California Horsemanship School
Natural Training for Horses & The People Who Love Them
Learn how to be a confident leader and partner with your horse on the ground, and in the saddle. This is a self-paced nurturing program for boys and girls of all ages, abilities, and levels. You will learn and excel in natural horsemanship through lecture, demonstration, group simulations, and of course lots of riding. The program follows the world renowned Parelli Natural Horsemanship system. There is no better system in the world.
The program is directed by Daniel Tibbetts the Cal Sports Club owner and founding trainer of the California Horsemanship School and Cal Riders Club. We are proud to have the renowned Parelli Professional Sandi Parker working with our program and students, not to mention our Parelli trained & certified horses Harley, French Frye, Shadow, Sadie, and others. We offer workshops, clinics, private lessons, and special outings for entry level to advanced horsemen. The programs are held primarily at our home location of Bear Creek stable on minutes from downtown Los Gatos, California.
Getting Started!
Workshops: L0-1 Introductory-Beginner Levels
The workshop is a class for the absolute beginner, or a rider with some basic experience in camps, trail rides, or lessons, but who are new to natural horsemanship, as well as those who are returning to horses, or experienced riders interested in our program and learning about natural horsemanship. All entering students must take this first workshop and then be assigned into the appropriate level member program.
Orientation-Assessment Lesson
The Orientaion-Assesment private lesson is usually for those who have past experience and would like an introduction to natural horsemanship, and the CHS program. After this lesson we can place the new student into the correct level group and design a plan for that student. This lesson is also convenient for those who cannot fit into our workshop schedule, or who just cannot wait for the next workshop to get started!
Summer Camps: Nature Horses & Outdoor Adventure
See the bottom of this page for a camp description and registration!
All Programs & Camps Include:
Professional certified instruction
Background checked, Safe Sport Certified, TB tested instructors
Written materials, Horse use fee, Equipment rental
Transportation to events and adventure locations
Self-Paced Positive reinforcement program
Membership Program ~ Cal Riders
After step one above you become a member of the Cal Sports Club Inc/California Natural Horsemanship School & Cal Riders. This affords you the best training possible in the best system in the world. We offer our training through a combination of a monthly two hour group workshop, a quarterly all-day clinic/fun day, and 2 to 4 private lessons monthly depending on your age and level.
Level 1-2, 2-3 & 3-4 Workshops
These workshops are for members of the Cal Sports Club and the California Horsemanship School. These two hour workshops are offered once monthly primarily on Sundays.
- The L 1-2 workshops take you deeper into your horsemanship knowledge and understanding. You progressing through the Parelli system and games playing with your horses to accomplish tasks, achieve goals, and become a team with your assigned horse. We focus on specific topics, Parelli games, and riding.
- As a member in this program you upgrade to your next savvy levels as you progress. You refine your skill and relationships and take the Parelli games to higher levels of communication between you and your horse. We develop and practice our video taped level audition routines.
- With the directors and instructor’s approval you may begin the membership program that includes a mini-lease of a school horse once weekly for self-practice, grooming, bonding, and playing with your horse (This lease is first done in groups and with staff present at the stable). We do offer a membership program that offers all this for you.
Age Categories
We have several age categories that we use to separate into groups at times. For workshops and clinics we often have a couple of instructors with separate ages and levels. We do like allowing our families to be together so we accommodate this as much as possible. On another note sometimes a youth rider is mature or experienced enough to be placed with cadets for example and we make these exceptions.
- Super Youth Cal Riders (Ages 7-9)
- Youth Cal Riders (10-12)
- Cadet Cal Riders (13-16)
- Junior Cal Riders (17-19)
- Senior Cal Riders (20 – Adults)
CAL RIDERS CLUB: Monthly Level 1-2 membership.
This includes a workshop once monthly (usually Sundays) & two private lessons monthly (usually bi-weekly). This discounts both the lessons and workshops!
CAL RIDERS CLUB: Monthly Level 2-4 membership.
- A workshop once monthly
- Four private lessons monthly (once weekly)
- Horse lease bi-weekly. Activities assigned for your level; grooming, ground work, level of riding – when instructor is at stable.
- Discounts on other services such as trail rides, special events, fencing, archery, all camps and much more!
Discounted one-time annual payments available. All monthly fees are auto charged so our staff can concentrate on teaching – not collecting.
For information about prices and scheduling, please click on the “Register Now” button below: