Don’t think most regulars on here ever advise newbies to do anything else but find a truely good barn. Trouble is, most newbies don’t know what they don’t know, find it refreshing OP realized that and came here to get help. Its a start for her.
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Amen to that!
If nothing else, this BB is a wealth of BTDT & Learn From My Fail 
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If it were only that easy.
I have one of those “lower level” programs where my students do all of those things mentioned, but never outside of a supervised lesson. I can only think of one other riding program in my area that allows students to regularly ride school or lease horses outside the ring, and I’m in a very horse-heavy region with tons of lesson barns and programs from starter level all the way up to Olympic trainers.
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I feel like this thread has gotten very negative about the current program and with opinions on the daughter not seeking enough opportunities to learn, and I’m not quite sure why. I don’t feel that we have enough information to really judge the quality of the current program, and the OP actively sought out advice about the next steps towards advancing their daughter’s riding.
While in an ideal world it would be nice for everyone to be able to immerse themselves in horses on a daily basis, that isn’t a financial reality for a lot of families, and many farms no longer encourage “barn rats” for insurance reasons.
It’s great to offer the OP advice, but I feel like it’s leaning towards the judgmental side, particularly when a parent is involved who does seem to be seeking the best path forward for their child.
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That would be a whole ton better than what this kid is getting served right now
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Hmm. Well I don’t think we have enough info about this child’s specific program and what other options may be available to make that judgment.
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While this is true, it’s useful for the OP as a nonhorsey parent to see the amount of variation possible. They landed in a barn with a pricey program, a lease and show focus, and moderate success rate, where the model is lesson and show from beginners on up. This parallels many children’s sports these days so it may seem like a coherent idea. And it serves many functions in the current environment.
But realizing that the super high priced riding programs are not necessarily turning out the best riders or horse people in the long run is really important. Could you start out at a program like this and develop over time? Absolutely! It’s not a bad place to be at age ten. But could you develop into an independent horse person inside this model? Highly unlikely.
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Well, I try not to tell people what to do. Try to offer up options and get them to THINK and gather as much info from knowledgeable sources as possible while learning as much as they can. Then they can make the best choice for them.
That, IMO, is about all you can do. Even IRL.
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Correct, the closest one is 2-hrs away (meaning 4-hrs round trip). That isn’t sustainable.
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Yes, we have not been able to find this type of barn yet. We’ve rode at 3 of them now, and all are the same, but our current one being the best at actually coaching her though.
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To add to this… I think OP has the right idea in looking into leasing made horses for the next few years, but if daughter reaches her early teen years and is really thinking about riding professionally on some level, I’d highly recommend looking for a program that has young horses or sale horses that she will have the opportunity to ride, in addition to finished show horses.
There’s a lot of young adults in the sport who have shown to a very high level on a handful of very nice horses, but have no experience on green horses or quirky horses or different types of rides. There’s a major shortage of good young horse riders in this country, in particular. Being able to ride a diverse variety of horses capably will set her apart and open up opportunities for her, both when the time comes to get her first few positions in the horse world and throughout her life with horses.
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It. Won’t.
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I am glad someone mentioned “insurance”. This is a problem now. A friend of mine who was an instructor was sued. A child bit her lip when her pony spooked. Parents sued instructor stating child should not have been put on a pony that may spook.
Back in the day I was one of the instructors of our local pony club. We always informed parents that accidents may happen. Our pony club was great but it was because most of the kids came from horsey families who were horse savy. Of course none made it to the Olympics but became educated knowledgeable riders.
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OP, did you ever speak further to the instructor about the exact terms of the lease or the prospect of a half lease?
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Believe OP was going to do more research before sitting down with trainer to discuss options, goals and costs.
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This is ridiculous. OP’s kid is jumping in the 2’-2’6 range on what sounds like perfectly suitable horses. This is how a lot of us got our starts in the sport because that’s all that’s available to a very large portion of kids. You’ll never get to the highest levels of the sport that way but suggesting OP has been putting her daughter in danger is way over the top.
OP knows they’re going to have to make some changes if her daughter wants to get serious and is trying to figure out the best way to do that while balancing the financial realities of the sport. All of the stuff you describe is great, but realistically is only available to kids that have their own horses and parents willing to drive them out to the barn to hang out for several hours a day.
