Should my daughter start horse riding lessons?

January20

lauren_1 wrote: »

Statistically a child is less likely to be hurt in a fall than an adult rider, kids bounce!

Dont let stories of injuries scare you.

Exactly!

Children/ people drown - we still take our kids swimming.

People are injured/ killed in car accidents - we still use them/ learn to drive.

There are bus/ train/ boat/ plane/ bicycle accidents. Do we stop using them? There are people who get hurt walking down the street, or in supermarkets or even at home. What are we going to do? Stop doing everything and live our lives in a bubble?

You can get hurt doing karate. I fell off a few horses in my time but my worst injury is one I got doing kickboxing! I also badly injured my knee walking down a hill! You can't live your life not trying things because you risk getting hurt!

heretolearn_2

On the danger side, yes, horse riding is one of the most dangerous sports/hobbies around. It's true. However, that's only because it covers an awful lot of different activities and sports, under one overall heading. Just general riding isn't that dangerous. The statistics are bad because it includes some very dangerous activities such as racing and cross country, which the vast majority of riders never take part in. It's a bit like including all the accidents rates for rallying and formula one racing and drag racing in with normal 'to the shops and back' car driving.

King_Nothing

If she has shown no interest in horse riding, but has asked about other activities why not just let her do the other activities she has shown interest in? I don't know if it's coming across the same as me to anyone else but, you've admitted you had no hobbies as a child, so I bet horse riding was high up there what you wanted to do, but either didn't or couldn't, so is that why you're wanting her to do it when she's shown no considerable interest in it?

Malicia_Crass

Ive been riding on and off since I was 6 - I'm now 21.
I badgered my parents endlessly to go riding and Mum finally agreed!

However, I agree with the comment about swimming - I think its really important, and useful!

Maybe take her to the stables, let her see the ponies up close - you don't want to spring it on her, plonk her on a pony when she is nervous and potentially give her a bad experience.

Maybe she could have a half hour one-to-one lesson to start with?
I personally think an hour can be too long for young children, due to the physical exertion and also they can have shorter attention spans/get bored etc. My little brother used to sit on my share pony when he was 4 or 5 for abut 20minutes before he wanted to get off!

As for buying a pony - don't go anywhere near this if you have no experience. Wait until she is old enough and has spent a year or so helping out at the stables and learning how to look after a pony, then look for a part loan/share - eg. she looks after and rides someones pony a couple of days a week and pays a proportion of its upkeep.

As for riding being dangerous - yes , animals can be unpredictable. She may take a few tumbles, get a few bruises, as with most sports! In 15 year I've not had worse than some (rather impressive!) bruises.
If she takes to it, invest in a good hat and look after it, and if she wants to start jumpng in a few years, get a decent body protector.

Realistically, unless she is eventing, cross country jumping etc then the risks are low.

Good luck!

jellyhead

You could try taking her to a farm that does pony rides, to see if she likes it, make sure she's not scared of heights or allergic to horses or whatever.

But if she's asked for rainbows, gymnastics, karate etc. is it possible that she wants to do something where she will have friends in the class? Is there only one place for gymnastics? In my town the local leisure centre runs 2 classes for each age group, so if 1 clashes with rainbows there might be another at 9am on a weekend.

POPPYOSCAR

Personally, if she has expressed an interest in Karate I would spend the money on that. My daughter is 14 and one step away from a black belt
and so can really defend herself without even thinking about it.

libbyc3

my 2 youngest dd go horse ridiing and absolutely love it - but i must share a warning story from a friend...........
she sent hers aged 6 and 8 to lesson and they both picked up the horsey bug - fast forward 8 years the little sods had saved their pocket money and paper round money, gone to the nearby travellers site and yes............mum got a phone call one saturday afternoon saying 'mum we've just bought a pony, where shall we take it'!!!!!

her girls are now 20 and 22 - still have said pony (and 2 more) and both at uni studying equine management - they have always looked after their ponies and worked part-time whilst at school and uni to pay towards their keep - but the thought of getting that first phone call ?????

MX5huggy

libbyc3 wrote: »

saying 'mum we've just bought a pony, where shall we take it'!!!!!
?

The French Republic would be the best answer to that.