Should my daughter start horse riding lessons?

eliviajen

we live in the northeast, in the middle of nowhere really. This is the stables where everybody we know have learnt to ride for the past 15 years at least and everything seems to be clean adn the horses well looked after. Its a very interesting point that the price should marry up with the cost of driving lessons, which i am currently paying £139 for a block of 10, so it is still super cheap in comparision.
Elivia has never specifically asked for riding lessons, but does have a horse interest. We have to walk the dog past the horsey fields when she walks the dog and her fave book is Black Beauty. I thought it would be a lovely suprise!! She wants to do rainbows as 3 of her closest friends have recently started, but i have had her name on the list for about 2 years!!! I think the reason she has suggested Karate and Gymnastics as some of her friends have started. There are none of her schol friends in the class at the moment but there is a girl she used to play with at nursery there.
Im possibly as far away from a pushy parent as you can get, so please dont think im trying to push myself onto her! I just think its a hobby that she could do all of her life ie. when she's too old to do fancy tumbling

sueeve

It's good that a 5 year old is 'fickle', which I would call curious, enquiring, wanting to have a go. They like to try all sorts of things at that age. I expect her school has a variety of clubs, and she may change each term as she tries out new things. Let her have a go if she wants to. Every hobby becomes more expensive as they get older and need the kit.

the_cat

I would say she is too young unless she has already expressed a strong interest herself... most kids her age will lack the coordination to do much more than bounce about while being led (although confidence building in tiny tots is easier)

Trust me, she will soon get in with a group of girls at school and some of them will be horse-mad. This is when she will get the most fun out of having a go and will then be physically able to learn something and progress

£8 an hour is far too little! Where I worked (ran the riding school and taught too for several years) we charged £11 for a half hour tiny tots lesson. That would have been towards the top end for our area but NO WAY would I trust somewhere at that low a price..... I would strongly recommend that you choose an establishment with British Horse Society approval. They have a search facility on their website so you can find out if the place is approved. Council license is the only thing that is legally needed to open a riding school but quite frankly, the stipulations are woeful and VERY easy to dodge on the annual inspections - without the extra checks you are taking quite a bit to chance in welfare/safety/qualifications. Some will play it by the book. A large number won't...

Look around for a gym/dance/karate group on a different night for now as that is what she is interested in.Save the extra money that horse riding would be costing you..... if she does get into horses at a later date, you can be absolutely certain that those funds will vanish at the speed of light!

cazziebo

Why don't you all do it together? I have two daughters with an age gap of three years and I found riding lessons was something the three of us would all be equal at. I think the youngest would have been around 6/7 at the time. We had such a laugh. Only one daughter has stuck at it and is now an RDA instructor. Fun while we did it and brilliant exercise.

kaya

statisticly horse riding is more more dangerous than taking ecstasy and cocaine, would you give your child class a drugs? if not then i suggest you leave the horse riding well alone

beautyqueen88

my oh is against our daughter starting riding as he reckons its dangerous, rich coming from someone who races superbikes but anyway,
has she learnt to swim yet? after the horse riding debate i started her with swimming lessons, it's a skill for life and the younger you learn the better.

I think riding lessons cost £10 for half hour where i used to go around 5 years ago, are you sure it wasn't for half hour?

pigpen

I wouldn't take mine.. because my friend was almost killed in a horse related accident.. and another time one bit her eyebrow off.. she was well experienced and capable and had been riding since a little girl.. I really dislike them and et heebjeebies when the Rag cart comes down with a best of hell.

I wouldn't take her if she has expressed no interest. Gymnastics I would.. possibly wait a couple of years on the karate though I'd do swimming, all styles of dance available and other physical stuff first.

Men always find excuses.. I found it was because they don't want to take them!

I rainbows the pre-brownies one?????

Caroline_a

My eldest daughter learnt to ride and we got her a pony when she was about 10 - luckily I had a friend who owned a stables, so we got a really good deal, plus she gave my daughter lessons. It was something that we could all get involved with as a family (shows, etc). It taught her coordination and balance, plus she used to work there during weekends to pay for the pony when she got a bit older, so more valuable lessons there. I'd let her try it - one lesson won't hurt.

My youngest one did gymnastics from the age of 7. She was quite good, and got into the squad, which eventually involved 23 hours a week training!! Lots of mum-taxiing too. However, it gave her a great base to start what has been a pretty successful sporting career, she is now a national level athlete. So, I'm pro gymnastics too.

For me, the important things are that a) they enjoy it, and b) you allow them an 'out' so that if they don't want to do it any more, they don't feel pressurised because mum and dad like them doing it - that happened to me with music. My dad never forgave me when I gave it up...

ukjoel

pigpen wrote: »

I wouldn't take mine.. because my friend was almost killed in a horse related accident.. and another time one bit her eyebrow off.. she was well experienced and capable and had been riding since a little girl.. I really dislike them and et heebjeebies when the Rag cart comes down with a best of hell.


Men always find excuses.. QUOTE]

I guess MEN done need to find any this time round as you have saved us the job.

Nimeth

I don't see why you shouldn't take her. Since she has an interest in horses, however small, it certainly can't hurt to have a couple of trial lessons to see how she gets on.

I disagree with the poster who said she is too young, she's not. If she takes to it, then it's a great way to build up her self-confidence and get her in good physical shape. I know this was the case with me, I was a painfully shy little girl, I asked for riding lessons when I was 7 and I excelled at it and it gave me fantastic self confidence. An added bonus was that I could interact with the horse too, I used to show up to my lessons 3 hours early so I could spend the time grooming my horse (and spoiling him a little too:D). I loved every minute of it.

As far as your OH's reasoning, most sport hobbies are dangerous in one form or another. I assume the riding school has a policy on wearing a body protector? If she does enjoy it after a few lessons enough to keep going, then only thing I would buy new is a riding helmet as you will be more able to find one that fits her just right (I would also suggest maybe buying a body protector new too). Everything else can be bought secondhand, boots, clothing, gloves.

As for experience, well I didn't have any experience when I started riding and my parents hadn't a clue either, but I kept at it for 18 years and still wish I could afford lessons. I miss it terribly and riding was my escape from the house/school.

Just my 2 pence.:)