Hi,
My daughter has been obsessed with horses since she could say the word. She's young, age 6, but I found a woman who gives lessons and so we started her up about 6 months ago. She goes once a week and there's only her and another little girl in that lesson, so she gets a lot of personalized instruction. Well Allie fell off her horse last week and got a pretty nasty scrape inside her ear. I guess the horse decided to trot too close to a tree and she got caught in some branches. Thank goodness for helmets, because her helmet was scraped up pretty badly as well.... Anyhow... I spend the next day or so kind of shooken up wondering how safe this type of riding is. And what types of injuries might she possibly encounter. I'm a strong believer in letting her make some choices and helping her follow her dreams of riding. I guess my questions are the following:
1. Is 6 too young to start riding?
2. What life lessons will learning to ride a horse give her?
3. How do I emphasize safety to her and the instructor without being too alarmist?
Thanks for letting me vent and for possibly answering my Q's. I really want her to understand that riding horses is not easy, but that she can get a thrill by the challenge. Spending time at the barn has made me realize how special these animals are and I can understand why people fall in love with the sport.
My daughter has been obsessed with horses since she could say the word. She's young, age 6, but I found a woman who gives lessons and so we started her up about 6 months ago. She goes once a week and there's only her and another little girl in that lesson, so she gets a lot of personalized instruction. Well Allie fell off her horse last week and got a pretty nasty scrape inside her ear. I guess the horse decided to trot too close to a tree and she got caught in some branches. Thank goodness for helmets, because her helmet was scraped up pretty badly as well.... Anyhow... I spend the next day or so kind of shooken up wondering how safe this type of riding is. And what types of injuries might she possibly encounter. I'm a strong believer in letting her make some choices and helping her follow her dreams of riding. I guess my questions are the following:
1. Is 6 too young to start riding?
2. What life lessons will learning to ride a horse give her?
3. How do I emphasize safety to her and the instructor without being too alarmist?
Thanks for letting me vent and for possibly answering my Q's. I really want her to understand that riding horses is not easy, but that she can get a thrill by the challenge. Spending time at the barn has made me realize how special these animals are and I can understand why people fall in love with the sport.