My 10 yr old daughter has been dreaming of riding lessons for a few years now…we are finally financiallly ready to do this for her, but really haven’t much of an idea on how much this will truly cost or where there is a good place to go…Are there any suggestions out there?? We live in the Farmington/ Livonia Michigan area…
Thanks for any information offered… 
First, decide what style of riding you would like — basically English or western to start — then you can get into the different categories within those two.
Visit several stables and talk to people who have taken lessons. Try not to base your decisions about a trainer based on only one person’s comments; that one person could be a unique situation. Ask if you can observe a portion of a class to see how the trainer works with the students. Not everyone teaches or learns the same way.
Find out if the trainer provides the horse or if you must.
Look at the location. Disregard whether it is fancy or not. Look at the cleanliness and safety of the facilities.
As far as price, I can’t offer any suggestions for your location; I live too far away.