Fees and Pricing

Lessons: $30/hour or 4 for $100.

Training: $25 per ride

Lunging: $15 per lunge

Catch rides (in clinics, shows or with other trainers): $15/hour and horse owner pays all other fees

Trip Fees: Trip fees vary with the distance and start at $5/ trip

Clinics: Negotiated based on grounds use fees, length of session, etc.

Sales: Contracts vary. Typically, a 10% commission on sale of horse, a 5% finders fee to find a horse for
a client, and all sales expenses covered by client.


Trainer History

I got my first pony, Jocko, when I was eight years old. I spent every weekend for the next three years
throwing on his Western saddle and curb bit and galloping him around his little paddock. He was a
spitfire - if only my non-horsey parents knew how poorly he'd been trained. He bucked, reared and bolted
like the best of them! But I LOVED MY PONY and rode with passion, never feeling fear or doubting my
youthful abilities. This little Exmoor Pony built the basis of my future as a horsewoman.

Once I outgrew my wild little friend I borrowed an older Quarter Horse Mare, Cricket, to play around with.
She was an ex-barrel racer and knew how to run. This mare quickly taught me how to balance while
turning! I spent summer afternoons cleaning tack and paddocks in order to ride her. She was the first
horse I was able to trail ride on and I loved when we could run across the fields as fast as possible.

Once I became a working teenager I decided all I wanted to do was spend my hard-earned money on
English lessons so I could jump. I rode and showed a little buckskin Quarter Horse gelding, Davey
Crockett,  in local and regional hunter shows. He became my own about a year later and I had the time of
my life on him! That incredible little horse packed me around course after course, letting me jump up his
neck, get left behind, pour into a line with no pace or distance, and then gallop bareback across the
neighboring farmers fields. We even earned California Horsemen's Association Champion Hunter for
the 14 -17 year old age group! THANK YOU Mom and Dad for supporting me (especially financially)
throughout this incredible time in my life! I know now that it wasn't cheap! And it wasn't until I leased him
out and started riding greener horses that I realized how much Davey compensated for my lack of skills!
THANK YOU Davey!

Once I started riding younger, greener horse I was hooked. I competed in the Hunters in California,
leasing a variety of horses to show on. I found that working with a variety of horses gave me a much
better feel and I wanted more than anything to be able to hop on any horse at any time and ride them
well. After years and years of lessons, shows, clinics (with the likes of Victor Hugo-Vidal, Denny
Emerson, and Amy Barrington), books, articles, and conversations with other horsepeople, I have finally
realized my dream. I have been a horsewoman from age eight, and have competed and won in the
hunters, eventing, and dressage. I have ridden well over a hundred horses in my lifetime and have
ridden in California, Wisconsin and Colorado. I've been teaching lessons for over twenty years and have
a Master's Degree in Education, specifically Reading. I find that my background with horses and with
education makes me a terrific trainer to both riders and their horses.

I love my job and feel incredibly blessed to be doing what I love for a living. I've always said that horses
are like a disease you are born with and the only way to cure this disease is to surround yourself with
horses and horse people. I love working hard, rain or shine, seven days a week, dawn to dusk. I love
falling into bed every night with dirt still in my fingernails. And I love waking up the next morning to do it all
over again!

I am extremely grateful to everyone involved in my progression and my success! Thank you!
About Us
  Nicole Ackerman, Trainer
Availability

Lessons, training, and sales are available in the Black Forest area of Colorado Springs, Colorado. I work
mainly from Desert Skye, a barn in the Black Forest that offers an indoor, all-weather ring. I do travel to
other farms, but limit my driving time as much as possible. Please contact me for more information.

Baby Brigade

Click on Baby Brigade to link to my NEW Baby Brigade page!!!