Hot to Trot
By Lisa Arnett
Appears in the July 2025 issue.
Six barns that offer riding lessons
Though horseback riding may look carefree, there’s a great deal of discipline, focus, and silent communication happening under the surface. “Riding horses is unlike any other sport because you’re dealing with equipment that has its own brain,” says Ann Zaeske-Janke, owner of Trillion Equestrian, a horse farm and riding school in Bolingbrook. “You have to learn to direct an animal that may object, or he may say, ‘OK.’ Every day is different with a horse.”
Kellie Shaw, owner and head trainer at Woodland Oaks Farm, a seven-stall horse farm in Wayne, enjoys watching her students learn lifelong lessons through riding. “The biggest one of all is: When you fall, you get back up,” she says. Mindfulness is another learned skill. “Horses are special; otherwise you’d see us riding cows or deer. They are very sensitive and they mirror us,” Shaw says. “If you’re having a bad day, as soon as you get to the barn, you have to brush all that off and be present with the horse. If you’re anxious and nervous, the horse is going to be anxious and nervous. If somebody comes in in a huff, the horses pick up on that and they are very hesitant. So we have to be able to center ourselves and be present.”
Taking lessons or volunteering at a barn can provide an opportunity for young horse fans to connect with one another, says Ainsley Bonner, lesson instructor at Danada Equestrian Center, a facility of the DuPage County Forest Preserve District in Wheaton with 20 stalls for horses. “It’s a good sense of community. We offer volunteering as well, and that can give people a team to work with once a week,” Bonner says. “In group lessons, they might take multiple lessons with the same group and get to know each other.” At Danada, teens age 13 and up can sign up for a weekly four-hour volunteer shift. Tasks include grooming and feeding horses, barn maintenance, and helping with lessons.
The 50-stall Normantown Equestrian Center, a facility of the Plainfield Park District, is marking its 20th anniversary this year with an Aug. 24 celebration from 2 to 5 p.m., complete with free pony rides, giveaways, and a barn tour. “I feel like [horseback riding] is a good activity that brings you closer to nature and kind of away from technology and cellphones and social media and all of that,” says Amanda Bergman, superintendent of equine operations. “It gives you confidence working with a large animal, another living thing that communicates differently. It challenges you to learn a new language, in a sense. It’s hard work, so it makes you be responsible because it’s a big commitment to take care of horses.”
In PeeWee classes at Normantown, children ages 5 to 7 can receive an introduction to horses and riding. “We teach them how to groom the horses and how to prepare them for riding,” Bergman says. “They also get to start doing the basics of riding, like proper position and how to communicate with the horse.”
Also in Plainfield, Ready Set Ride is a nonprofit that offers therapeutic horseback riding for children with special needs or a terminal illness. “Our horses are all trained to work with special-needs riders, and the kids are learning how to make the horse stop, how to turn, how to back up,” says Lisa Afshari, program director. “But what the kids don’t realize is that they are also working on core muscle strength, following directions, and developing empathy toward our horse partner.” Though Afshari and her staff are not therapists, she says their work complements the activities that children receive in speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy. “We work with kids with sensory issues, kids on the autism spectrum, and some terminally ill children who ride for enjoyment,” she says.
Ready Set Ride horses are carefully selected and trained for therapy work. “It takes a special horse with that extra unique quality that allows them to work with special needs kids. They are not afraid of anything coming at them and they have super-understanding personalities,” Afshari says. “That being said, I also have to match riders with horses. If I have someone who is excitable and makes quick movements, I need to put them on the calmest horse. If I have a child who uses a wheelchair, I can’t have a very wide horse because [the child’s] legs are not used to spreading across the back of a horse like that.”
To offset the cost of offering therapeutic services, Afshari hosts weeklong day camps during the summer for children without special needs. “Summer camp is for able-bodied, horse-crazy kids, and we teach them about what the horse’s needs are, do an arts and crafts project, and also get in a riding lesson every day,” she says. “We learn about history and what life was like before we had cars…and do some silly things, too, like a watermelon-eating contest between the horses.”
Afshari sees the camp as an accessible way for children to test their interest in horseback riding. “It’s very beginner, and they don’t need to buy special shoes or clothes for camp, and we provide the helmet,” Afshari says. “And if they end up liking it, then they can go to another barn to take lessons.”
For a longtime riding instructor like Trillion’s Zaeske-Janke, seeing young horseback riders find their calling in the sport never gets old. “Many kids who come to our barn, they maybe are a student who isn’t the sporty type in school. You don’t necessarily have to be super athletic; that’s our job to teach you the athleticism in the saddle,” she says. “Horseback riding is also both an individual and a team sport. When you’re riding a horse, you’re an individual…but if we go to a show, we are there as a team representing the barn.”
Barn Basics
DANADA EQUESTRIAN CENTER
3S507 Naperville Road, Wheaton, dupageforest.org
Ages: Ages 12 and older for lessons; grades 5th to 8th for weeklong summer camps
Pricing: $44 to $56 per private lesson, $176 to $389 for group class sessions, $275 to $500 for camps
DOUBLE J RIDING CLUB
10545 74th St., Countryside, doublejridingclub.com
Ages: 3 to 6 years old and up for Tiny Rider Lessons; 6 years old and up for private and semiprivate lessons; 7 years old and up for group lessons
Pricing: $47.50 to $60 per 30-minute lesson
NORMANTOWN EQUESTRIAN CENTER
12151 Normantown Road, Plainfield, plfdparks.org
Ages: 5 to 7 years old for private or semiprivate PeeWee classes, 8 and up for small-group beginner lessons and private lessons
Pricing: $180 and up for four private lessons; $190 and up for four small-group lessons
READY SET RIDE
13056 Essington Road, Plainfield, readysetride.org
Ages: 6 to 12 years old for summer camps; 3 years old and up for therapeutic riding sessions
Pricing: $400 to $412 for weeklong summer camps; $600 for weekly therapeutic riding classes (seven-week sessions)
TRILLION EQUESTRIAN
440 Royce Road, Bolingbrook, trillionequestrian.com
Ages: 8 years old and up
Pricing: $62 per group lesson and $75 per private lesson; commitment to a four-week-long session required
WOODLAND OAKS FARM
6N002 Dunham Road, Wayne, woodland-oaks-farm.square.site
Ages: “I don’t have an age minimum; each child is different and sometimes a 5-year-old can sit for a half-hour lesson better than some 10-year-olds,” says owner Kellie Shaw.
Pricing: $20 for pony rides, $35 for Littles Lessons (under age 7), $55 per half-hour private lesson, $75 per hourlong private lesson
Photos: Forest Preserve District of DuPage County; Plainfield Park District; Trillion Equestrian; Woodland Oaks Farm