This is just mean and so far off base. There’s so much that a dedicated kid can learn about horses and riding even with limited opportunities. At this age the focus should be on building a love of the sport so that kids continue seeking out opportunities to learn even more as they grow up and start spending their own money vs quitting in their teens because they can’t afford to be a “real rider” so why bother? I didn’t have access to my own horse or the best programs or much unsupervised barn time as a kid - does that make me a poser too? I’ve set up my whole adult life so I could continue learning and improving as a horseman and rider, but I was really close to throwing in the towel a few times because it just felt so out of reach as a teenager. People like you were a huge part of making me feel like there was no place for me in the sport.
This is a lifelong sport that very few of us will ever even get close to mastering. Having access to a great program and tons of barn time as a kid is great, but NOT having it is hardly a death sentence for her riding life. Suggesting that OP’s kid will never become a “real rider” based solely on what options are realistically available to her family right now is absurd and unhelpful.
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THIS! Not everyone has the opportunity to run wild and play with horses in a non structured environment. I was lucky as hell that my parents took me ONCE a week on Saturdays and then let me go to camps for anywhere from 7 to 30 days out of the summer. I was jumping 2’6 just fine after several years under my belt. Is it ideal? Of course not. It couldn’t be helped. My parents were already driving me 45 minutes each way. 6 years in I was able to get my first horse and really be immersed (again thank you mom and dad) and continue learning every day as an adult. Just because the experience doesn’t match you and your ideals doesn’t mean it is a crap kind of experience and we are just posers and that we are horrid horsepeople. How bratty and catty and that attitude is what turns people away from even trying. Some of us, and our parents, do the best we can with what we can.
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I did the twice-a-week thing as a tween and teen, because that was what my parents could afford. Some weeks I only got my weekly lesson, no trail ride. I had no chance for barn-ratting on other days as there was no safe way for me to get to the barn; it would have been at least 2 hours one way by bicycle, parents were not up for driving me out there more than twice a week etc. This was in the late 1970s/early 1980s.
I did learn a lot, though. Fast forward to 2007, and I had recently taken up riding after a 25 year break. I took lessons at Windrush Farm owned by Marge Kittredge, who in some ways was the inventor of therapeutic riding, and also had adult recreational lessons available. She loved how I did things – to the point where she asked me whether I’d been in Pony Club as a kid. I was so proud! Unfortunately she was really slowing down by that point, so all but 2 of my lessons were with someone else. (To be fair, at the same time I had started riding with a friend who had earned her Pony Club ‘B’ rating, so I was absorbing a lot of the Pony Club Way.)
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Circling back to the beginning of the thread, the OP’s original intention was to get her daughter MORE than 2 days a week of riding (with tacking and untacking/warming up and cooling down factored in).
Then the question arose if the “full lease” would be just 2 days of lessons on the leased horse with shows, or if the full lease would be what we all actually think of as a full lease, and the “only 2 days” was a reference to only 2 days of jumping in lessons (which is pretty standard).
Regarding the quality of the barn, if the full leases they are offering are relatively standard or not is a big question to me, not just in terms of what the OP should do or afford, but also in terms of the legitimacy of the program (no offense OP, so I hope you update us). The commission “finder’s” fee for a horse in the barn sounds weird to me. It also wasn’t specified how long this lease would be.
Regarding what is the ideal way to “do” horses–families usually make do with what’s affordable and available nearby. Maybe 2 hours away there’s a barn that’s more hands-on. Maybe 30 years ago it would be easier to do the A-circuit. But that’s not relevant to the OP right now.
I remember reading an interview with one of the last riders to win the Maclay who wasn’t from big money–Jacob Pope, and he was very open about how he had a number of advantages many other riders didn’t of his income bracket–he kept horses at home (zoning laws) as well as rode at a prep school with a riding program that had an enormous number of horses to school, plus his mom would drive him from Maryland to Heritage in NY on weekends and he did a working studentship at Heritage. This doesn’t take away from his tremendous dedication in getting to be a pro without being a Gates, but I feel some posters are laying it on a bit thick with the OP.
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