When you pay for a lesson, it’s not just an hour of my time – it’s so much more. When you pay for a lesson or training, you’re investing in more than just an hour of an instructor’s time. You’re investing in the thousands of hours they’ve dedicated to their craft. Hours of trial and error, success and failure, injuries and revelations. You’re investing in their dedication to their work, and the nights they’ve spent awake thinking of ways to help their students or horses. You’re investing in their commitment to stay educated, and the time spent hauling hay, mucking stalls, and grooming their charges with the same care they’d show their own horse. You’re investing in their passion and care for their field, and you’ll inevitably become a part of their life. Money can’t buy the joy of finally understanding a horse, or the personal growth that comes through education – but it does signal your commitment to that process. So when you pay for a lesson, it’s so much more than buying one hour of an instructor’s time.