Gymnastics or horse riding?

[toddlerinterests]

My 3 year old DD has recently shown an interest in both gymnastics, ever since she watched it on the Olympics and was transfixed. She's been trying to copy the moves ever since and enthusiastically says "mummy I do nastics, watch me!" . I plan to take her to gymnastics toddler taster classes as she can't join properly until shes 4 next year anyway.

However she also seems to love horses, as we discovered recently. She had her first pony ride a few weeks back and we both agreed we've never seen her smile and giggle as much. Immediately afterwards she was saying "again!"

Partner and I aren't in agreement about which activity to hone her interest in on a more permanent basis - I think gymnastics is the way to go, I'm of the view that this is likely to be cheaper and safer. Partner thinks horse riding during to how she reacted when she rode on the pony (however she hasn't tried gymnastics as yet so we don't know how she'd take to that). I'd like to have one or the other as a regular weekly activity for her, if that makes sense.

Also, I'm aware that she might grow up to hate both 😂 But I'd like to at least try and hone her interest in one or the other from a young age. Any thoughts on which way to go?

Particularly interested to hear from parents whose children have done / currently do one or the other!

Sorry I forgot to say, she loves dancing and is such an active little girl. Constantly dancing singing and twirling about the place 😂 so this is also what is tipping me towards "nastics" 😅

My DD does gymnastics, football and has a pony.

Definitely do gymnastics as a first choice. Cheaper, warmer, safer and more opportunity to make friends.

Could she do gymnastics as a regular hobby, and the occasional horse riding session (maybe one or two times a year) as a treat?

Gymnastics has a life span whereas horse riding is a hobby that you can continue lifelong. Yes it's expensive but it is also very good for mental health as well as physical health.

I guess it depends what your finances are like, and how much time and effort you are willing to commit to her hobby in future. If she really gets into horse riding a lesson a week won't be enough. She will eventually want her own horse. Horses are a lifestyle rather than just a hobby. It can be massively rewarding though. If you are OK with that, and time and money allows personally I would encourage her to give both a go, and see how she gets on.

Maybe explore the cost of horse riding.. Your dh will be speeding to the gym store for a leotard....

She's 3.
Over the next few years try her at gym, swimming, riding, swimming, football, park run. Try an instrument or two. A craft activity, cookery club. Guides/scouts.
Please don't limit her to just t trying out two activities!

I did both gymnastics and horse riding as a child, both become extremely hard work once you've been doing them from a little while.

Horse riding - pros, outside/fresh air, builds sense of responsibility, build closeness with nature/animals.

Cons, extremely expensive once you've moved out of just buying a hat and riding someone else's pony on a lunge around the yard. Responsibility is very high, I remember shovelling horse shit on cold and dark mornings before school when I was about 11, even with thermals and gloves I couldn't feel my hands, and they'd crack and bleed from the cold air and hard work.

Gymnastics - pros, excellent exercise, really good fun in the early stages, lots of different options depending on what she likes/her skills.

Cons, grows to be very competitive, big focus on body shape/size, I was 12 when I was deigned 'too plump', I was 5ft 2 and around 7 stone and extremely fit.

In short - both are fun in the early stages, both require dedication and hard work once you get past a certain point. Both can be dangerous if done improperly.

But horse riding has more longevity, I could still jump on a horse and have a quick canter (mid-40's, bit chubby, unfit) whereas I would surely die if I tried any gymnastics.

Sorry for the essay!

Neither: if she loves to dance then get her into dance lessons. It's much more sustainable into later life - most gymnasts give up in their teens. Yes, many dancers do too but there are more opportunities to dance for just the pleasure of it rather than either getting to a really high standard or dropping out as in gymnastics.

My daughter does both. Unless you’re horsey and plan to eventually buy a pony (as that will inevitably be what she will plead for), I’d probably stick with gymnastics. You’ll also save a fortune.

🤣

@Alevelnamechange
No need to apologise for the essay! That's all extremely helpful, thank you ☺️

At 3 she should be exposed to and try as many activities as possible, don't even think about honing down for years yet.

