Re: Does anyone remember the St. Francis Riding Academy?

09/19/23 - posted by Donna Mickleson

I took lessons at the St. Francis Riding Academy, probably in about 1953-54. I was about 11; we learned to post to the trot on English saddles, and canter. I think a lesson was $2 but I'm not certain.
Afterwards if we had money, my friend and I liked to rent a horse and ride in Golden Gate Park for an hour. The cost was maybe $2.50. I think sometimes we did this accompanied by an adult; I also recall that there was at least one time--maybe more--when they let us go alone (!) There were no helmets; for birthdays and Christmas we asked for boots, riding crops, breeches. My family moved out of San Francisco in 1955, and that was the end of my time there, but the memories are very fond.
--Donna Mickleson, Berkeley