DH and I have no children (by choice) but I have several lovely nieces- I would so love for one of them to take an interest in riding. Oldest niece (turning 10 soon) is horse crazy but her mom, my SIL, won’t let her ride. I preface this by saying, I understand completely that the choice is up to her mother and I do not push in anyway. SIL thinks horses are dangerous and is a bit of a germ-a-phobe, so to her the barn is gross. And here I have 5 horses, one of which is the most perfect beginner/lesson pony ever. Like I said, I don’t push, don’t even bring it up at all- SIL knows there is a standing invitation anytime for niece to come to the barn with me, but it still makes me a bit sad not to be able to share the horse experience with my niece 
That is sad. Maybe when she is older, a teen or pre teen, and stress how you would follow safety rules, helmet etc.
If Mom never lets her ride when she turns 18 she is free to do what she wants so hopefully you can help her then.
Sounds like my niece and my BIL. Not that he thought that horses were germy, but a total waste of $$$.
Well guess what she got for her 12th b-day? Riding lessons from Granny. They’ve never looked back, and now my BIL helps out with taking logs to the barn so the kids can jump them, watching my niece at the local (and not so local) shows, and working on the lights on MY trailer so my sister can take a bunch of the coach’s horses to a big show next weekend where my niece will be showing (maybe on my own horse, even) 
So don’t give up hope yet!
Well, I gave birth to my own bouncing baby boy, and he finds horses b.o.r.i.n.g., something only a very boring very old mom would have any interest in.
So you never know.
My son does not like horses at all.
Thankfully my granddaughter - his daughter - is horse crazy! She turns 10 next month.
Hope your SIL changes her mind…
Same story
I have the same problem. I have 2 nieces that I would love to share my love of horses with, but Dad is very anti horse. He had the fortune/misfortune of being given ornery horses and no training when he was a kid and therefore had a less than stellar experience with them. I know his misgivings come from not wanting the girls to get hurt, but I wish I could show him that there are safe ways to engage with horses. (of course those times that I’ve had falls do little to enforce that) He did consent to one of them getting lessons on our barns resident packer, but before she came out he told her “don’t go behind a horse it will kick you”, in a way that made her afraid. sigh She does love the horses, but seeing that seed of fear he put in place makes me sad.
I can’t believe any of my nephews and nieces don’t like horses, but they don’t. And my son lost the little interest he had years ago, no desire to be around them at all.
sniff. What really surprised me is that a friend mine’s 10 year old daughter has absolutely no interest in horses – what 10 year old girl doesn’t like horses, even a little? Mind boggling.
Good luck. As was mentioned, maybe when they are older and can make more independent choices.
My niece loves horses and took some lessons when she was little. But she is so allergic to everything else in the barn (hay, etc.) that she had to stop. It’s sad, but at least she got sit on the pony that taught my sister and me how to ride before he was gone.
