Starting kids in a lifetime of horses.

[anon40672407]

Just what the topic says. I’m about to introduce my 6 year old granddaughter to (I don’t know if I hope for this or not) a lifetime of horses.

Pro: I very much enjoyed my lifetime of horses, and I think it was good for my daughters, too. It teaches good skills.

Cons: Expense, and she could get herself killed.

I know how I’d approaching it, given the situation we find ourselves in (I no longer own a horse, nor do I have horse property) which is quite different than how I imagined doing it.

But I thought I’d toss this out there for comments and advice from others about what they did, didn’t do, wouldn’t recommend doing, etc.

[Scribbler]

My parents put me on a leadline pony ride at a country fair at the age of 5.

From then on, I was desperate for a horse, and finally got one at 14.

One of the things I’ve always loved about horses was the autonomy and independence, plus having the interaction with an animal on and off the ground.
There weren’t a lot of intelligent adults around, but by the time I was 14, I was able to figure things out and teach myself how to ride with help from other kids.

When I look at kids today getting into riding, it all seems so much more oversupervised and limited, like taking skating lessons at an indoor rink once a week compared to having a pond out behind the house.

I would say, at her age, maybe start by finding a pony situation where you can lead line, let her groom and handle pony, and get comfortable around a pony before you start going for actual lessons. Make the pony time fun. If the pony is in a private or semi-private situation where you can lead it in a field, and let her interact with it safely without being surrounded by impatient dressage queens in an adult training barn, so much the better!

then when she has some balance and can walk/trot in hand and seems to enjoy being with horses, you can find a good riding lesson program for her age group.

Ideally, not lesson horse that are balky and cranky and that will teach her bad habits of kicking a pulling.

[clanter]

When our kids were old enough we bought some Morgan horses which we used in various competitions. The youth program is possibly one of the best, several other breed associations model their youth programs after it (also certain lower levels of the 4-H Equine program use it). Our youngest was four when she started showing and she was hooked from the first class

There are many free beginner activities you can download from the AMHA site

http://www.morganhorse.com/youth/activities/

[candyappy]

My kids had a pony since my oldest was about 3. It was a great way that I could spend time with them , introduce them to what I loved and they enjoyed the time we spent together. We kept them at home and I would lead them through the fields while they took turns riding.

If you have no horses or a place to keep one maybe get her signed up for lessons or maybe a kids horse camp for a week to see if she likes it. Make sure it is very low key and not a showing type environment. Just fun.

[Mango20]

Once she’s got a solid walk/trot, sign her up for Pony Club. My son joined at age 7 and one of the first things he said about it was “Pony Club makes riding more fun”. It was his first chance to ride and socialize with a group of other kids his own age. The friendships he has made have been great. Having friends a year or two older and/or a level or two ahead has been a huge motivator for him to learn more and work hard to move up the levels himself. I don’t think he would have gotten as far as he is without Pony Club and peers keeping him on track.

[IronwoodFarm]

I would not go into it expecting a lifetime involvement. That’s asking a great deal. I definitely see giving a child an opportunity to have access to a horse and participate at the level he/she wants, but I would be careful about wanting a lifetime commitment.

I think a lifetime commitment is rare. The people I grew up with in a very horsecentric setting have moved on over time. Some still have horses, but others do not. Some were like me and stopped owning as young adults and returned to it when middle-aged.

I’ve taught lots of children and fousnd that most of them, even the most enthusiastic ones, will not be lifelong horse owners or riders. It doesn’t mean they won’t enjoy horses and have an interest in things horse related, but they will have other interests.

I would say offer, not push. Let her take lessons and see if she really likes it. See how it goes from there.

I totally agree that it is wonderful to have a child enthusiastic about horses. I went through this with IF Jr but unless he gets a girlfriend who loves horses, he will not be involved with them when I am gone. He is quite skilled with horses, but it is not his cup of tea. I came from non-horse parents, so it comes as no surprise to me that I would have a non-horse son.

[pezk]

Ironwood Farm gives you good advice. Dont go into this expecting a lifetime involvement with horses, no matter how talented a rider the child seems to be. Find a great lesson barn that deals with young children. Watch some lessons, meet the instructors. Make sure it isnt just about riding. Horse care should be part of the lesson too.
But dont be surprised if the child finds another love. When my daughter was little she was raised around horses. She loved them as pets but was never fond of riding, even though she was a natural. At around 8 or 10 she wanted to take figure skating lessons. She never looked back. No matter how much you love horses, your granddaughter may or may not. Dont take it personally. We cant make our kids love what we love. We are all different.

[clanter]

IF Jr but unless he gets a girlfriend who loves horses, he will not be involved with them when I am gone.

our youngest son was the least interested in the horses, but he learned to ride and be comfortable around the stock, never anything beyond that but he has used his horse knowledge/abilities to farther his career in a completely unrelated profession.

[anon40672407]

I should focus my personal advice-seeking just a bit (though I intentionally left this open ended to hear the broader strokes of what folks might want to talk about):

I’m a true believer in Pony Club. But I also think there’s a very big difference between being ready to join a pony club versus not. I don’t think you can buy a pony and wham, go to pony club the next day and expect things to work out. You have to have a little bit of mucking about in pastures first, and braiding yarn into manes. There has to be an introduction of some kind.

Harder to do without a patient (carrot-loving) pony in the back yard.

So my focus is a little dialed down from “what program should I pick?” I’ll be ready with the program when (if) she is ready. I’m asking a touch more about that intro period.

