Showgrounds North Riding School

Reminder!!! We are open for the public holiday today! Lessons still going ahead as normal ⭐️

🐴 Group lessons🐴

We still have availability for both term and casual riders for our group lessons. We cater for those that are riding independently in the walk & trot through to our advanced riders & adults. A great way to socialise & ride!

Group lessons are ran Monday - Saturday.

Email [email protected] for more info!

Private Jump Lessons Available 🐎✨

Looking to improve your jumping skills and build confidence over fences? Our jump lessons are the perfect way to focus on you and your horse with one-on-one coaching.

✔️ Grid work & technique
✔️ Confidence building
✔️ Course riding
✔️ Position & balance
✔️ Suitable for all levels

Whether you're just starting out or wanting to sharpen up your skills, we can tailor lessons to suit your goals.

📍 email [email protected] to book!

🐴 TOP TIP TUESDAY 🐴

“Soft hands start with soft arms.”

Modern rider biomechanics has taught us that rein tension isn’t just about the rider’s hands — it actually starts all the way up through the shoulders, elbows, and core.

When riders become stiff through the arm, horses feel:

❌ Fixed pressure in the mouth
❌ Inconsistent contact
❌ Blocking through transitions
❌ Tension in the neck and back

Studies using rein tension sensors have shown that many horses go better when riders develop an elastic connection instead of a rigid one. The goal isn’t “loose reins” — it’s a following contact.

Think of your arms like suspension on a car:

✔️ Elbows softly bent
✔️ Shoulders relaxed
✔️ Wrists carried quietly
✔️ Contact following the movement, not fighting it

A horse’s head and neck naturally move every stride at walk, trot, and canter. If the rider locks their arms, the horse ends up getting jabbed in the mouth with every step — even when the rider thinks they have quiet hands.

The best riders don’t hold the horse still.
They move WITH the horse. 💚

As riding instructors we spend a lot of time managing the gap between what new students expect riding to be and what it actually is. Most of that gap could be narrowed significantly with one honest conversation before the first lesson ever happens. So here is everything I wish every new student and every new riding family walked in already knowing...

1. Riding is harder than it looks
This is the one that surprises people most. Watching a good rider looks effortless but it is not effortless. It is years of muscle memory, feel, balance, and body awareness built through consistent work over a long time. Your first lessons will feel awkward and uncoordinated and that is completely normal. Every rider you have ever admired felt exactly the way you feel right now when they were starting out.

2. The horse is not a bicycle
It is a living animal with its own personality, its own opinions, and its own good days and bad days. It does not always do what you ask the first time and that is not always your fault but it is always your responsibility to figure out the communication. Learning to work with a horse rather than on top of one is one of the most valuable things riding teaches and it starts from the very first lesson.

3. Progress is not linear
Some weeks you will feel like you have jumped forward three levels. Other weeks you will feel like you have forgotten everything you learned last month. Both are completely normal parts of learning to ride. The students who improve consistently are not the ones who never have bad lessons but they are the ones who show up anyway and keep working through the frustrating ones.

4. One lesson a week is a start but not a program
A single lesson per week gives you exposure to riding. Two lessons per week builds skill significantly faster. The riders who progress quickest are the ones who ride consistently and frequently enough that their muscles and nervous system have time to develop real memory around what correct feels like. If budget allows for more than one lesson per week it is worth it.

5. Your position will feel wrong before it feels right
Correct position in the saddle feels deeply unnatural to most people at first. Heels down feels like you are pushing your foot through the floor. Sitting tall feels like you are leaning back. An independent hand feels like you are doing nothing. Trust the process and trust your instructor. The things that feel strange now become automatic eventually but only if you commit to doing them correctly rather than defaulting back to what feels comfortable.

6. The time around the lesson matters as much as the lesson itself
Grooming your horse before you ride. Learning to tack up correctly. Understanding how to read your horse's body language in the cross ties. This is not the boring part before the real lesson begins. This is horsemanship and it makes you a better rider than an hour in the saddle alone ever will.

7. Bad rides happen to every rider at every level
Including the ones you look up to most. A bad lesson does not mean you are not cut out for this, it just means you are learning something hard and doing it on the back of a living animal that is also having a day. Come back next week and it will be different.
Your instructor is on your side.

8. Every correction we give is in service of your progress and your safety
We are not pointing out what is wrong to make you feel bad but we are pointing out what needs to change so you can get where you want to go faster and more safely. The students who improve fastest are the ones who hear a correction as information rather than criticism and apply it without taking it personally.

9. Riding changes you in ways you will not expect
The patience it builds, the confidence that comes from communicating with an animal ten times your size and being understood. The resilience that develops from falling short of a goal and coming back for it anyway. The community you find at the barn. None of that shows up in the first lesson or even the tenth but it will show up at one point. For most riders it becomes one of the most significant things in their life and not just what they do on Tuesday afternoons but part of who they are.

If you are a riding instructor share this with every new family who walks through your gate. If you are a new student or a parent of one - welcome. You picked something genuinely worth doing!

What do you wish someone had told you before your very first riding lesson?

Head down to our sister riding school in Oakford for a trail ride!

This is your sign to grab your friends and get out on a trail ride 🌞🐎

You don’t need any experience. we’ve got you covered from the moment you arrive. Whether it’s a catch-up with friends, a birthday idea, or just something different to do… this is it.
Ride out across our 200 acres of beautiful green, grassy property and enjoy a relaxed, guided experience 🌱

💰 $140 per person for a 1-hour ride

We’re running rides 7 days a week, but now is the perfect time to book before: 🌧️ the weather turns

📧 Bookings via: [email protected]

⭐️Showgrounds shirts⭐️

Team Showgrounds shirts now available! $40 per shirt.

Sizes available from Small children’s - Large adults.

email [email protected] to get yours!

🎉🐴 PONY PARTIES AT SHOWGROUNDS EQUESTRIAN! 🐴🎉

📍 48 Franklin Rd, Jandabup, 6077

Looking for a birthday party they’ll NEVER forget?
Our pony parties are the ultimate hands-on horsey experience!

💲 $60 per child
👧👦 Up to 20 children welcome
📅 Available Sunday mornings

What’s Included?
✨ Every child gets a pony ride
✨ Time to groom & decorate the ponies
✨ A safe, fun farm atmosphere
✨ Space to set up a party table

After the pony fun, you’re welcome to stay for an extra hour so the kids can run around, eat, drink and celebrate (BYO food & drinks).
It’s relaxed, memorable, and full of pony magic 🐎💛

📩 Bookings at [email protected]

🐴 AFTERNOON STABLE HAND WANTED 🐴

Looking for a reliable and hardworking stable hand to join our team!

🕓 Hours: Approx. 4:00pm – 8:00pm
📅 Days: 3 afternoons/nights per week
💰 Pay: Dependent on experience

Duties include:
• Feeding & watering
• Cleaning stables
• Tacking up / untacking
• General yard duties

Must be confident around horses and able to work independently.

📍 Located in Jandabup
📩 Email us to apply! [email protected]