Riding With Rhythm is owned and operated by Shirley Dubay.

Shirley has been a Certified Riding Instructor and Riding Master for over 40 years.  She is retired from the Diamond Oaks Career Campus of Great Oaks Institute of Technology in Dent, Ohio, after 22 wonderful years of teaching service.  As an Instructor of Adult Horsemanship, Shirley taught riding and equine husbandry to adults of varied skill levels in both classroom and hands-on settings. She now dedicates all her time to Riding With Rhythm, with students coming from across the tri-state area.

Shirley takes pride in bring a patient instructor, and has endless enthusiasm about sharing her experience with riders of varied levels.

She is passionate about teaching and enjoys working to develop her students’ self-confidence and strengthen their riding skills, while having fun in a positive and encouraging environment.

Evaluating Horseback Riding Lesson Programs

Suggested Questions For Parents and Guardians of Typical and Special Needs Children

  • Are the instructors Certified Instructors?
  • Is this facility capable of working with special needs children on a regular basis, or at all? Has the instructor taught children with special needs, for example, ADHD?
  • What is the age and experience of the instructors? Does the child have the same instructor for each lesson?
  • Does the facility provide helmets, or will you have to purchase your own?
  • As a parent of a special needs child, can you watch a lesson given to a child with similar needs to your own child?
  • What is the normal lesson procedure?
    • Does the student catch, groom and tack up the horse as a part of their lesson? (By doing so, the student will have time to calm down and relate to the horse/pony.)
    • Or is the horse or pony already tacked up for them to just mount up and ride? (If already tacked, the rider doesn’t get to know the horse’s personality.)
  • What is the instructor’s technique to keep the student’s attention? Do they ask the student questions? Do they play games on horseback? Do they give the student challenges during the ride?
  • If there is more than one instructor who teaches special needs kids, do the parents have a say in which one teaches their child? Parents may have watched a different instructor, and they or their child may prefer their style over the instructor assigned. Can you switch instructors?
  • Does the student ride the same mount each week, or switch mounts each week, or every few weeks? How is this determined?
  • Does the student have a choice of discipline (Western or English)?
  • Does the facility offer private lessons (one-on-one), or group lessons only? How many riders are in a group, three to ten students? Can parents request private lessons — and will that request be met?
  • Are parents given a place to sit either inside or outside to watch the lesson during any season or weather condition?
  • Does the facility provide a bathroom for students and families?
  • How far away is parking from the arena?
  • Payment: How are lessons purchased: by the lesson, month, several months, quarter year? Are there different lesson package options? Could you get stuck paying for a lengthy, costly lesson program only to find out your child doesn’t like riding for whatever reason?
    • Example: At Riding With Rhythm, we offer a 3-1/2 pack for beginners. First lesson is 1-1/2 hours to learn groundwork: catch, groom and tack up (saddle up). This is followed by two weeks of one-hour lessons. The student has 15 minutes (timed) to catch, halter, groom and tack up. When the timer goes off the student resets the timer to 45 minutes for the riding portion of the lesson. We’re both timed — fair is fair! I think I’m the only instructor who uses a timer, but kids will groom a pony until next Tuesday given the chance! At the conclusion of the 3-1/2 pack, student and parents can decide if they want to continue lessons or not.