Horseback riding lessons near San Francisco, from age 3 Learn horsemanship from the ground up
Start with one lesson. Stay for the Lesson Club, where you ride every week and every lesson costs less. Groundwork first, then riding, in the vaquero tradition. No experience needed.
Why riders join
Ride every week. Pay less for every lesson.
Horsemanship is learned by repetition, so the Lesson Club is built for riders who come back every week. The more you ride, the less each lesson costs.
- Single lesson $160 one 1-hour lesson, no commitment
- Bronze, monthly $125 a lesson, four a month
- Bronze, six months $100 a lesson, paid up front
- Gold, yearly $62.50 a lesson, twelve a month
Per 1-hour lesson, before the 3.6% card processing charge, which applies to single lessons and memberships alike.
How it works
One lesson in. A rider for life.
Take one lesson to see how we teach, then join the Lesson Club to keep the momentum. Here is the path.
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1
Take one lesson
Book a single lesson online. Groundwork first, then the saddle, with an instructor beside you the whole hour.
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2
Join the Lesson Club
Choose Bronze, Silver or Gold online. Your lesson points are added to your account automatically each month.
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3
Work through Level One
Ride every week with several instructors and many different horses, on purpose, so you learn to read any horse.
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4
Lease and plan Level Two
Pass Level One and you can lease a horse, ride with a dedicated instructor, and build your own plan with us.
A membership for riders who want to ride every week. Your lesson points land in your account each month; you book lessons online and apply the points at checkout.
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Our most popular plan
Bronze
4 lessons a month
$500 a month, $125 a lesson
Save $140 a month on four single lessons
About one lesson a week, a steady rhythm for Level One. Or pay $2,400 for six months: $100 a lesson.
Join Bronze -
Silver
8 lessons a month
$900 a month, $112.50 a lesson
Save $380 a month on eight single lessons
About two lessons a week. Or pay $4,600 for six months ($95.83 a lesson) or $6,600 for a year ($68.75 a lesson).
Join Silver -
Gold
12 lessons a month
$1,100 a month, $91.67 a lesson
Save $820 a month on twelve single lessons
About three lessons a week, for riders who want to move quickly. Or pay $9,000 for a year: $62.50 a lesson.
Join Gold
Prices are for 1-hour Horsemanship Lessons, before the 3.6% card processing charge. Savings compare each plan with the same number of single 1-hour lessons at $160. Choose monthly, six-month or yearly on the plan page; every monthly plan has a six-month minimum term.
What every member gets
Members book the same lesson pages as everyone else; the difference is what each lesson costs and how far you go.
- Points every month, automatically. Your lesson points are added to your account when each month of your membership begins.
- Book online, any time. Sign in, pick a lesson time, and apply your points at checkout.
- A real weekly rhythm. Level One is taught across several instructors and many different horses, and a steady schedule is how the skills stick.
- A path beyond the arena. Pass Level One and you can lease a horse, ride with a dedicated instructor, and join our endurance rides and clinic outings.
- The Student Assistant Program. Complete Level One as an active member and you can apply to assist and earn loyalty points toward free lessons.
- Free online courses. Study Course 100 to Course 103 at home between lessons.
The membership terms
Before you join, here are the membership terms, word for word from our Terms and Conditions.
- 10.1
Choosing a monthly membership is a commitment to a minimum six-month term. Discounted membership and package pricing is conditional on completing that term. The discount is the consideration we give in exchange for the commitment, and it is the reason the member rate sits below our standard rate.
- 10.2
You do not have to commit. If you would rather not take on a six-month term, you are not required to join a Lesson Club at all. Lessons may be booked and paid for one at a time, at our standard single-lesson rate, outside the membership program, with no minimum term and no commitment of any kind. That option is available to you before you join and after you leave.
- 10.3
Where you end a membership or package before the six-month term is complete, the difference between the discounted rate you paid and our standard single-lesson rate, for the lessons you have already taken, becomes payable. That difference is the only sum due on an early exit; we do not charge you for the remaining months of the term, and we do not require you to keep paying to the end of it.
- 10.4
Included lessons are used within the calendar month and do not roll over. A single lesson cancelled with 24 hours’ notice is handled under Section 8 and issued as a credit rather than lost.
Already had your first lesson?
You have done the hard part. Now make it weekly.
Four single lessons a month cost $640. Bronze gives you the same four for $500, booked the same way online, with your points waiting in your account each month.
Prices before the 3.6% card processing charge. Monthly plans have a six-month minimum term.
