Riding school software — lessons, payments, packages and shows
Riding school software should fill your lessons, take the money, put the right rider on the right horse and keep the staff on the same page — and still look after the horses. Here's what a riding school booking system should cover, and how Horsepower does it — with native apps and card payments that go straight to your own account.
What riding school software should do
- Online lesson booking — clients pick a lesson length and see the times an instructor is genuinely free, with changeover time held between lessons.
- The right horse for every rider — lessons gated by rider grade; each booking matched to a school horse on grade and rider weight limit, with a daily workload cap per horse.
- Paid when they book — card payment at booking into your own Stripe account, with no platform fee and Stripe promo codes at checkout.
- Waivers & reminders — a waiver form signed before the first lesson, and an email and app reminder before every lesson, with a Pay button if it's unpaid.
- Packages & memberships — blocks of lessons and memberships with member prices. Credits are used up automatically and handed back when someone cancels in good time.
- Shows & clinics — online entries with class limits and payment; running order and start times sent to every entrant.
- Staff rota — shifts by person and day, time off requested and approved in the app, and hours on the rota next to the work each person logged.
- The horses behind it all — vet, farrier and dentist history with reminders, feed plans, field turnout and weight tracking.
Lessons booked around your instructors
Set each instructor's teaching hours, the lessons they teach and the lengths each one can run for. Clients choose a day and see only times that are actually free, earliest first, so the diary packs rather than scattering. Requests arrive on your Today page to approve. Once you accept, the lesson is on the yard calendar for everyone.
Taking the money — without a middleman
Connect your own Stripe account in your business settings. Clients pay at booking for lessons, lesson packages, memberships and show entries. The payment goes into your Stripe account and appears on your dashboard. Horsepower never holds the money and takes no percentage. Prefer bank transfer or cash? Don't connect Stripe: bookings carry your own payment instructions and you mark them paid.
Packages, memberships and repeat riders
Sell a "10 lessons, use within six months" package and a credit is used each time a lesson is approved. Offer a monthly membership with a percentage off every booking, and members are reminded before it runs out so they renew. You can also record a package or membership someone paid for in cash.
Shows, clinics and camps
Put up an in-house show, a clinic or a holiday camp with its classes, fees and entry limits. Riders enter several classes in one go and pay online. When entries close, draw the running order (in entry order or at random) with start times, publish it, and every entrant gets their times. The entry list downloads as a CSV.
The staff side
Plan the week's rota by person and day, copy last week forward, and send everyone their shifts. Staff ask for time off in the app, and you approve it there too. The Staff view puts rostered hours next to the tasks, requests, yard jobs, rides and care each person logged.
How Horsepower compares
If you're weighing up EC Pro, the long-standing UK riding school system, our comparison sets out where each one leads. The honest best-app guide puts every yard and riding school app we know of side by side.
Common questions
Can clients pay by card when they book?
Yes. Connect your own Stripe account and clients pay when their booking is confirmed. The money goes straight to your account, and Horsepower takes no transaction fee on top of Stripe's own.
What does riding school software cost?
Horsepower is priced per yard, not per rider or per booking: free for up to three horses, then a flat monthly plan. Clients, staff and instructors you invite are always free.
Do clients need to download an app?
No. They can book, pay and sign waivers from your public page in any browser. Regulars who want reminders on their phone can use the iOS or Android app.
Can I move over from my current system?
Yes. Coming from Stable Manager (stables.cloud)? The in-app importer brings your horses, visits, treatments and photos across. From other systems, get in touch. Either way you can run both side by side while clients get used to the new booking page.
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