I met with my daughter's phys ed teacher last week for parent-teacher meetings. Very much a jock type, he said she is doing well, but he had some concerns about her "training plan". See, each student has to put together a training plan this year. They set goals that are aligned with a sport they practice. She chose riding, of course. He told me that it doesn't count because it has to have at least 15 minutes of cardio per session, and that in riding, the horse does all the work. Yep, he said that. TO. MY. FACE.
I asked if he had ridden before and he said yes. I asked what height he was jumping. He explained that he had done some trail riding while on vacation. I explained to him that what my daughter -- a competitive show hunter/ jumper who has 8 years of experience riding -- does is quite different. A lesson consist of about 10 minutes warm-up, 30-40 minutes of trot/canter/jump work, then 10 minutes of cool down, and that when she trots, she posts, which means up-down-up-down non-stop for longer than I can go without being out of breath (ok, I'm not in the greatest of shapes, but I'm not terribly out of shape either). He did not appear to believe me and insisted that it was all in the leg, and that it was muscular, not aerobic, since all you have to do is follow the motion of the horse.
So today, my daughter gave him a Christmas card containing a gift certificate for one riding lesson with my daughter's coach at one of her own lessons. I chatted with the coach before arranging it and explained to her why I wanted a beginner to do a lesson in an advanced group (we do not expect him to be able to keep up, but he needs to know how it feels). She agreed (with a big smile on her face) and said worse comes to worse, she'll put him on a lunge line at a trot for 15 minutes on each side. Obviously we don't want anyone to get hurt, but I felt that this is the only way I will convince him. I'm not even doing it just for my daughter, but for every girl who was ever told her sport is not a real sport because "the horse does all the work".
I can't wait to see it!
I asked if he had ridden before and he said yes. I asked what height he was jumping. He explained that he had done some trail riding while on vacation. I explained to him that what my daughter -- a competitive show hunter/ jumper who has 8 years of experience riding -- does is quite different. A lesson consist of about 10 minutes warm-up, 30-40 minutes of trot/canter/jump work, then 10 minutes of cool down, and that when she trots, she posts, which means up-down-up-down non-stop for longer than I can go without being out of breath (ok, I'm not in the greatest of shapes, but I'm not terribly out of shape either). He did not appear to believe me and insisted that it was all in the leg, and that it was muscular, not aerobic, since all you have to do is follow the motion of the horse.
So today, my daughter gave him a Christmas card containing a gift certificate for one riding lesson with my daughter's coach at one of her own lessons. I chatted with the coach before arranging it and explained to her why I wanted a beginner to do a lesson in an advanced group (we do not expect him to be able to keep up, but he needs to know how it feels). She agreed (with a big smile on her face) and said worse comes to worse, she'll put him on a lunge line at a trot for 15 minutes on each side. Obviously we don't want anyone to get hurt, but I felt that this is the only way I will convince him. I'm not even doing it just for my daughter, but for every girl who was ever told her sport is not a real sport because "the horse does all the work".
I can't wait to see it!