Just wondering on the general cost of riding lessons/leasing a horse/full livery in Switzerland....we are busy putting our spreadsheets of possible expenses together and as a show jumper who is sadly selling my horses before our move, I would love a cost estimate of what people pay. I don't want to give it up but understand it can be expensive. Google is useless at helping me get an idea...
Hello everyone
Hi! I really understand your situation—I had to give away the mare I’d trained for dressage myself before coming here.
Do you know where in Switzerland you’ll be? I’m not sure if it would change depending on region, but in my experience it’s not that different in price from what I was doing in the US. I am taking lessons that would be 55/hour, but I’ve found a wonderful lady who lets me work in exchange since I don’t have a job yet and our budget is small. The half leases I’ve seen (demi-pension in French) range from 100/month (usually one ride a week) to 300/month (3+ rides a week).
The lady I take lessons from said between 400-800/month is typical for boarding a horse. I’ve seen for less too, but it’s usually pasture/self-care board, which might not be what you’re looking for.
Where you can look to get a better idea is Anibis.ch. It’s kind of like Craigslist, and it’s how I found the farms where I’m riding right now. For now, it should be able to give you a better idea of what the cost would be for your region.
And don’t hesitate to ask me if you have any questions! Maybe I won’t be able to answer but I’m happy to do my best
CHF 25-30/kg, more for filet.
Had some for lunch today.
Tom
Can't help from a personal knowledge, but some time ago I found this on my way to looking up something else:
http://www.pferdehome.ch/index.asp
Horse boarding, pension, etc by canton, many with prices included. Probably safe to assume not an inclusive list, but this could give you an overview. Most listings have their homepages linked, more info there.
If your predominate worry is cost and what you can or can not do in Switzerland, you maybe coming to the wrong country !
Make no mistake about this SWIZERLAND IS VERY EXPENSIVE. I donm't know what you think is expensive but coming from Safrica think you can very easily double it.
Finding a job without language skills will also be challenging, things move slowly here and there are a lot of qualified people here all speaking English plus German and/or French
Hi,
There is a horse riding community in many cantons and you will find riding on school horses not too expensive compared to other any sports training in CH...but all are more expensive than other countries we have lived.
However the process can be a bit repetitive - they expect you to try to get formally qualified and lessons are set up to achieve this.
Having your own horse in stables can be prohibitively expensive. Large labor component and labor is costly here plus complex horse care rules add to the price. Close to Geneva it can be >2000CHF pcm, before you even think about shoes etc.
Hope that helps
B
Thank you so much. I am not sure I could go back to school horses after owning my own my whole life.
How can they expect you to get formally qualified? That sounds a little weird...
It looks like for at least the early part of when we move, I will have to see if I can work ride...
I am VERY aware of all of it and did not say I was worried about cost, I did however query as to costs as I will be riding and purchasing another horse when we are settled and I would like to know ahead of the time. Which is a perfectly reasonable thing to ask.
I am also VERY aware of the language and this was not part of my questioning either.
Thank you very much for this, much appreciated. Am happy to work ride (am an open showjumper) if that helps aswell. I would eventually be treating myself to a new horse but would like to know the equestrian scene first and start in the shallow end so to speak.
Absolute rockstar. Thank you.
To ride "unsupervised" or to compete you need to have a minimum certificate of "Brevet" which is examined and you must pass.
You can then jump small courses (up to 1.05M if I recall correctly). Higher licenses (R, N etc) needed for bigger classes.
As a Swiss national you must be examined, but as an incomer you can convert your home country license (similar theory to car driving licenses). I dont know whether you have such competition licenses at home?
Swiss Federation are pretty used to doing this process, there are request forms on their website.
This I weirdly agree with as I see the issues riders cause if thier horse gets them too a certain height (if that makes sense). However will try convert the points I have here to the level I would be able to jump at the Swiss equivalent.
Thanks for this.
Honestly my experience has been that it’s NOT necessary to have the local certification to ride unsupervised here. It’s a matter of finding the right situation. I’m in two work-to-ride situations right now, one where I’m supervised riding but with the goal to “set me loose” with one of the lady’s younger horses when she and I are ready, and the other where I pretty much get to do what I want with the two horses. When I initially put up my ad on Anibis; I summarized my horse experience and my situation, then asked for anyone who was interested. I had almost a dozen replies in less than a week. No one wanted paperwork, they wanted to see if I actually could ride and handle horses of course, but everyone knew I had no kind of Swiss certification.
That being said, I’m in the Broye, so anything but cosmopolitan. I’m sure Geneva is a completely different world. I’m sure around Lausanne as well. OP, you’ll just have to see what the local culture is like wherever you end up in CH! But regardless you’ll have plenty of options, I don’t think you need to worry about giving up riding or anything like that.
Edited to add that I don’t jump. That is also possible a completely different world with its own requirements. But at least for basic dressage, ground work and hacking out, the above is my experience To compete I am pretty sure you have to have certifications.
Thank you, am quiet happy just to hack to get my bum in a saddle and keep up my riding fitness until we are fully settled and are able to start looking at leasing and buying horses again.