Joined
·
890 Posts
You may recall from another posting that I have leased a pony (Haflinger) for my soon-to-be stepdaughter.
Yesterday was the first day since the lease started where she has been able to go with me to the barn for the purposes of riding.
So, essentially, she had her first riding lesson.
Before I go on, let me explain a HUGE constraint between the child/horse.
We only have "C" every Wednesday night and every other weekend. Her Wednesday night card is completely full with her 1st Communion classes. That leaves only Saturday/Sunday for the horse, and ONLY if there are not other family obligations.
So, I can't take her to a professional trainer who specializes in children. There is a woman not so far away, but I can't make the scheduling commitment. Even if this woman would do a "when its convenient" schedule for me, if I take C to a riding lesson, she can't also see the lease pony.
That leaves me to try and impart what I can to her. And, why I am writing this request for recommendations.
So, back to my original point.
Up until yesterday, C's experience in the saddle has been reinless. She has sat in the saddle and held onto the saddle horn or has placed her hands on her thighs.
Her riding style would best be described as "passive." Slumped in the saddle as the horse is haltered led along.
Yesterday, I haltered and bridled the pony. While C was sitting on the horse, I positioned her hands on the reins (two-reins tied together), positioned her arms in the right area, showed her the difference between slack and tight reins, poked her in the appropriate spots to engage her torso.
We spent a few minutes discussing the appropriate way to halt and make turns (pony does not neck rein).
I told her to tap the pony with her heels and click and then I stepped forward (hence so did the pony).
I'm walking around the ring and I look back and OMG!!! :shock:
She has the reins back behind the horn, her hands laying limply against the cantle on the saddle, looking at the ceiling.
So I stop. And I explain gently about the arms, hands, posture.
Proceed forward. Look back. She is DOING IT AGAIN!! this time I remind her.
Long story short (omgoodness, too late I know) she is still looking at things outside the ring. Hands and arms are limp noodles. I tried to coax, remind, and coach for another 10 minutes. As soon as I looked at where I was going, if I looked back at her she was tuned out. She was looking behind her at one point.
So I did the comin' to bejeezus talk about safety. I had the pony do some ground turns (away from me) so C could feel the horse moving in a direction other than forward. I tried to explain how to sit "actively" and be engaged in the saddle. I had her answer questions like what would happen if the pony tripped and you were looking elsewhere? what would you do if the pony shook its head and the reins fell out of your hands?
She could answer each of the questions. She can imagine the consequences would be falling off. Getting hurt. But she had the attention span of a gnat. I came clean with my bareback riding accident and the limp in my leg and how bad it hurt, because I didn't pay attention.
And, because I wasn't getting through to her I was stern.
And of course, she cried, because she is 8 and can't stand to have anyone be critical of her.
After a few tears I convinced her to wipe her eyes or get off the horse. She couldn't do both. Her choice but she couldn't ride and cry because when you are crying you upset the horse but also you are not paying attention to what you are doing.
So, she wiped her eyes, sucked it up, and we carried forward. I was actually able to drape the lead over the pony's neck and C guided her. She positioned the pony so I wasn't crowded against the wall or stepped on (yea!) and was able to start and stop.
Then came the next set of issues. To turn the horse she jerked hard on the appropriate rein and to stop pulled back and kept pulling back after the pony had stopped (which caused its own issues). So we discussed these techniques.
After another 10 minutes I had to stop (my ankle was killing me from walking around the arena for 40 minutes) so I called it a day.
Thank you for reading all the way through!
For the record I did praise her for any improvements over the passive inactive riding style. If her arms were out and engaged and hands actually had the reins firmly, I praised her. I didn't critique her heels or back (that will come). I praised her lots.
So, here is the million dollar question.
How do you train "active" riding rather than passive sitting in the saddle? How do you explain the ability to be soft on the horse but firm? Am I moving her too fast?
On Friday and Sunday she also worked with the horse on ground control. Backing by the halter, repositioning the pony around her. Leading.
Can you recommend a book I can read to help me understand how to break it down to an 8 yr old?
I am disappointed; I gave her books written for junior riders (in young reader's tone) and she doesn't have any interest in reading them. I asked her to practice sitting on a chair to mimic a horse's back and she hasn't done that.
