Erin Valley Rodeo Academy
Rodeo Academy
Lessons...
The academy includes twice a week, one hour group lessons from March 17th-September 28th. It also access to our online Mindset & Horsemanship lesson library where you can find online lessons for you to practice at home and bring you closer to your goals. Lessons will be offered Monday to Thursday. Your day and time will be confirmed upon registration! Lessons are instructed by our Horsemanship/Rodeo experts Kelcie Mills & Kyle Mills as well as Chloe Scott & Logan Hamson. Exact layout and groups will be provided when our registration closes March 1st. Our lesson plan follows the Training Thru Trust method, it is a natural horsemanship method based on horse psychology that has helped thousands of horses and riders all over the world.
Lessons over the 6.5 months will be covering everything listed below...
Horsemanship- How to ride and properly communicate with horses
Horse Training- Exercises to train and maintain a rodeo horse
Liberty Work- Round pen work where you learn about pecking order, horse psychology and how to use your energy/build of pressure to communicate with horses
Rodeo Events- Barrel Racing, Pole Bending & Roping
Western Events- Working Cow Horse, Reining & Bridle-less riding could also be included
Horse Care-Grooming, Wellness, Vet/Wound/Injury Care, Stretching & Massage
Warm-Up/Cool Down- routines for you and your horse
Energy Work- how to control your emotions in and out of the rodeo arena and how your energy affects your horse
Mindset- how to become clear on your goals with or without horses and building a clear path from where you are to where you want to be.
Here are just a few of the things we feel the students gain from this opportunity...
Confidence- they learn how to not only become confident in themselves but how to build confidence in their horse
Work Ethic- as much as we love this lifestyle it requires hard work to just keep these animals alive & healthy.. let alone ride them
Lifelong Friends- our students grow, learn and achieve their goals alongside people with the same interests!
Fresh Air- in today's world we are surrounded by screens day in and day out. This gives our students, youth or adults, the chance to get outside and enjoy nature.
Communication Skills- learning to communicate with an animal correctly directly relates to our everyday life. Our program helps to create clear, consistent communication skills
Sportsmanship- this is a non-negotiable rule on our ranch for the past 50 years of teaching people about horses. We are about supporting each other. It's never about what you win, it's who you become in the process.
All lessons cancelled by an Academy coach will have a makeup lesson provided. We will schedule a make-up lesson on our designated "makeup lesson week."
Clinics
Included in your academy registration is the entry to a one day in clinic in May as well as three Rodeos and a Finals hosted at the ranch in Kamloops. Clinic & Rodeo Weeks will have only one riding lesson, making the clinic/rodeo the second time you would ride that week. These rodeos will have all the rodeo events we have practiced and give you a chance to compete and HAVE FUN! Events will include barrel racing, pole bending, horsemanship & more. Events available to students upon request are goat tying, stake race, breakaway roping, goat tail tying, reining, working cow horse & team roping. We will have buckles and prizes in each category for the monthly rodeos and even MORE for our Finals! Invite your family and get your western attire on! Our 2025 rodeo schedule will be posted by February 15th.
Categories
Here is a breakdown of the categories we have within rodeo academy. Your lesson groups would be split into these groups as well as who you compete against at the rodeos! Riders will be placed in categories based on experience as well as age.
Tiny Tots
This is for the little cowboys and cowgirls! Open to ages 5-7. In this category they will practice and compete in all the same event but at a lower level.
Pee Wee
For our beginner riders around the age of 8-13. This is perfect for first year students and students looking to build confidence and slowly start to add speed.
Junior
Our most competitive category! This is for students who are more experienced and ready to advance in their rodeo skills with some tough competition. Ages for this category can range from 10-18
Adult
This category is for our 18+ students. Most are beginner looking to get into rodeo or just advancing their rodeo skills!
Trainers
New in 2025! This is for students of all ages to learn the ins and outs of putting the TTT program on a new horse and getting them trained for the Rodeo Arena. This is the perfect step for those looking to purchase their own horse in the future. This is only recommended for experienced riders or riders who have spent a minimum of one year in our program as these horses will be green and require horse training. This program will still have entry to Rodeos & Clinics however rodeo events will be judged on the riders application of training versus timed.
Sponsorship
Each student will be required to bring in an outside sponsorship/fundraising amount of $200 to go towards prizes! Your sponsorship must be received by March 17th! Our students have had great success with gaining sponsorship to cover their entire rodeo season!
What's new in 2025
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March 17th start date. Spreading academy out to 6.5 months
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Our season will include 4 sperate weeks off to allow for summer vacation time and a designated makeup lesson week.
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Weeks off are as follows:
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June 30-July 4
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August 4-8
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August 25-29- Makeup Lesson Week
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September 8-12
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Our yearly cost remains the same but spread out to 7 months will lower monthly cost to $685 plus gst per month. Still including 24 weeks of twice a week lessons.
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No lessons on Holiday Mondays including the following. Makeup lessons for these days will be provided on the following Friday at the same time.
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April 21st- Easter
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May 19th- Victoria Day
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September 1st- Labour Day
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Trainers Category. This season we will have a seperate category for students of all ages to learn the ins and outs of putting the TTT program on a new horse and getting them trained for the Rodeo Arena.
A HUGE thank you to this years sponsors
Buff Lumber, Guy Mercier
