Really to get into equestrian archery a person should really be learning two things independently, and only after completing the first two do you proceed to the third.
- How to ride a horse, specifically learning how to ride a horse and guide it with your knees and feet.
- How to shoot a horsebow.
- Finally learning how to do both at the same time.
So lets break it down into the different tasks you would need to do.
#1. Learn how to ride a horse.
In Toronto there are 2 locations which teach horse riding lessons.
The Horse Palace / Riding Academy located at Old Fort York (horsepalace.ca) - Teaches English style horse riding. An adult 8 week introductory course will cost between $616 to $854 to $1,088 depending on whether you want group lessons, semi-private lessons or private lessons. The riding lessons are 50 minutes long with a 30 minute lesson on horsegrooming / maintenance.
Sunnybrook Stables located at Sunnybrook Park (sunnybrookstables.ca) - Teaches English style horse riding. An adult 8 week introductory course will cost between $799 to $1,128 to $1,356 depending on whether you want group lessons, semi-private lessons or private lessons. The riding lessons are 50 minutes long with a 30 minute lesson on horsegrooming / maintenance.
If you are willing to travel further in the GTA, there are also several other locations to choose from.
Claireville Ranch located in Brampton (clairevilleranch.com) - Teaches Western horse riding lessons. 8 lessons will cost between $400 to $440 to $520 depending on whether you want group lessons, semi-private lessons or private lessons. The riding lessons are 30 minutes long. Technically they offer 4 lesson packages, but for comparison purposes I doubled it to 8.
Note - Claireville Ranch also offers weekday ($35) and weekend ($40) trail rides, and breakfast rides ($85) which are more suitable for people who just want to try riding a horse and are not ready to commit to lessons.
Quarter Valley Riding School located west of Kleinburg ( - Teaches both Western and English style riding lessons. 8 lessons will cost between $400 to $600 to $800 depending on whether you want group lessons, semi-private lessons or private lessons. The riding lessons are 45 minutes long with a 30 minute lesson on horsegrooming / maintenance. QVRS does NOT offer trail rides.
Pathways on Pleasure Valley located north of Pickering (pleasurevalley.com) - Teaches Western style riding lessons. 10 lessons will cost between $399 to $511 to $611 depending on whether you want group lessons, semi-private lessons or private lessons. They also offer trail rides ($64) and a variety of other package rates.
Note - Pathways offers 10 lessons as opposed to 8 lessons like various other locations offer. They also offer 6 lesson packages too.
Other Locations
According to my research there is also a "King Equestrian Club" in Mississauga, but they don't have a website and their Facebook page is defunct/useless.
There is also the Community Association for Riders with Disabilities (CARD) located near York University.
The York Equestrian Riding School north of Markham (yorkequestrianridingschool.com) doesn't list prices on their website, but does offer group lessons, private lessons, and an introductory 4 lesson package.
The Stonewood Riding Academy north of Pickering (stonewoodacademy.com) offers a 10-month program which includes 10 lessons and a host of benefits, with a total cost of $2,429.50. They also offer half hour and full hour lessons for $73.45 or $113. During the summer (only) they offer "pay as you go" group lessons that are $67.80 each, so 8 of those would be $542.40. Their website suggests that they are geared more towards competitive riders who are into horse jumping etc.
#2. Time to learn how to shoot a Horsebow.
So assuming you've already completed step 1, now is your chance to learn how to use a shortbow or horsebow. 10 weekday lessons is $520 and 10 weekend lessons is $780.
The following would be a 10 week lesson plan:
Lesson 1 - Safety Lecture, Eye Dominance Test, Proper Form, Field Archery Lesson with a Traditional Recurve Bow (it is easily to learn a recurve bow first before switching to a horsebow).
Lesson 2 - Target Archery with a Traditional Recurve Bow, Lecture on Arrowheads.
Lesson 3 - Long Distance Field Archery with a Traditional Recurve Bow, Lecture on Arrow Spine.
Lesson 4 - Field Archery with Horsebow, Lecture on the Horseman's Release, Lecture on Bowstring Waxing.
Lesson 5 - Target Archery with Horsebow, Lecture on Gap Shooting, Moving Target Lesson.
Lesson 6 - Field Archery with Horsebow (emphasis on learning how to Gap Shoot while doing Field Archery), Lecture on how to Adjust Braceheight.
Lesson 7 - Target Archery with Horsebow, Moving while Shooting Lesson.
Lesson 8 - Target Archery with Horsebow, Shooting while Kneeling Lesson and/or Speed Shooting Lesson.
Lesson 9 - Field Archery with Horsebow, Moving while Shooting Lesson.
Lesson 10 - Field Archery with Horsebow, Moving while Shooting at a Moving Target.
If there are additional topics you want to cover during the 10 lessons just ask and we can devote some time to teaching that topic. eg. If the student wants to learn how to shoot with a thumb-ring, that is something we can do.
By the end of 10 lessons the goal is for the student to reach the point where they can be in motion while shooting and be able to shoot at a moving target that is also moving. They can shoot at stationary targets, shoot at targets placed at random distances, shoot while standing, sitting or kneeling, to reach a pinnacle of versatility.
#3. Go buy a horse and begin Equestrian Archery.
After this point you shouldn't really need an instructor any more. What you will need is to be able to afford your own horse and the cost of stabling for it.
$400 for either 8 or 10 lessons at either Claireville Ranch or Pathways + $520/$780 for weekday/weekend archery lessons, and you are looking at a rate of $920 to $1,180 to learn both how to ride and how to shoot a horsebow.
Completing both and you really just need to find a place where you can do both. You would need to find a stables that would allow you to practice equestrian archery on their property, buy a horse (some people also share horses and cost of stabling, sort of like a timeshare), and then you also need money for vets... horses get expensive when you consider the cost of vet bills and everything else they need.
But if it is your dream and you really love doing it, then just do it. You cannot take $$ with you when you die anyway.
Speaking for myself, I want to buy a farm, build a stables, buy horses, hire a horse riding instructor, and open a private archery range that also offers horse riding lessons and archery lessons. That is my dream and I plan on fulfilling it.
There are a few places in Canada which already offer equestrian archery lessons, but honestly I really think people should learn how to do archery and horse riding separately before learning to combine the two skills, this way you are learning both in a safe manner and are not trying to learn everything all at once. Even when I do eventually open my own archery range / riding school people will need to go through the separate courses before reaching the point where we let them ride and shoot simultaneously, not just for safety reasons but also because we want students to learn how to do these things properly and not haphazardly.
Archers after all are the very epitome of perfectionists. If we are going to do something, we should learn to do it perfectly.
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