- Horsemanship Lessons: 1 HourOur standard single lesson, and the lesson every Lesson Club plan includes.Book 1 hour
- Horsemanship Lessons: 30 MinutesA shorter lesson on the same Level 1 path.Book 30 minutes
- Private Horsemanship Lessons: 1 HourLevel 1, taught privately.Book a private lesson
Lesson Club members: sign in before you book, so your lesson points apply at checkout. Sign in
The Leyden method
Level One, taught like a trade
Seven courses, Course 100 to Course 106, 46 skills signed off by more than one instructor, and a packet you bring to every lesson. The first four courses are free online.
Free online academy
Start at home, free
The first four Level One courses are online and free, Course 100 to Course 103, each with an exam at the end. Create a free account to start, and bring what you learn to the barn.
Booked on a beach ride? Beach Ride Prep is a five-minute briefing you can read without an account.
What to expect
Before your first lesson
- Age. Lessons start at age 3. They stay at the barn and in the arena, so the age-8 minimum for trail and beach rides does not apply.
- Weight. Riders 240 lbs or less, able to mount and dismount with minimal assistance.
- Arrival. Arrive 20 minutes before your start time to check in, fit a helmet and complete paperwork.
- What to wear. Long pants, closed-toe shoes with a slight heel, and layers. Bring water and sunscreen.
- Helmets. ASTM-certified helmets are provided. Riders under 18 must wear one.
- Waiver. Every participant signs the Ocean View Stables Participant Agreement before any hands-on activity with a horse; a parent or guardian signs for a minor.
- Your packet. Print the Level One Packet and bring it to every lesson; your instructors sign your skills off in it.
- First-lesson email. New students get a short email before the first lesson with what to wear and when to arrive.
Student manual
The Rider’s Journey
The Rider’s Journey is our student manual: a groundwork track and a riding track, worked through stage by stage.
Sign in with the email you use for bookings to see your online courses and the skills your instructors have signed at the barn.
Graduating Level One is the required step before Level Two. Once you have completed Level One as an active Lesson Club member, you can apply to the Student Assistant Program and earn loyalty points toward free lessons.
After Level One
Your horse, your instructor, your plan
Pass Level One and you can lease one of our horses from one day a week to full time, ride with a dedicated instructor, build a Level Two plan with the Leydens, and join our endurance rides and clinic outings.
Yes. Book a single lesson at the standard rate, with no minimum and no commitment. When you are ready to ride every week, join the Lesson Club online. Your lesson points are added to your account and you book the same way you did before.
A single 1-hour lesson is $160. In the Lesson Club a lesson costs $125 on Bronze, $112.50 on Silver and $91.67 on Gold, paying monthly. Paying for six months or a year up front brings it lower: $100 a lesson on six-month Bronze and $62.50 on yearly Gold. All figures are before the card processing charge, which applies to single lessons too.
Bronze is four lessons a month, about one a week, a steady start for Level One. Silver is eight a month, about two a week. Gold is twelve a month, about three a week, for riders who want to move quickly.
No. Level 1 assumes nothing. Complete beginners and riders coming back after years away both start there, on the ground, and the instructor sets the pace from what you can already do.
Three. Lessons happen at the barn and in the arena, which is why they start younger than beach and trail rides, which begin at 8. Children aged 3 to 6 can also join the Junior Pony Club.
Yes. Riders must be 240 lbs or less and able to mount and dismount with minimal assistance. We match each rider to a suitable horse from the herd.
Reschedule at no charge up to 24 hours before your start time, subject to instructor, horse and facility availability. Cancel at least 24 hours ahead and we issue a booking credit for the full amount paid; credits do not expire and are not transferable or redeemable for cash. Inside 24 hours, or a no-show: no refund and no credit.
Choosing a monthly membership is a commitment to a minimum six-month term. If you end early, the difference between the discounted rate you paid and our standard single-lesson rate, for the lessons you have already taken, becomes payable. That difference is the only sum due on an early exit.
A single one-hour lesson is $160, a 30-minute lesson is $85 and a private hour is $225. In the Lesson Club a lesson costs $62.50 to $125 depending on the plan and term. Prices are before the card processing charge.
Standard lessons run in small groups, taught at the level of the least experienced rider in the ring. A private lesson is one rider, one instructor and one horse for an hour.
Long pants and closed-toe shoes with a slight heel, with layers for the coast. Helmets are provided. Bring water and sunscreen.
About 15 minutes down Skyline Boulevard from downtown, 12 from SFO and 20 from Moscone Center, on the Daly City bluffs. No car? See getting here by BART and bus.
Ocean View Stables, Daly City
Ride every week
Join the Lesson Club and make horsemanship part of your week. Or start with one lesson and see how we teach, groundwork first.