Horse Training at Hansen Dam Horse Park — Classical Training Barn

Who this is for

Any one of these is reason enough.

You don't need to tick all three. Most owners here arrived with exactly one of them, and the program bends to fit.

Either

You want a training home

A horse in a program for years, not weeks: a trainer riding it, you riding it, and a calendar of things to do together. Classical dressage and Working Equitation, at a barn where most of the clients' horses stay.

Or

You have a young or difficult horse

Unstarted, green, or stuck: won't load, won't stand, bucks, bolts, rears, spooks, or has learned the rider can be ignored. A 90-day Foundation builds the horse correctly, then you decide whether it stays.

Or

You want to do part of the work yourself

You ride, you want to keep riding, and you want a trainer on the horse a couple of times a week to keep it correct and moving forward. That is Half Training. Most owners at Hansen Dam are in this group.

Life at the barn

Not a place you send a horse. A place you ride it.

Plenty of ways to compete if you want to, and nobody asks when you're going to. Hansen Dam Horse Park hosts dressage and show jumping shows through the season, Working Equitation is the discipline the barn is built around, and the trail rides are the days people talk about most.

Two riders on dark horses on a trail through the hills — Monthly destination trail ride

A rider on a dark horse at a show at Hansen Dam Horse Park, with a trainer and a helper at the rail — Show day at Hansen Dam Horse Park

A rider in show clothes standing with her grey horse and a red ribbon — Ribbons come home with owners, too

A rider on a bay horse on a ridge above the Los Angeles skyline — Above the city, on horseback

Monthly destination trail ride

Every month the barn hauls out together for a trail ride somewhere worth the drive. All training clients are invited. It is the day people talk about most.

Working Equitation, regularly

Dressage, ease of handling, speed and cattle. We school it weekly, and through the year the barn goes to the local shows together, with you in the saddle or a trainer on your horse, whichever you'd rather.

Shows at home

Dressage and show jumping shows come to Hansen Dam Horse Park all season. Your horse walks over from its stall. No hauling, no hotel, and no obligation.

Group sessions, any time

Training clients can ride in any group session on the calendar: flatwork, obstacles, cattle days. Company on the rail is half of why people stay.

Trainers you can actually reach

The people riding your horse are the people teaching your lessons, at one barn, on one plan. Questions get answered in the arena, or by text the same day.

Graduate Ride Day

Every horse that has been through a Hussar program is invited back to a free monthly group ride, for life. Our graduates ride together.

Programs and prices

Two ways to keep a horse here. Nothing hidden.

Full training is the default, the horse in a five-day-a-week program. Half training keeps a horse in the system at half the pace. Both are month to month with a three-month commitment, the same as our riding memberships.

The default · 3-month commitment

Full Training

Five sessions a week with the Hussar training team. The horse you want made, and kept made.

$1,800 / month training

About $3,125 a month all in with stall care, board and hay

5 logged sessions a week, ridden work, groundwork or lunge line as the plan calls for
Any session can be your lesson on your horse instead
Weekly video of your horse
Written plan, reviewed at week two and every month
Trail rides, group sessions, show calendar, Graduate Ride Day

Start with a free evaluation session →

3-month commitment

Half Training

For owners who do part of the work themselves. Ten trainer rides a month keep the horse correct; you ride the rest.

$900 / month training

About $2,225 a month all in with stall care, board and hay

10 logged trainer sessions a month
Lessons on your horse available to add
Join any group session on the calendar
Same logbook, same weekly video
Trail rides, show calendar, Graduate Ride Day

Start with a free evaluation session →

What a month actually costs at Hansen Dam

	Full	Half
Training, paid to Hussar Stables	$1,800	$900
Stall cleaning and daily turnout, paid to Hussar Stables	$440	$440
Shavings, 16 bags a month, paid to Hussar Stables	$189	$189
Dry board, paid directly to Hansen Dam Horse Park	$525	$525
Hay from us at $28 a bale, about 6 bales, or bring your own	≈ $170	≈ $170
About, per month	$3,125	$2,225

Not included: farrier, which you arrange and we hold the horse for; grain, supplements and fly spray, which you supply. Hansen Dam Horse Park requires horse-owner liability insurance for every horse on the grounds. Haul-in evaluations pay the Park's $25 gate fee.

Not ready for an evaluation session yet?

Get one text when a training stall opens.

Leave your number and one line about your horse. When the next training stall at Hansen Dam opens, you get one text from us and first right of refusal. Nothing to book, no calls, no drip campaign.

✓ You're on the list. One text from us when the next training stall opens.

Need help with a horse, not a home for it?

Short programs at the same price, for a horse that goes back to its own barn afterwards.

Tune-Up · 30 days

A made horse that has gotten stuck, sour or rusty. Back to soft, forward and honest. Thirty days is enough for a horse that already knows the job, and not for one that doesn't.

Foundation · 90 days

Young horses, unstarted horses and horses with a problem. Groundwork, loading, the first thirty rides, steering and stopping you can trust, and enough repetition that it holds at home. Ninety days is what it honestly takes, so it's the minimum.

How it works

Evaluation first. A written plan. Then the work.

Free evaluation session at Hansen Dam

Haul in and a Hussar trainer spends up to an hour with your horse on the ground and, if it's safe and sensible, under saddle. The Park charges $25 at the gate; the session is free. No deposit is needed to book it.

A written plan

Where the horse is now, what the next 30, 90 or 180 days can realistically change, and what they can't. You get it in writing before any money changes hands.

Every session logged, the same day

What was done, how the horse was, who rode. You read the log from your phone. If a session is missed, you see that too. We call it Open Book Training because nobody else offers it.

Your sessions are your lessons

Any of your horse's sessions can be your lesson on it instead. The training has to transfer to you, not just to the horse.

