Learn to Ride
Campers 7-12 years old – Busing available from the Leaside.
2024 Riding Camp Registration OPENS JANUARY 2!
CLICK HERE for 2024 LEARN TO RIDE – Dates/Pricing/Bus Schedule
Have a child that loves animals and is keen to learn to ride? Pawsitively Pets has a great program for our animal-loving friends who also have a love for horses and want to be introduced to horseback riding!
Our Learn to Ride program allows children to be introduced to the wonderful world of horses and riding and still have the chance to enjoy a couple of visits from the Pawsitively Pets animal team throughout the weeks, getting up close and personal with some of our animals as well as taking part in daily riding and horsemanship lessons.
LEVEL 1 – is meant for new riders who have never ridden and/or have only been to camp 1-3 times and have not ridden since last summer. Usually, riders need to do Level 1 three to five times before moving to Level 2. We always group our Level 1 riders into skill levels, so those who came to camp last summer will be grouped with other riders who joined us last summer, and our brand-new riders who have never attended camp will be grouped together.
LEVEL 2 – is meant for riders who can walk and post trot independently without a leader and have the full ability to steer their horse at a walk and trot. This level is often well suited for campers who have been to camp and done Level 1 several times and Level 2 once or twice but do not ride regularly throughout the year. This is also a good fit for riders who have just started lessons.
LEVEL 3 – meant for riders who take regular lessons (ride outside of camp for at least half of the year) and can walk, trot and canter.
This program is in partnership with a community riding program (located approximately 50 minutes east of Toronto.) The program will take a maximum of 24 campers per week depending on the session. Campers will be bused to farm each day. (Please ensure you register for busing when registering, unless you plan to drop your child off at camp and pick them up each day.) This program has busing available. Please note as we do bus to this location, and traffic can vary day-to-day we generally arrive on-site between 9am – 9:15 am, and load the bus end of day at 3:45 pm to get organized to head back.
Our Learn to Ride program will provide daily activities interacting with the horses and some special hands-on visits with our animal team. Campers will learn all about horses, their care and how to safely interact with them as well as daily riding lessons and horsemanship. Campers will have the chance to spend the day rotating through horsemanship, stable management, riding lessons and learning all the key aspects of horse, tack and equipment. Riding will be instructed by certified riding instructor and will teach campers the basics of English riding, focusing on balance, position and comfort working with horses. Daily program includes: 2 mounted riding lessons per day, daily horsemanship activities, horse interactions, hands-on animal presentation and horse related crafts and enrichment. All mounted riding lessons will be done in groups of 6-7 riders.
As with all the Pawsitively Pets programs the core program is based on working safely with animals in a well supervised and controlled setting. Learn to Ride focuses on balance, steering, control, confidence and safety. Helmet rentals are included in the program fee, all campers will be required to wear a boot with a heel while riding (rain boots with a slight heel are perfect!)
CLICK HERE for our SUMMER CAMP Refund Policy
Staff/Leader to camper ratio for Learn to Ride is 1 staff to 8 campers. During riding sessions, all campers will have a leader available to them as needed.
Campers must be 7 years old as of December 31 of the camp year to participate in this program.