Horses are highly intelligent creatures, as is evidenced by their superior spatial awareness, their keen sense of intuition, and their ability to quickly solve high-level sudoku puzzles in pen. Develop excellent horse sense with today’s Groupon: for $99, you get a five-day summer-camp session at Ash Stables in Aiken (a $200 value).

Ash Stables' cadre of warm, horse-whispering instructors help saddle-shy neophytes and gallop gurus hit their horsemanship stride in the five-day summer-camp program. Manager, trainer, and instructor Andrea Sirrenberg Hunt combines modern riding philosophies with old German schooling techniques, such as trotting in time to Beethoven’s Ode to Joy in order to create a well-balanced program for horse and rider alike.

At their summer camp, students share a horse with another camper and have daily riding sessions, learn about and participate in the day-to-day care of their horses, and take in lectures and demonstrations from local equine-industry professionals. With a focus on safety, Ash stables uses tiptop, trained school horses that are always ready to impress folks with their regal neighs and recitations of the periodic table. All equipment for the camp is provided; campers just need to wear long pants, boot-like shoes, and full suits of armor if available.