Weekly video, and honesty at week two

A short video of your horse every week. If the horse needs more time than the plan said, you hear it at week two, not week five.

Then the calendar

Trail rides, group sessions, shows at the park, Working Equitation away, Graduate Ride Day. Training is the beginning of it.

The training

Classical, all the way through.

Hussar is the only training barn in Los Angeles built entirely around classical horsemanship and Working Equitation, led by head trainer Adam Olejniczak. Relaxation, rhythm and acceptance of the contact come first, straightness and impulsion follow, collection is earned last. A horse trained this way gets stronger and easier to ride at the same time, which is why ours look the way they do. There are no shortcuts in the program because there are none in the horse.

What classical looks like here

Groundwork and in-hand work before anything is asked under saddle
The horse accepts the hand because it trusts it, not because it has to
Obstacles, cattle and trails as schooling, not as tricks
Time. Some horses need more of it, and the plan says so

The nine stages, H0 to H8

Every horse at Hussar, ours or yours, is tracked through the same nine-stage program, from first handling to a finished Working Equitation, dressage or jumping horse: 130 checkpoints, each passed on video with the horse relaxed. Your horse's stage, and what stands between it and the next one, is in the log. Read the whole program →

Adam Olejniczak jumping a bay horse over a Working Equitation obstacle at Hansen Dam Horse Park — Head trainer Adam Olejniczak schooling over Working Equitation obstacles at Hansen Dam Horse Park.

The questions people don't like to ask

Ask them anyway. Here are the answers.

Will my horse actually get worked?

Full training is five sessions a week, half training ten a month, and every one is logged the day it happens. You read the log. A missed session shows as a missed session.

Who rides my horse?

Adam and the Hussar training team: riders trained in the same classical system, working the same plan, at one barn. The log says who did what, every day.

Can I come and watch?

Any session, any day, no appointment. Hansen Dam Horse Park is public. If it's a session you'd rather ride yourself, say so and it's your lesson.

What if it's not going to plan?

You hear it at week two in writing, with what we recommend instead. Any program can be ended with 30 days' notice.

Is there a contract? Insurance?

A plain training agreement: the sessions, the price, what's paid to the Park, the notice period. Hansen Dam Horse Park requires horse-owner liability insurance for every horse on the grounds; we'll point you to the usual providers if you don't have it yet.

Will my horse come home a stranger?

That's why your lessons are built into the program, and why most horses don't go home at all. The barn is built for owners to ride at.

Step one, for every horse

Book your free evaluation session.

Not a training commitment. Sixty minutes with a Hussar trainer at Hansen Dam Horse Park, on the ground first and, if it's safe and sensible, under saddle. You leave with a written plan and a price, and decide from there. The session is free; the Park charges $25 at the gate for haul-ins.

Free evaluation session60 minutes · Hansen Dam Horse Park · no charge, no deposit

1Time
2You
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None of these work? Tell us about your horse and we'll text you times.

Rather talk first? Text (661) 227-3214. We answer texts fast.

Questions people ask first

Where is Hansen Dam Horse Park and how far do people haul?

11127 Orcas Ave, Lake View Terrace, in the northeast San Fernando Valley, ten minutes off the 210. Owners come from all over Los Angeles, Ventura County, Santa Clarita and the Antelope Valley. If you don't have a trailer, ask; hauling can usually be arranged.

What happens at the evaluation session?

Your horse is worked on the ground first: leading, standing, yielding, loading if that's the issue. If the horse is safe and sensible it's ridden. Then you get a written plan with what the next months can and can't do, and the price. No deposit is taken before that.

Do I have to commit long term?

Full and half training carry a three-month commitment, then month to month with 30 days' notice. Foundation is 90 days minimum because less than that doesn't hold. Tune-Ups are 30 days.

What does my horse eat, and who does the feet?

Bring your own hay or buy it from us at $28 a bale. Grain, supplements and fly spray are yours to supply. Farrier is arranged by you; we hold the horse.

Can I ride during the program?

Yes. Any of your horse's sessions can be your lesson on it. Half-training clients add lessons as they like, and everyone can join the group sessions on the calendar.

How do updates arrive?

Each session is logged in your horse's page the same day. A short video comes every week by text. You can read the whole log any time.

What about showing?

Dressage and show jumping shows run at Hansen Dam through the season, and the barn travels to local Working Equitation shows. You can ride your horse, or a Hussar trainer can show it for you. Show fees and trainer show fees are quoted per show.

What's in the agreement?

The plan, the sessions per week, the monthly price and what's paid to the Park, the notice period, and what happens if the horse needs more time. Plain language, one page.

Not ready for an evaluation session yet?

Get one text when a training stall opens.

Leave your number and one line about your horse. When the next training stall at Hansen Dam opens, you get one text from us and first right of refusal. Nothing to book, no calls, no drip campaign.

✓ You're on the list. One text from us when the next training stall opens.

A classical training barn
for your horse.

Any one of these is reason enough.

You want a training home

You have a young or difficult horse

You want to do part of the work yourself

Not a place you send a horse. A place you ride it.

Monthly destination trail ride

Working Equitation, regularly

Shows at home

Group sessions, any time

Trainers you can actually reach

Graduate Ride Day

Two ways to keep a horse here. Nothing hidden.

Full Training

Half Training

What a month actually costs at Hansen Dam

Get one text when a training stall opens.

Need help with a horse, not a home for it?

Tune-Up · 30 days

Foundation · 90 days

Evaluation first. A written plan. Then the work.

Classical, all the way through.

What classical looks like here

The nine stages, H0 to H8

Ask them anyway. Here are the answers.

Book your free evaluation session.

What a week here looks like

Questions people ask first

Get one text when a training stall opens.