Danada Equestrian Center
The Danada Equestrian Center promotes safe, humane horse-handling practices and care by advancing the relationship between humans and their equine companions.
Maps
The Danada Equestrian Center is at 3S507 Naperville Road in Wheaton on the east side of Naperville Road 1 mile south of Butterfield Road.
Hours
The center's office is open Monday –Friday 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. It is closed on Saturdays, Sundays, and select holidays.
The barn is open Monday – Friday 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. It is closed on select holidays.
The surrounding Danada Forest Preserve is open daily one hour after sunrise to one hour after sunset.
General Info
Dogs are allowed at the center but must be on leashes under 10 feet long. Alcohol is prohibited. Read our complete rules and regulations.
Contact Us
Horseback-Riding Lessons
Anyone 12 or older can gain hands-on experience grooming, saddling, and riding horses during group or individual lessons.
New students at Danada may register for only individual lessons, four-pack individual lessons, or "Horsemanship 1" group lessons.
Group Lessons
Horsemanship II is for students who successfully completed Horsemanship I and want to improve their skills. $264 per DuPage resident; $336 per nonresident.
Horsemanship III is for intermediate riders who continue to practice techniques from Horsemanship I and II. Students prepare their horses for riding with little to no assistance and learn to ride a balanced seat in a western saddle. $176 per DuPage resident; $224 per nonresident.
Horsemanship IV is for intermediate and advanced riders who continue to practice techniques from Horsemanship III and want to establish a balanced seat and perform intermediate and advanced skills associated with the walk, trot and canter. $176 per DuPage resident; $224 per nonresident.
Individual Lessons
This single 30-minute individual lesson gives you valuable one-on-one instruction and allows you to progress at your own pace. $44 per DuPage resident; $56 per nonresident.
Purchase packs of four individual lessons to combine the value of personalized instruction with the benefits of meeting weekly on the same day and time. Meets once a week for four consecutive weeks. $176 per DuPage resident; $224 per nonresident.
Trail Classes
Our four-part Trail Obstacle Class (formerly Horsemanship 3 and Horsemanship 4 Trail Class) will
focus on the educational aspects associated with riding on trails, including those in the DuPage forest preserves. Students will learn trail etiquette, safety and riding skills through groundwork and mounted instruction.
Intermediate to advanced students will ride in western saddles (English saddles with instructor approval) and maneuver through, over and around intermediate to advanced trail obstacles inside and outside of the arena. Students enrolled in Trail Obstacle Class must have completed Danada’s Horsemanship 3 classes or above within the last year. Students who have taken individual lessons at Danada within the past year will need instructor approval before enrolling in Trail Obstacle Class. $224 per DuPage resident; $256 per non-resident
Learn about nature from the back of a horse at this four-week trail experience. These hour-and-a-half rides with Danada horses and instructors are for those with intermediate to advanced riding skills and incorporate good trail practices with a discovery of native flora and fauna. Students enrolled in Guided Trail Ride must have completed Danada’s Horsemanship 3 classes or above within the last year and receive instructor approval. Students who have taken individual lessons at Danada within the past year will need instructor approval before enrolling in Guided Trail Ride. $352 per DuPage resident; $428 per non-resident
Check back for future dates.
Other Horse-Related Programs
Danada also offers programs to introduce individuals to horses, their behaviors, lifelong care and companionship. Although these programs are horse-related, only summer camps and Horsemanship Badge for Scouts allow an opportunity to ride our horses.
Take a one-hour tour of the equestrian center’s Kentucky-style barn to discover horse behaviors, types of feed, and uses of saddles and tack. Then, enjoy a horse grooming demonstration.
To schedule a private tour for your group, call 630-668-6012. Then, complete and return the guided group barn tour form (PDF).
Take a 30-minute wagon ride around the equestrian center and surrounding forest preserve, weather permitting, on select fall weekends.
To schedule a private group ride on select fall weekends, call 630-668-6012. Then, complete and return the group wagon ride form (PDF).
Weeklong summer camps introduce kids and teens entering grades five through eight the daily activities of a working barn and hands-on experiences with horses. They include horse-related arts, crafts, and games and either lead-line rides or daily riding lessons. For details visit our Camps page.
Whether you’re thinking about owning a horse or are just an enthusiast, this five-part series will give you an in-depth look at the daily, annual, and lifelong care of horses. Each session has a 60-minute lecture followed by 60 minutes of practical, hands-on applications in the Kentucky-style barn. Ages 12 and up. $50 per person for the series.
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Interested in spending time with a horse but don't care to ride? Want to get comfortable around one on the ground before moving on to your first lesson? Then join us for 45 minutes of one-on-one horse grooming time followed by 15 minutes of lectures or ground work. (Lectures may include stall versus pasture, breeds, and behavior; ground work may include basic leading skills.) Ages 10 and up.
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In addition to learning how to safely care for horses, Scouts will gain an understanding of the instincts and behaviors of horses and effective methods for training them. (You must turn in requirements 1b and 4 at the start of the program.) Ages 12 – 17.
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History
The equestrian center and most of the surrounding Danada Forest Preserve were part of the Dan and Ada L. Rice estate. The Rices purchased the land in 1928, when it was a working farm with apple orchards, wheat and corn fields, and grazing lots for livestock.
In 1943, Dan bought eight Thoroughbreds for his wife’s interest in horse racing, and the Ada L. Rice Stable was born, a legacy that would last 32 years.
The farm produced many champions and served as a Thoroughbred training facility. The 0.5-mile regulation racetrack west of the barn conditioned yearlings that arrived from a sister farm in Kentucky.
In 1965, the Rices’ Lucky Debonair, a bay colt, crossed the wire first in a neck-to-neck finish for a $112,000 Kentucky Derby purse. One year later, their Thoroughbred, Advocator, placed second.
The Kentucky-Style Barn
Built by Dan and Ada Rice during the 1940s, our barn is a hallmark of traditional Thoroughbred-breeding farms in Lexington, Kentucky. The barn design features dormered windows and 26 center stalls surrounded by an exterior aisle. When bad weather limited training outdoors, trainers opened the barn's windows for riders to exercise the horses indoors along the track encircling the stalls.
Today, the Kentucky-style barn serves as an area where riders can groom and tack horses prior to lessons and where kids and teens can work with the horses during summer camps. It's also offers a site for guided group tours.
Get Involved
Volunteer
Help to care for the center's horses, attend to barn chores, assist with programs, and more.
Be Our Community Partner
As a Friends community partner, you can help us connect people to nature in DuPage forest preserves.
