At NK Equine, we rely on our years of collective experience to offer lessons for the whole family- from the youngest member of your family, to the oldest. We have an emphasis on western disciplines but we also are qualified to provide English lessons upon request. Or perhaps you’d like to learn how to ride bareback! We can do that too.
Space is limited. Sign up now!
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Things we do not offer with our riding lessons- eventing and dressage.
For all lesson participants, we like to start with the basics. You’ll learn how to catch and groom and saddle the horse, and how to carry yourself around the horse before mounting. The first ride will take place during the first lesson, but we do prefer to start with the things every good horse person should know. That way, when you find yourself around horses outside of one of our locations, you’ll know exactly what to do. You’ll look like a pro after four lessons with us!
Our qualifications- why choose us?
With over 40 collective years of riding instruction experience, we have done everything from teaching large groups of scouts to ride, followed by practice in the arena and then a fun trail ride to many one on one lessons with horse lovers of all ages.
We took three horseless horse girls through the Wisconsin 4H project all the way to state and made champions out of them in their very first year!
You will always have Noelle and/ or Kara (owners and operators of NK Equine) as an instructor. There will not be under qualified people there to fill in for the two instructors. Most times, we will both be conducting your lesson. You will have our undivided attention during your lesson. The only time we will provide more than one person instruction at the same time is if it is a mommy or daddy and me class (see below).
What about the horses?
We match those coming for lessons with the personality of our resident horses. If you’re a first time rider, we have very quiet horses that nothing would phase. And for the more experienced rider we have some safe, but lively lesson horses that will insist that you are paying close attention to your cues. We have someone for everyone with our five lesson horses between our two locations.
Can I take a lesson with my child?
Yes! We do offer mommy / daddy and me lessons where the adult and the child ride and receive instruction at the same time. Although we do prefer one-on-one instruction because we feel you get more from this type of focused instruction. Many times it will be Kara and Noelle in the arena making sure you get as much as possible out of the lesson. We like to start with one of us at each end of the ring. We come from different disciplines as far as our primary equine background, so between the two of us, there is not much we miss or nothing we can’t teach you!
Do you offer trail rides?
Only in our advanced rider lessons, after you’ve been taking lessons with us for a minimum of two months. We do not offer group trail rides at this time. We feel doing so is to hard on our horses because there seems to be a big demand for this. We like to exercise our horses daily but we do not make them work themselves into the ground like typical trail riding facilities. This is not what we do here at NK Equine. We like happy, healthy horses that look forward to their daily exercise sessions rather than feeling dread at the site of a saddle.
However, for the single advanced rider that we approve to go on a trail ride with both Kara and Noelle along, our Big Bend location has plenty of beautiful trails to utilize!
What is the cost of your lessons?
Our lessons are $80 per hour long lesson. All lessons are one hour in length. While we do not insist on a lengthy contract, we do require a package of four lessons to be used within six weeks. If weather is bad and approved by one of the instructors, there may be additional time allotted to use the four lessons. We feel that a minimum of four lessons is required to get a foundation of the fundamentals that we would like to teach all of those under our leadership. We don’t teach you how to sit on a horse that does it all for you. We teach you how to partner with the horse and truly become a team that can communicate with each other and enjoy the experience as much as possible. We build horse people!
Payments accepted
Cash
Venmo
PayPal
Zelle
Cash App
Apple Pay
Booking
(as of 5/15/26, we currently have room for 3 more lesson enrollments)
To schedule, a $40 deposit is required to secure your spot. We will schedule all your dates at that point with the understanding that if weather is bad you have the option of changing the dates. Upon the first lesson, the remaining $280 is due for the package of four lessons to be used in six weeks weather permitting.
To schedule call or text 262-888-0446 or 847-217-8814.
Lessons take place at our Big Bend location, located at S87 W23685 Edgewood Ave. (just a few miles off I43 at the highway 164 exit), at Native Colors Exotics.
Everyone that is going to be riding or around the horses is required to sign a standard equine liability release prior to any contact. If enrollee is under the age of 18, a parent or guardian must sign. We are required to have a new signed release every calendar year by our insurance carrier. Thankfully, we have never had an injury, however, any animal related activity comes with inherent risk. Our horses are as safe as they come. We do trust them. Signing an equine liability release is a standard practice within the equine community. if you would like a copy emailed prior to your visit, please let us know.
All riders under the age of 18 are required to wear a helmet. We provide riding helmets. Those over 18 can decide if they’d like to wear a helmet or not. We do not have adult size helmets. If you’d like to wear one, please bring one along.
4H horseless horse project members
Currently, for 2026, we are working on our soon to be 9 year old (our beloved Phoenix who is a perfect fit for us and our animals) to show next year. So that age bracket is spoken for. But we would consider the right match in a girl or boy that is in the 15-16 year old age range. The ideal candidate would be willing to learn to ride and be willing to go to the county fair with the horse we choose for them and show. There is a chance they may make it to the state 4H show too (if our history speaks for itself- a REAL good chance)! There is no charge for this but we do have expectations of the candidate. These things include, an ability to commit at least five hours per week in the off season and more as the fair season approaches. Must have transportation to and from our Big Bend location and to our Burlington facility as needed- or permission to travel to the Burlington facility with Noelle or Kara. Must be willing to help with horse related duties like, grooming, cleaning after the horses, feeding duties and so on. The ideal candidate would be horsecrazy! One of those kiddos that has been dreaming of horses. Noelle is a certified 4H leader, a certified Girl Scout leader and a trained first responder. Kara has a parallel level of knowledge and experience as it relates. Our lesson kids are not instructed by anyone but Noelle or Kara.
If this sounds like your kiddo, have THEM tell us why in their own words and we’d like something from a parent or guardian too explaining why they are the perfect fit! See our contact page for our contact info.
It is our goal to take the older candidate further and actually teach them some beginning training techniques when they’re ready and help us work horses after the first fair season. This is something that could lead to a lifelong hobby or even a career! We would love to be a part of making a youngsters dreams come true!
Prerequisites: must listen. We do not want to waste our time with a kiddo who isn’t truly interested in learning or doesn’t listen. Must not be lazy. Some fear is natural and not a bad thing at first. But in general, the right candidate would not be terrified. We are willing to work with cautious fear. That’s healthy. No kids with horse phobias please. No kids that are only living out a parent’s dream or not sure if the interest level is there. We offer lessons for those kiddos to find out if they have the horse fever!
MUST NOT BE AFRAID OF BIRDS.
We operate a rare bird breeding facility and we have exotic chickens (bantam and large fowl) milling about. Some roosters. We also have two emu that are very friendly but very curious. They are typical loose. If your kiddo has a fear of large birds our facilities would not be a great match. We are not willing to change their normal to accommodate guests to their home. In other words, we won’t lock them up unless it is a lesson situation. For our 4h protege, who would be here often and in parts of the farm lesson participants wouldn’t typical be, this individual would have to be comfortable with the loose emu. We promise they are as sweet as can be and love kiddos. Our two and a half year old granddaughter loves to play with the emu!
By the way- our Big Bend location has two young emu and our Burlington location has 16 adults! So emu comfort or willingness to get comfortable is a must for our ideal 4h candidate!
If you’d like to have your kiddo considered- don’t wait to contact us!
NK Equine Services 