructor. If one cannot be provided, the client will be contacted and the lesson will be cancelled at no charge. If a substitute instructor is found, the lesson will remain as scheduled. This shall not constitute cause for cancellation and subsequent credit to the client.

In the event an instructor will not be available for an extended period of time, the client will be contacted and given the option to reschedule with another instructor or canceling at no charge.

Private Half Hour $55
Semi-Private 45 minutes $75
Group Lesson One Hour $65
½ Hour Private Package* Eleven Lessons $550
Semi-Private Package* Eleven Lessons $750
Group Lesson Package* Eleven Lessons $650

*All Lesson Packages Are Non-Refundable/Non-Transferable and expire one year from date of purchase.

Pony Instruction - One Session $10**
Pony Instruction - Eleven Sessions $100**
**All pony instruction sessions are part of our beginning lesson program.

Lesson Leasing:
1 Lesson Per Week $100 Per Month
2 Lessons Per Week $200 Per Month

Lessons With Thom Trout: Please Inquire At Front Desk