Tweens/Teens: What do you remember about learning to ride? what worked, what did not?
is she just too young?
{oops, timer for the cookies has gone off. brb}
Yesterday was the first day since the lease started where she has been able to go with me to the barn for the purposes of riding.
So, essentially, she had her first riding lesson.
Before I go on, let me explain a HUGE constraint between the child/horse.
We only have "C" every Wednesday night and every other weekend. Her Wednesday night card is completely full with her 1st Communion classes. That leaves only Saturday/Sunday for the horse, and ONLY if there are not other family obligations.
So, I can't take her to a professional trainer who specializes in children. There is a woman not so far away, but I can't make the scheduling commitment. Even if this woman would do a "when its convenient" schedule for me, if I take C to a riding lesson, she can't also see the lease pony.
That leaves me to try and impart what I can to her. And, why I am writing this request for recommendations.
So, back to my original point.
Up until yesterday, C's experience in the saddle has been reinless. She has sat in the saddle and held onto the saddle horn or has placed her hands on her thighs.
Her riding style would best be described as "passive." Slumped in the saddle as the horse is haltered led along.
Yesterday, I haltered and bridled the pony. While C was sitting on the horse, I positioned her hands on the reins (two-reins tied together), positioned her arms in the right area, showed her the difference between slack and tight reins, poked her in the appropriate spots to engage her torso.
We spent a few minutes discussing the appropriate way to halt and make turns (pony does not neck rein).
I told her to tap the pony with her heels and click and then I stepped forward (hence so did the pony).
I'm walking around the ring and I look back and OMG!!! :shock:
She has the reins back behind the horn, her hands laying limply against the cantle on the saddle, looking at the ceiling.
So I stop. And I explain gently about the arms, hands, posture.
Proceed forward. Look back. She is DOING IT AGAIN!! this time I remind her.
Long story short (omgoodness, too late I know) she is still looking at things outside the ring. Hands and arms are limp noodles. I tried to coax, remind, and coach for another 10 minutes. As soon as I looked at where I was going, if I looked back at her she was tuned out. She was looking behind her at one point.
So I did the comin' to bejeezus talk about safety. I had the pony do some ground turns (away from me) so C could feel the horse moving in a direction other than forward. I tried to explain how to sit "actively" and be engaged in the saddle. I had her answer questions like what would happen if the pony tripped and you were looking elsewhere? what would you do if the pony shook its head and the reins fell out of your hands?
She could answer each of the questions. She can imagine the consequences would be falling off. Getting hurt. But she had the attention span of a gnat. I came clean with my bareback riding accident and the limp in my leg and how bad it hurt, because I didn't pay attention.
And, because I wasn't getting through to her I was stern.
After a few tears I convinced her to wipe her eyes or get off the horse. She couldn't do both. Her choice but she couldn't ride and cry because when you are crying you upset the horse but also you are not paying attention to what you are doing.
So, she wiped her eyes, sucked it up, and we carried forward. I was actually able to drape the lead over the pony's neck and C guided her. She positioned the pony so I wasn't crowded against the wall or stepped on (yea!) and was able to start and stop.
Then came the next set of issues. To turn the horse she jerked hard on the appropriate rein and to stop pulled back and kept pulling back after the pony had stopped (which caused its own issues). So we discussed these techniques.
After another 10 minutes I had to stop (my ankle was killing me from walking around the arena for 40 minutes) so I called it a day.
Thank you for reading all the way through!
For the record I did praise her for any improvements over the passive inactive riding style. If her arms were out and engaged and hands actually had the reins firmly, I praised her. I didn't critique her heels or back (that will come). I praised her lots.
So, here is the million dollar question.
How do you train "active" riding rather than passive sitting in the saddle? How do you explain the ability to be soft on the horse but firm? Am I moving her too fast?
On Friday and Sunday she also worked with the horse on ground control. Backing by the halter, repositioning the pony around her. Leading.
Can you recommend a book I can read to help me understand how to break it down to an 8 yr old?
I am disappointed; I gave her books written for junior riders (in young reader's tone) and she doesn't have any interest in reading them. I asked her to practice sitting on a chair to mimic a horse's back and she hasn't done that.
Tweens/Teens: What do you remember about learning to ride? what worked, what did not?
is she just too young?
{oops, timer for the cookies has gone off. brb}