My toddler turns 3 in January. When is the ideal time to start riding lessons AND what do those very early lessons look like, if a kid is say, 3-5?
I already had a pony when I was a fetus, but my parents didn’t start formal lessons until I was 6/7. I had a decent foundation from my mom’s at-home teaching and have only vague memories of those early instruction years.
I think the answer to that question depends on what you want your kid to get out of the lessons.
A tiny little one is not really going to learn to ride much. They will like (or not like) their time on the horse, they can learn to balance on a moving object, etc.
I know some people literally Velcro 4 year olds on, but it makes my spine pucker watching! I started kiddo just sitting on in front of me for fun at 2, at 4 he could focus maybe 10 mins on a lunge on a very good pony, trotting, kinda getting the hang of posting but mostly giggling. He did have a tumble at this age, wasn’t hurt, but was pretty dramatic about it. Took a week to get back on.
At 6 he was able to focus on listening well enough to warrant actual lessons.
I need to get her on the path to winning all of the Big EQ finals. I’m going to be the Richard Williams of the equestrian world.
Totally kidding. She loves animals and I like that it would be a shared interest between the two of us. I also see it as an excuse for me to get back to the barn regularly.
For most people, 6 is usually a decent starting point I think, but there’s a lot of individuality based on the kid.
I found this - they’re some decent questions to start asking yourself
Very interesting. Just based on that graphic, a 3 year old would have to lug the equivalent of their body weight 40 yards! Seems to bear out that 6+ is the age when they actually ride. Anything I’ve seen younger than that, including some pretty impressive barrel racing, jumping etc, is putting an awful lot of faith into saint-like ponies and horses.
I think if money is not an issue and you can find a very safe program, it doesn’t hurt to start them pretty young. They might not really learn a lot just walking around at the age of 3-4, but they can still have fun and get comfortable around the horses/ponies.
It’s probably not realistic to expect them to do much more than stroll around until they are maybe 5-6, although I’m sure there are exceptions.
The biggest thing is finding a safe situation so they don’t have a bad experience and get scared off forever.
When they have some control
Over their bodies and can/will follow simple instructions
My first concern is the safety of the child. Others can speak more to positive experiences and confidence building.
The child needs to be strong enough to control the horse’s head and neck. Or a pony, if that is the size.
I know of children’s riding programs that expect riders to be able to control horses that don’t take children younger than 11 because before then they just aren’t strong enough, in the experience of those instructors.
When younger children ride, there is more longe-line and lead time as they learn and gain strength.
Also consider – Whatever size equine is used as the starter mount, unless the child is being held on board, some day there will be a fall from that height. Even with a helmet, what are the consequences to the child? It’s horses. Falling is inevitable, although hopefully rare. We hope a very small child will bounce, but who knows. A pony is closer to the ground than a horse.
Certainly plenty of young children ride ponies and horses. But “ride” can be a flexible term. If strength and control are issues, a lead rope or longe may have an adult on the other end. Child is still riding and learning body position, the horse’s motion, posting, even cantering. And as much steering as they can do.
Another factor to consider is an enclosed riding space, such as an arena with a closed gate. I cannot tell you how fast even a copacetic schoolie learns to dodge out of that gate when a child is on board who isn’t strong enough to haul him back onto the line of travel. Horses and ponies will take children across the ring to the gate. So a smaller arena is also a better place to ride, even with the gate closed, just to reduce the area of control. Open spaces with no fences are even worse, nothing to stop the horse from heading to the barn.
A local riding school just had a serious accident with a 6-yo child when the instructor did not close the arena gate. The first time the horse took the child rider out of the arena, the instructor shouted and insisted the child ride him back in, which eventually she did. The second time (a few minutes later) the horse left the arena at a canter - the child had never cantered before. Horse cantered down the paddock lane to its own place and slammed on the brakes, unloading the child into the fence. I don’t know the exact injuries, but the child was in the hospital for several days before she was walking again. Child does not want to ride a horse again, and I don’t blame her.
Make it a rule for your child’s riding: If a young-child-on-equine is in an arena and not on a line, close the gate !!! Make that non-negotiable for any child who doesn’t have the strength to stop a recalcitrant horse.
Close the gate even with a child on a longe-line circle, because some horses will drag a longe line out of the gate.
And horses don’t tell you ahead of time “today is the first day I’m heading out the gate!” lol
The answer is “how long is a piece of string?”.
What are they interested in?
My oldest loved coming to the barn with me when he was 2…so at that age, he stood on a step stool and brushed my saint of a TB, did some leadlining with a friend’s pony and got in front of me for walk abouts. As he got older, he would ‘ride’ while I lead and we walked all over. He didn’t have lessons until he was older and expressed interest.
That was super entertaining! Lol.
I don’t remember if I could carry 20-25 pounds for 40 yards when I started to ride as a kid. Maybe? 
I’m pretty sure I recognize the last picture from an absolutely hilarious video of an extremely saintly pony. The access to a saintly pony is really the keystone to the whole project!
Edited to add the video of the priceless pony in question:
Actually, that’s a pretty good rule for everybody. Because… horses.
I find that most do better about seven or eight at the earliest. I have the rare riders at four that really want to learn but I caution parents that it will mostly be leadline lessons until they are at least through kindergarten, sometimes longer depending on the child.
Makes me think that another readiness criteria is sense of humor because ponies. 
So many important safety points in your post.
Local barn oiwner/trainer’s 4 yr old son suffered a severe, life-altering head injury when he was climbing the gate to the indoor and slipped and fell. His mother just a few yards away and watching him out of the corner of her eye.
At our barn NO child grooms or tacks up without a helmet. While we are tall or quick enough to dodge a simple fly kick, they are not.
The lessons depend on the kid. At one barn we had a new rule, No Cantering Until You are Three, because the trainer’s kid was barreling around on her saintly Shetland. Other kids even at age ten had the attention span of a gnat.
My sister and I were queens of the lead line class with our kids when they were ages 3-6. All of the kids enjoyed “pony rides” at that age.
But, actual riding? Real riding lessons? That depends on the individual kid, but realistically, 7-8 is about the youngest for that.
One word of advice. My sister put a lot of pressure on her kids, and later her grandkids, to love horses and love riding and be just as obsessed as she and I were. I believe that is the main reason why all but one of them pretty much refused to learn to ride and most wanted absolutely nothing to do with horses at all. The one that did ride did it mostly because she had a strong desire to make her mother happy and she stopped riding at some point in high school.
One of my barn buddies started her baby girl with horses as a toddler. She has an older saint of a mare that used to be hot but has stepped down a lot. The girl was riding indepently in the arena by the time she was 4 and at 5 or 6 goes on short trail rides in the adjacent park with her mom on a borrowed horse. No technical lessons and I don’t think she’s cantered much or at all because mare is really walk trot now. But kid looks very good very secure and very happy. She also does barn chores that are within her scope.
The ponies also need a sense of humor!
Lol when I learned to ride, I rode western - I was definitely carrying 20-25lbs for 40 yards! Granted, I was also 9 haha
Dad is putting pressure on her not to ride (he understands the economics, thinks it’s too much risk, is a city slicker, etc.). Obviously, this is going to backfire on him.
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