A little Riding 4 Life history
- Leann Manuel
- Aug 22
- 6 min read
A brief look back as we plan to move forward!
As the fall approaches - it's scheduling time again at Riding 4 Life. And with that comes a bit of planning and reflection. So here's an update for you all just ahead of our fall session.
NOTE: For those who are hoping to schedule this fall, that invite is coming later today for returning riders, and new clients can expect that info to come in a week or so.
As many of you know, Riding 4 Life just celebrated its 20th anniversary last fall. But what many of you don't know, is that over the years, we have focused mainly on therapeutic services while only a small portion of our work focused on beginners or newcomers to horsemanship.
In 2008 when Leann moved to the Okanagan, Riding 4 Life offered services exclusively to children and youth with a primarily therapeutic or developmental focus. By 2015, she had met over 75 young riders and helped 5 or 6 develop into youth who were looking for work experience opportunities in the horse industry. To further support those soon to be adults, she created an internship program where some more experienced riders could now offer beginner riding sessions to the larger community.
Needless to say, that program was a hit! And that marked the transition from Riding 4 Life being just a she, to a we! We went from 10 beginners enrolled for 6 weeks that year (60 hours of beginner instruction) to as many as 40 beginner riders at any given time across 20 weeks. That's 800 hours of beginner instruction each year and a waitlist of new clients who'd like to join us. And that's on top of the 30 weekly hours of therapeutic services we typically deliver.
The difficulty with this growth is that we priced our beginner programs at cost originally because they weren't intended to be an income earner for Riding 4 Life. They were simply meant to support some of our longtime clients to build their dreams. But to meet the demand for this program in our community we've had to hire instructors, so our costs for this program have risen significantly. Meanwhile, our fees for this program have not kept up with those costs. This has presented a significant sustainability challenge for Riding 4 Life.
Another significant challenge is the shortage of experienced riding instructors in our area. While we have met several young people who have come up through our programs and grown into fantastic young horsewomen, they often move on to post secondary pursuits... meaning we don't get to keep them! Some have moved to Alberta and become professional horse trainers. Some have entered the work force and worked to become self sufficient. Other's have gone on to University to earn a degree. Another is leaving for Old's College in a matter of days with her horse in tow to complete the Equine Care & Management Program, and there's no telling where that will take her next.
We are truly grateful to some of our friends and colleagues who pitch in every season and commit to 10 or so weekly hours of instruction over and above their busy work and family lives to help Riding 4 Life serve our community. And incase you're wondering, this side gig is as much a labour of love for them as it is for Leann and Chris. Their compensation is far below market value for their specific and rare skillset.
And a final fun fact... even Leann worked a half time day job up until the spring of 2022 because Riding 4 Life couldn't afford to carry her basic living before then.
So today we find ourselves looking back at the challenges we've met with pride, confidence, and a bit of tenacity. We're proud of what we've built, we're confident we can chart a sustainable future, and we're just stubborn enough to lean in and see it though! We also believe that what we offer has significant value for our community and we know that you do to!
So here is what to expect this fall:
Some of our programs are changing and some rates are increasing. We are retiring our Discover Horses program and replacing it with two new programs that can affordably include more riders in our horsemanship curriculum. We will now offer Intro Mini Lessons for riders aged 6-9, and Group Lessons for riders who have some experience in our horsemanship programs already.
Our fall program offerings now look like this:
Individual Therapeutic Lessons - $105/hr
Up to 40 mins of mounted time. Includes grooming and tack up.
Billed monthly in advance with a minimum booking of 4 consecutive weeks.
Funder friendly. Given booking priority. Occasional waitlist for new intakes.
Individual Beginner and Intermediate lessons - $70/hr
Up to 40 mins of mounted time. Includes grooming and tack up.
Billed in advance for entire upcoming session.
Fall 2025 session: 8 weeks X $75 = $560
Often waitlisted for new intakes.
Intro Mini lesson - $40/30mins (NEW!)
Ages 6-9 yrs only. Up to 25 mins of mounted time.
Billed in advance for entire upcoming session.
Fall 2025 session: 8 weeks X $40 = $320
Often waitlisted for new intakes.
Group Lessons - $50/hr (NEW!)
Up to 40 mins of mounted time. Includes grooming and tack up.
3-4 riders per group. One instructor plus one assistant if needed.
Billed in advance for entire upcoming session.
Fall 2025 session: 8 weeks X $50 = $400
By invitation only from our current beginner/intermediate pool of riders.
MUST enroll in individual lessons first to assess and establish some basic skills.
Limited availability. For example: must be able to halter, lead, and fully groom your horse independently.
Spring 2026 and beyond!
As we grow, we often say goodbye to past people, places, and things in order to welcome new opportunities and possibilities. In this case, we are saying goodbye to our Penticton location at Feedway Stables at the end of October this year.
The Penticton Stables has been our home for more than 10 years! Ironically, Riding 4 Life expanded into that site after saying goodbye to D-bar-K Ranch in Oliver where we had grown considerably since moving to the Okangan. At that time we never dreamed we'd return some day to claim it as our own year round home base for our crew - or what we now call Riding 4 Life Ranch. To say our journey has been full of surprises is an understatement!
The decision to leave this site came for several reasons. Some are plain to see if you've visited us there in the past few months. The property is no longer primarily an equestrian facility. We share the land with several other tenants who are doing a wide range of things. And some of those things aren't well suited to share space with horses and a healthy learning environment.
Now to all of our Penticton and area clients - Don't panic... we have a plan!
Riding 4 Life Penticton is tentatively scheduled to operate at Rooted Rock Acres beginning in April 2026. It's located 15 minutes from the Feedway on Shingle Creek road along the western edge of Penticton Indian Band.
The location is absolutely stunning with a big beautiful sky and dozens of acres of open space for horses and humans to play. While it's a little further away than we'd originally hoped, these beautiful acres offer us the chance to run programs we could only ever dream of running before now.
In fact, Chris and I are busy imagining (and researching and budgeting) lessons and horsemanship programs that can include trail rides, natural obstacles like hills, bridges, and creeks, and maybe even some cattle. Not to mention the potential for overnight camping with our friends and clients under all the amazing stars that will be visible from this location.
We have a lot of work and planning to do to keep to this schedule. We have fences to put in, and a few sheds and amenities to build, but if you've been around Riding 4 Life for a while now, you know that hard work hasn't scared us away yet!
So stay tuned to see what we dream up for this new location. I'm sure there'll be ample opportunity for those who want to roll up their sleeves and help us build this one together.
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