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Welcome to the Timepiece Arabians Lesson page, here you will find information on our program. How it works and what to expect for your first couple of times at the farm.
Our lesson program offers students a wide variety of learning opportunities, whether it is working the horse on the ground, riding, cleaning tack, medicating or feeding horses, or learning how to work with a group to accomplish tasks. We teach students how to safely maneuver around the horses both on the ground and while riding. Safety, learning responsibility, practicing critical thinking, all the while learning about the horse, are our main goals each and every lesson.
Our lesson program is designed to be a 3-hour block and there is a lot of information that goes into that time frame. Due to our unique program, we invite you to come tour the farm, meet the instructors, meet the horses, and see if Timepiece Arabians is a good fit for you before signing up for lessons. We want you to have the opportunity to ask questions and get a feel for the farm so that you have a good idea of what future lessons will look like, and what our philosophy truly is.
n divide our students up based on age and skill level. We offer group Lessons only Monday through Thursday from 4-7pm.
We no longer have a Young Riders’ program. Contact Keev Farms for information on their wonderful program for the younger rider.
Since our regular lessons are in a 3-hour block we break that block up to ensure the student feels confident and comfortable with the tasks they are doing. The first hour is catching, grooming and saddling the horse under the eye of an instructor or advanced student/mentor who is in the barn at all times. The second hour is the actual time in the saddle, while the final hour is taking care of the lesson horse, cleaning any gear used and learning to shut the barn down for the evening.
All lessons are $75.00
We do NOT OFFER PRIVATE LESSONS of any type.
Our Regular lesson structure:
1. The first lesson taken will be about an hour TO AN HOUR AND 15 MINUTES long, and is called the "catching and grooming" lesson. In this lesson we teach how to walk up to a horse safely, put a halter on and lead the horse safely. We then teach how we want the horses to be groomed, both correctly and safely. We always give reason why we want certain things done and how we have evolved to the present teaching criteria.
2. The second lesson is a review of the first lesson PLUS information on putting tack on the horse. This lesson will be about an hour and a half long depending upon the age of the student. This is called the "groom and tack" lesson, and again we spend a great deal of time explaining exactly why we do what we do. We invite our students to ask as many questions and are always striving to clarify and explain.
3. The third lesson is the full 3-hour lesson. During the first hour, the students groom and tack their assigned horses always under the supervision of an instructor or advanced student/mentor, the second hour is full of groundwork and riding, while the third hour is untacking, grooming, putting the horse out, and cleaning the tack and learning how to close up the barn.
We have developed the lesson program in such a manner so that the students start to feel comfortable with the process and tasks of the 3-hour lesson. We feel that if students start with the 3-hour lesson they would simply be overwhelmed with information.
Our motto is that we want to teach our students as much as we possibly can so that one day, if they wish, they can take over our jobs. We teach all our students no matter the age, that there is a responsibility to care for the horses properly, to understand that one has to be responsible in life no matter the age, and that what they put into lessons is what they will get out of them. That the lessons learned with horses are lessons applicable to working, school and all of life itself.
AGE LIMITS FOR OUR MAIN LESSON PROGRAM
Because our main lesson program can be very labor and time intensive, we d0 not to take students less than 8 years old. We suggest that you come out and visit our farm to learn more about our lessons and to see if we're a great fit.
Please call or visit Keev Farm at http://www.keevfarm.com for the availability of programs for much younger students They have incredible programs for students who may not have the time available for our program.
WEIGHT LIMITS FOR OUR STUDENTS
Most of our horses are 15.2 hands or less. Because of the fact that we use smaller horses, we cannot take students who weigh more than 200 lbs.
HELMETS AND BOOTS
We provide helmets for the first four lessons. After that, we ask that you buy your own helmet and make sure that your name is written in or on it. Tack Room Too on Lee Street in Tumwater can help fit the perfect helmet. Horse Tack & Horse Supplies - Tack Room Too
Please wear boots with a heel. We do not work around horses in tennis shoes, school shoes or anything other than either English or Western boots. Boots do not need to be expensive, but they do need to have a heel. Often students outgrow boots, and they can be found in our "back room" of items to be given away or sold.
Instructor
Charlie started TPA in 1976 as a business but had been teaching for many years before that. And she has been teaching ever since. She has ridden with top hunter jumper instructors in Connecticut before moving to Alaska where she won the 1974 rodeo Cowgirl of the year buckle in Kodiak. She followed that up with riding for Mike and Karrie Osinski, John Camlin, Kevin Freeman, Ellen Mahaney, and a variety of other NW dressage, jumping and eventing instructors. In 1999 she was introduced to Buck Brannaman and rode with Buck for 13 years. She's ridden with Ray Hunt, Peter Campbell, Joe Wolter, to name just a few, and is currently riding with Martin Black.
She brings years of experience in all sorts of disciplines to each lesson at the farm as well as a sense of humor and a sense of purpose.
Come ride with us on great horses in a great setting.
Josh Wilson is our youngest instructor. People describe him as an old soul in a young body. Parents are currently raving about how thorough, how kind, how patient and efficient Josh is with all the beginning and intermediate students. He has the ability to get our students posting and steering correctly in just a few lessons. He often thinks outside the box and is always the first to step in to help in whatever way that he can. The amount of information that he imparts to the younger students, his understanding of what needs to be done, and his ability to sympathize and empathize is just outstanding.
We are extremely excited to share our journey with him as he continues to grow in his horsemanship and teaching education. More importantly, he plans on taking all that he has learned about people, horses and dogs on to vet school in the future.
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