[Hulk]

Lifetime in horses, depends on the kid. Best advice here is, Pony Club, 4H, pony camps, proper instruction, internships, shadowing at a vets, etc. For us the program was education as much as we possibly could. Golly I have to say its been a wild and wonderful ride. Good luck and tons of fun in your adventures.

[IronwoodFarm]

Clanter, I completely agree with you that horses teach valuable and transferable skills. IF Jr. definitely has some good problem solving skills based on his mother having anywhere from 12- 20 horses around at any given time. I just know that when his father and I are gone, he’s likely to keep the farm but there won’t be any horses on it. I’m okay with that.

Of course if I can arrange a marriage via COTH, there might be hope for him.

[HungarianHippo]

Excellent advice above that you can’t declare that she’s starting a lifetime of horses and design an experience around that. It’s like taking a 2y/o who’s never been saddled and declaring exactly what his career will be. It will happen or not, and it will happen incrementally. All you can design is her next week or month around horses.

The vision you have about how to get started comes from having daily/frequent access to a backyard that contains a 4-legged saint. Can you make that happen? If not, I think an up-down lesson program is the next most realistic option, and maybe you could negotiate with the instructor for some extra unstructured horse time with you supervising.

[accidental_buckaroo]

Lucky kid to have you as gm. Enjoy the journey. Even if it doesn’t “take” early, you will have given a foundation to which she may return later. You are good gramma.

[Guilherme]

Find a good quality, professional instructor that works with kids her age and sign 'em up. Just like you might do for gymnastics or martial arts or soccer or music lessons or whatever.

We did that for our kids and it worked for several years, before they decided they wanted to do other things. We offered to pay for our grand daughter but she just wasn’t interested. The offer still stands and she’s still not interested.

Good luck in kindling that fire.

G.

[Belmont]

I am the child that was started, due to my mothers love of horses. I have posted about my experiences as a horse child before (even finding some people that helped me with riding at such a young age).

I was put into lessons at three. I was jumping cross-rails (every once in a while) at four.

My mother was extremely supportive of my riding, and I also worked for it as well once I was old enough. The expense was rough, and I didn’t have luxurious things. However, I survived, rode on the local circuit and even did some bigger shows as I was able to help pay (while being a WS and such). It’s an incredible experience!

[RPM]

Did you think about the Cons you listed when it was your own daughters?

I would do what I did years ago for a young relative with non-horsey parents and grandparents (who were clueless but well-heeled) –

I would call my local tack shop if it was a good one and ask the owner/manager for recommendations about local lesson barns.
I would visit those barns, watch at least one or two lessons, talk with the BO and BM and trainer, and make lots of mental notes. I might take a lesson myself if I were up to it and could afford to.
I would take the child to a horse show. Not necessarily “invite” her, but drive her past one I knew was in session and say Oh cool I love horse shows, let’s stop and watch! And I would observe her reaction. Kids can get bored and envious watching other people ride so I wouldn’t expect to stay longer than she wanted to.

Now I would probably pick a dressage barn if there were a good one near us, because dressage gives you a good basis for any type of riding you want to continue with. But at the time I started with a local saddle-seat barn because it was great, had been around forever, had good lesson horses, and was one of the most child-and-family-friendly barns in the area. Sometimes I still wish we’d stayed there. And good h-j barn would be good IMO too. In my area I would probably not start with a western barn, simply because in this area western barns are not always about horsemanship. But there are some good ones, and if there were one, I would include it in my barn visits. But IME it is better to start off with one of the “English-saddle” disciplines and then move to western if you want to. But I don’t live out west.

[poltroon]

I think one of the keys to a program that kids will stick with is a good string of solid lesson horses and a thriving program such that she’ll have a handful of peers at every lesson that become friends, or at least friendly. The social aspect - which can grow into showing or games or other fun stuff together - is a substantial part of what makes horses fun for kids. Few will stick with it if there are no other kids riding with them.

A large, thriving lesson program will have terrific knowledge of its horses and steady work for them, plus lots of other kids for those activities.

[ecpolo]

Finding a great instructor is key. I am extremely lucky that a saint of a girl who can wrangle my 4 year old and her pony will come out to the barn a few times a week and mess around with them for an hour so I can ride my own horses. Having patience and genuine love for children is a must for the younger kids instructors. We do all sorts of fun things, sometimes I join the lessons on my own horses and it’s so fun.

If your own daughters aren’t currently riding I would take into consideration the huge amount of time it takes to drive to the barn and do all the things that small children lessons entail. I know if I was not riding as well it might be a bit of a hard sell as far as time commitments are concerned.

Sometimes I worry that I am “pushing” it on my daughter but she really does love it. Of course she’s 4 so there are days when she says she doesn’t want to ride while we are on the way to the barn. I tell her that just like any other activity, we fulfill our commitments and go to scheduled lessons and if we decide not to continue after that we can stop. Of course every time we are on the way home she’s raving about how she can canter for one circle on the lunge line.

I will say that having her own pony has had a huge impact on the whole thing. I always make sure to involve her in as much of the “care” aspect of the horses as possible, so she can understand what a big deal it is to have a horse. Her pony lives with my little herd so it’s really cute to go out and give them all a treat. I think at such a young age, having a personal horse or at least always riding the same horse in lessons would be a big help. The attachment is huge. My daughter calls her pony her “baby girl” and it’s so cute.

[Pennywell_Bay]

You have her try it like any other sport. She may stick with it, she may not.

[CFFarm]

In my family of many who were exposed to horses only two of us were born with the “horse gene” and have spent our lives with them.