Westernaires — Local services in Four Corners States

This is a place most people hear about by "word of mouth".

It's a unique equestrian center where kids from 8 to 18 can learn to ride horses and join teams to learn precision drills on horseback. It's a huge facility with multiple indoor arenas, outdoor arenas, hundreds of horses, several 18 wheel trucks and huge busses for moving horses and people to shows, there's a restaurant on site. The amazing thing: it's all volunteer. I think there is a single paid employee who lives on site. Thousands of volunteers operate the organization. Thousand of kids participate. The cost is almost comically minimal. To rent a horse and take a lesson is $20. Low income families can ride for free.

There are thousands of children and volunteers who operate this big organization and since it's all volunteer, almost everyone wants to be there and is helpful and friendly.

In addition to learning to ride, the kids have responsibilities too. They take care of the horses, groom and saddle but they also have to maintain the huge facility. You'll see kids sweeping the floors, cleaning the bathrooms, training horses and more. The older kids teach the younger kids how to handle the horses.

Parents also must volunteer a few hours each year working in the kitchen, organizing supplies, working on the landscaping, sewing costumes and a lot more. There is a lot that needs to be done but it's not a big commitment. The parents must also stay in the facility while their children are riding.

The instructors are adults and usually graduates of the highest level teams.

It's an amazing program I'm astounded by the dedication of the volunteers.

I've watched my daughter grow over the years here. She has learned from the other kids and from the instructors to take responsibility, do chores, respect elders and volunteer.

We could not be happier with our time at Westernaires.

If you have a young child, it's worth your time to join. It's not for everyone but it has been a...

Every year for the last three years, I've had to put an off the track thoroughbred down due to colic, so I bought myself a giant quarter horse (TBs are more susceptible to it than any other breed). He's 17 hh and also off the track. I took him to the level 2 adult ride for the first time last Wednesday and he was struggling a little to understand what was happening. They let me come out of formation and ride behind everyone else so we could still participate and he really enjoyed himself. Not all equestrian events are as flexible, so I appreciate the opportunity to allow him to figure things out at his own pace. I'm also autistic and sometimes have a hard time with sensory overload, so this helped me a lot too. The instructors are so patient and kind. I'm really grateful to have access to something like this, it's impressive how many horses they own. I've never seen a bigger, more well organized operation. They definitely do things a little differently than what I'm used to, the Westernairs way as they call it, but I'm from the Midwest and grew up riding hunt seat and did eventing for 5 years in Germany. Things are a little different everywhere, no big deal! Their way is easy to understand, makes a great deal of sense in general and ultimately helps novices learn how to safely be around horses. I'm incredibly impressed! Thank you for being so understanding and accommodating of me and my big guy. He's still new to me and having so many great equestrians around who love these animals and what they do for us made it a really...

I was in Westernaires when I was a child from 1970 to 1972 until my dad's work transfered him out of state. This was the most memorable experience of my life. Mr Wyland was still around back then and still active. The first year as a tenderfoot I learned the basics. Back then it was only $2 to rent the horse with lessons. The next year I was in Caribbean pony team. We wore outfits that included a hat with fruit on top and these frilly arm tops with white jeans capris that were frayed at the bottom. The ponies were al brown and white paint color. People used to ask us how we could tell them apart. Their markings of course. I was assigned to a pony named Angel that I rode at each practice and in shows. I was short, so she was smaller than others. I also took trick roping and clown school classes. The horsecapades show was so exciting. I was a clown in the show and also in the pony team. Changing costumes in between was hectic, but exciting. As a clown, I was also in a couple parades. And one parade we rode the ponies in Estes Park. The next year in 72 I was on the Lancers team and that's the year we moved. I remember I didn't like the costume.. it was plain compared to all the rest of the teams. I went to visit the fairgrounds in 2005 and couldn't believe how the surrounding area had changed. When I was there in the 70s, it was open field hills surrounding. In 05 there were houses all around. It didn't feel the same. If you want memories that last a lifetime, the Westernaires will give...