YES… these kids make me remember what it was like to be a horse crazy little girl… I would have loved to ride with them.
Go pony go!
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Awww, is that Cuddles the pony & his kid? I can’t tell for sure.If not, it’s another one to check out. The kid goes out on a grass track with his grandfather, who is galloping a racehorse. Then you this little voice going: "Come on! Faster Cuddles! You can do it!
Eta" @lenapesadie, that’s a good point. A problem that I see in virtually every kids riding program I’ve come into contact with is that the trainers/barns tend to sit on their Laurels, so to speak with their ace schooling horses. Especially with the small ponies. So when 30yo Muffy starts hurling kids into the next county because his arthritic stifles are killing him, they’re stuck between a rock & a hard place. Either run Muffy into the ground until he finally says, Enough!, and injures someone for real,
or pray that dodgy 12yo horse that is sorta broke but not really & hasn’t been ridden since before the lesson kid was born. I get why. I really do. It’s time consuming & frustrating & expensive to source & train new animals. But they have to. They need to start parallel training reinforcements/replacements while the superstar pony is still young and healthy.
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No, this one is Kizzy and Ettie’s pony adventures on Facebook. I’m going to have to go find Cuddles now though… sounds adorable.
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“YOU CAN DEFINITELY DO THIS CUDDLES!”
I always have this kid & Cuddles in my mind when I’m working on something hard with my lease mare. “We can definitely do this!”
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That is adorable!!
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The little pom pom on the helmet is just killing me.
I say this sort of stuff to my young mare all the time. You got this! I know you do! It’s a little harder, but you can do it! Yeah! That’s right!
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Ok. Pretty sure I need a Pom Pom on my helmet and a Pom Pom on a fly veil now
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Horses , and ponies ussed for longing in a lesson situation must be educated, well balanced at all gaits and compleyely obedient to voice commands.
A pony struggling with transitions trot to canter is totaly unsuitable for longe lessons.
It takes a pretty balanced rider to feel comfortable on the longe on a less than 20m circle which most longe lines barely allow.
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I can kind of speak from personal experience here. I think I’ve put myself on this forum before and said that I’ve always been a cautious rider. Even as a kid, I wasn’t “rough and tumble,” and while I loved horses, I dealt with fear from a young age.
For many, many adult years I had an instructor that I really liked, but she really didn’t like teaching not just kids/beginners, but really any nervous or fearful rider. It worked when I had a horse that I trusted completely because I wasn’t that person that said, “I’m not comfortable doing X today.” It absolutely blew up when I accidentally bought a spooky, hot horse. The tough love approach exacerbated the fear I was having and made me feel completely out of control because I couldn’t opt out of anything. I ended up having to sell the horse and find a new instructor because I was just no longer having fun.
I think you’re on the right track here. It sounds to me like the instructor never should’ve gotten after the pony on the lunge line with your daughter aboard. If she wanted to make the pony canter, she should’ve taken the time to have your daughter dismount. The most important thing for your daughter in that moment was not that the pony cantered when asked. Some people just can’t accept that. I know the instructor I took lessons from can be a wonderful instructor - for the right person at the right time. However, even after many years of lessons, she wasn’t the right instructor for me when I was nervous and on a horse that was a little too hot.
I do best with an instructor that keeps things positive. No one wants to be nervous and scared, so I’m not sure tough love is best for that situation. It can lead to even more fear because I think that you just feel like you have no control over the situation, especially when your daughter is probably feeling like the instructor has already caused her to fall.
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She had an art camp all week and I haven’t heard back from any barns. I’m thinking I will need to call instead of emailing as I did. I know summer is a busy time!
She did spend time grooming a friend’s horse and really enjoyed it. I think she definitely is still into this She just needs a different environment. We have some free time today so I was going to make some calls. And in a few weeks we were going to try to do a family trail ride as we are in an area of the country where that sort of thing is offered everywhere 
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I totally agree. It’s just not a good fit and I feel like the instructor was visibly frustrated that my daughter was now gunshy. And obviously that’s not going to help the situation.
Fingers crossed we find a better fit!
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Are children’s polo lessons available in your area? We have them here & they’re great. The “ponies” are practically humans in horse costumes, you don’t have to know how to ride at all to start, the kids get to have fun with other kids their age. Speaking as someone who occasionally struggles with generalized anxiety around speed & jumping, I think it can be great for riders who are nervous with the canter. You have an objective other than cantering to distract you from the fact that you’re cantering, if that makes sense.
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The only polo places that are know of are too far away and more adult focused. But definitely not a bad thought.
We are going to go watch a child’s lesson on Thursday. We have a few options although nearly everyone is full!
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OP, I probably missed it when I was skimming the thread, but what is your reaction when you’re talking with your daughter after she falls? I ask because I was a pretty timid kid and grew up in a very kid-friendly barn, and I think one of the best things they did for all of us was instilling that falling off was not a Big Deal. They had a rule that if you fell off, you had to bake and bring cookies for the barn the next time you came. It was a really great way of defusing some of the tension and anxiety that naturally accompanies a fall. I can feel your concern through your posts, and I wonder if your daughter is picking up on that too.
Agreed with others that it doesn’t sound like the little ones are really in this trainer’s skillset - and I’m not saying that as a slight against the trainer - teaching little kids and beginners is HARD! I hope you have luck in finding a more small-kid-friendly place.
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My trainer has this rule, even for us adults.
It leads to lots of laugh at fun after a fall.
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I rode at a barn that had the brownie rule as well (or for adults it’s alcohol). The barn I board at implemented this rule as well and it’s so much fun. Yesterday I had to ride my 5YO mare in a neck rope because she had an aural plaque flair up and bridling her was too painful. As I’m getting on my barnmates were already teasing me and discussing whether they wanted brownies with nuts or no nuts. 
We’re terrible. If someones trailering out we’ll say “have fun, be safe, and FYI we prefer fudge brownies to cake brownies.”
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This is how I got over a fear of cantering on new horses that had lasted years after I fell off and got a concussion the first time I cantered. It worked exactly the way you describe.
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Well I luckily was videoing at the time, so I was able to hear my initial reaction. Both times I was calmly saying, “you are fine.” My daughter actually commented to my family that she thought I was acting like it was no big deal at all, like almost too nonchalantly. I’m definitely a brush it off and get back on type person. We did take her to get ice cream after and I added funny music to the videos.
But the instructor was a bit annoyed with my daughter for being nervous and I think that really didn’t help.
Happy to report she had a lesson at a different barn tonight. They really let her lead the way and have a voice. She had a blast and trotted the whole arena independently with no apparent nerves. We will do a few more but hopefully we found the right program!
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I doubt she wants to rewatch the trauma of falling off-with or without funny music, don’t you think?
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