Courses & Lessons
At Havana Horses you can follow courses of half a day to two weeks, and lessons of 1 to 2 hours. You will receive individual coaching.
Language of instruction: English, Indonesian or Dutch.
Minimum age for lessons: 7 years
Minimum age for pony rides: 4 years
Mimimum age for pony rides accompanied by parent: 2 years
Maximum weight for riding: 75 kg.
Maximum age for lessons & courses: 99 years
Riders can rent the obligatory safety helmet, and chaps are also available. Visit Havana Tack Shop where you can buy all riding gear!
Our horses go barefoot and we ride with a bitless bridle, a hackamore or a sidepull.
Lessons
Look at this awesome impression of a childrens' beginner lesson in 2020 on Youtube that the parents of these students made!
All lessons at Havana Horses start with haltering and taking your horse out of the field, leading, ground work games, grooming, and tacking up. You will receive individual coaching.
You develop your 'horse sense' and leadership skills with natural horsemanship methods. As we ride we focus on relaxation and alignment. You learn to ride the four gaits: walk, trot (sitting and rising), canter, and even gallop when you are ready to join us to the race track. We do pole work to develop your 3- and 2-point seat.
We teach classical dressage with straightness training as its basis - the horse is relaxed and in self carriage.
A first lesson will always be with the bareback pad, so you can feel exactly what the horse is doing, and vice versa, the horse feels exactly what you are doing! After that we will use a saddle for some extra support and padding. When you have developed an independent seat, we can do more bareback riding, jumping with a barebackpad, or even without reins with the neck ring! To improve your confidence and balance we play with barriers as well.
Intensive Courses
By following an Intensive Course at Havana Horses you will experience the importance of relaxation of mind and body when you want to interact with the horse. You will forget the fuzz and buzz of your daily life and will focus only on yourself and your horse. A course will be adapted to you personal wishes and skills. Straightness training, jumping, dressage and trail rides can also be included in the course.
We have Intensive Courses from 1 to 4 half days, or as many half days as you wish, up till 14 days (see also Horse Holidays!). The horse riding lasts from 9 a.m. to 12 noon.
The basic goal of our courses is to develop your leadership skills and your understanding of the horse's needs and biomechanics. You will develop your horse sense, i.e. the quality of being in tune with a horse’s nature. To develop your horse sense you should know two things: first, horses have very well-developed senses themselves, and second, horses are prey animals and behave as such.
Below you find some examples of possible programs of an Intensive Course. The program will be adapted to your personal wishes and skills.
How to Handle a Horse: 1/2 Day Course
In this course you learn how to interact with your horse in a way the horse understands and feels comfortable with. You learn the basics of handling, grooming and groundwork. You will experience that a horse responds to your body language and mirrors your own behavior!
- How to take your horse out of the field; a horse’s behavior in its herd, safety. Haltering and leading a horse; leadership.
- How to become the horse’s leader, gain mutual understanding and respect. Demonstration of ground work, body language.
- Grooming, health, nutrition and hoof care. Check your horse’s physical condition, hooves and general state of mind.
- With groundwork we supple and straighten the horse from the ground. You do games with the horse using body language and develop your leadership. You learn how to lead and halt, yield for pressure, follow the lead, stay and come, indicate the way and put your horse on a circle, ask for a lateral bend right and left, and lower the head and neck in a forward down.
Communicating with your Horse: 2 Half Days Course
In this course you learn how to communicate with your horse like horses do - which is prompt, precise and polite - from the ground with groundwork and at liberty work, and how to communicate with your horse when riding bareback. Find your balance and experience how you can really work together with your horse. Depending on your skills and the chemistry between you and your horse, riding with the saddle and a trail ride are options as well.
- Introductions, a horse’s behavior in its herd, horse psychology, safety.
- Taking a horse out of the field, haltering and leading a horse, leadership
- Introduction of straightness training, a demonstration of ground work and at liberty training.
- Practicing groundwork in the arena: play games with your horse as lead and halt, yield for pressure, follow the lead, stay and come, indicate the way and put your horse on a circle, forward down and lateral bending.
- Practicing at liberty training: you learn how to connect with your horse from the ground by using your body language, focus and a clear intention: leading, driving, change direction, halt, join up and touching.
- Riding bareback, with feeling and intuition. Experience how you can really work together with your horse.
- Practicing ground work and riding with bareback pad, playing games to improve your balance.
- Practicing at liberty training and riding with the bareback pad, playing games and barriers to strengthen your bond with your horse.
Natural Horsemanship: 3 Half Days Course
To become a horsewoman or horseman you need to learn a wide range of knowledge and skills. In this course you learn the elementary basics of natural horse care; natural horse keeping; ground work and body language; and natural riding. The course will be adapted to your skills and experience. Jumping, dressage and trail rides can also be included in the course.
- Introductions, a horse’s behavior in its herd, horse psychology, safety.
- Taking a horse out of the field, haltering and leading a horse, leadership, and handling.
- Grooming, health, nutrition and hoof care.
- Information about natural hoof care, riding without bit and natural horsemanship methods.
- Introduction of straightness training, a demonstration of ground work and at liberty training.
- Practicing ground work in the arena: play games with your horse, like lead and halt, yield for pressure, follow the lead, stay and come, indicate the way and put your horse on a circle, flexing the neck and lower the head.
- Practicing at liberty training: you learn how to work your horse loose from the ground with the lead rope and by using your body language: leading, driving, changing direction, halt, join up and touching.
- Tacking up, mounting and dismounting. You learn about different kinds of tack and ways of mounting. Practice your basic riding positions, and dismounting.
- Riding (without bit) on bareback pad with intuition and leadership. Experience how you can really work together with your horse.
- Riding with the saddle, with loose reins and bitless.
- Haltering, leading, grooming, groundwork, tacking up, riding with intuition and leadership.
- A trail ride can also be included in the course.
Natural Hoof Care: 3 Day Course
Havana Horses offers a Course Natural Hoof Care, for horse owners, grooms and farriers. After following this course at Havana Horses you feel practiced and confident enough to trim the hoofs of your own horse! The Course lasts 3 whole days or 6 half days. Have a look at the page Natural Hoof Care for more information.