Gymnastics after recreation level (potentially from 5/6) will eat into family time massively if she goes the competition route, as does dance of she doesn't go the competition route and doesn't train daily she won't progress as strength and flexibility needs working on consistently other sports like swimming don't start to take up significant time until they hit around 10 and move into the squad

She should be able to try lots of different things and each will lend transferable skills to the next activity.

As an example DD did:
Mummy and me ballet from 18 months
Ballet, tap, modern, acro,singing, drama, street (all at the same dance school) - 4 to 8
After school multisports club - 5 to 10
Swimming lessons (swimming, diving, synchro and rookies lifeguarding) to competitive squad - 7 to 11 years
Bushcraft outward bound club - 6 to 10
Recreational tennis 10-11
Drum lessons at school 11
Christmas gift block of Horse riding lessons at 11
Rugby 11- now (15)

I'm sure we've probably trialled some others along the way, my point is you don't need to choose at 3 what so does for the rest of her life. Let her try what she's interested in and move on.

She's not there yet but before going down any serious route think carefully about the expense both financial and in time and particularly if she has siblings.

She already does swimming and has since she was 6 weeks old - not proper lessons obviously, just the baby / toddler ones. So I will be keeping her in those as that's such an important life skill. But yes take your point about not limiting her!

A lifelong love of animals builds resilience and positive mental health.
Horses are more about developing caring & nurturing skills rather than just a sport as the ponies welfare always needs to come above the riders.
Horsemanship teaches far more skills & develops resilience, patience, commitment etc.

Gymnastics is cheaper, safer & much easier. No standing around in rain, mud etc but the competition circuit is brutal if they end up being good at it.

So, I'm not personally a horsey person at all and we certainly wouldn't have the finances to buy a horse for her - not at the moment anyway. So I'm leaning towards gymnastics or when dance as someone suggested.

Very good point aboht the competitive aspect of gymnastics and the pressure to be "slim" etc. I don't want her feeling that at a young age. But I guess as a dancer she'd likely have similar pressures? Lots to consider.

Swimming opens up
Watersports - paddle boarding/canoe /kayak
Synchro
Diving
Rookies lifeguard
Polo
Underwater hockey

Dance / gymnastics opens up
Cheerleading
Synchro
Musical theatre
Acro
Circus skills hoops/silks
Rock climbing

Horse riding

• various horse events
• care for animals

It's not all or nothing.
In terms of body positivity dance/gym and swimming all can lead to issues although you are a long way off that don't borrow worry from the future. I've found girls rugby fantastic from that point of view though as every size and shape has a job - the small and gazelle like who are fab runners and take off with the ball down the field, the strong and stocky who can have three or 4 girls hanging off them before being taken to the floor - every body type is celebrated. Minis rugby is non contact and mixed until 11.

Dts did gymnastics and switched to horses. They weren't good enough to progress at gymnastics - started late because of covid and were fed up with being in with the younger kids.

They are utterly obsessed with horses / riding. They are at the yard from 9-6 Saturday and Sunday and have. A lesson after school on Tuesday. At the weekends they work exchange for free rides. They have loads of friends down there. They are lucky this place seems to have avoided the bitchyness that can happen.

Now looking into a loan for them.

They did ballet for a while that definitely wasn't for them. They also did rainbows / brownies and guides until the unit closed.

She'll know when she finds the thing she wants to do.

Horses every time.

Gymnastics is such a toxic sport. Horses are an activity where men and women are equal.

Complete biased as I am a horse person.

@Cobblersorchard
Can I ask what you feel is toxic about gymnastics? I don't know much about it so would be useful to hear.

@toddlerinterests serious dancers and gymnasts van be treated much older than they are particularly when competing, Dance Moms maybe dramatised but there definitely can be an element of that show amongst some parents and coaches.

BUT, that is years from where you are now. Tumble tots, learning to forward roll, walking on a balance beam and jumping in a foam pit are all good skills and fun.

DS (aged 5) has done both, as well as quite a few others. Honestly I'd go for gymnastics and see how it goes.

For us, I try and expose DS to as many groups/activities as possible, and we naturally weed out the ones he's not enjoying as much. I think that's a good learning opportunity as well, to discuss favourites and learn to prioritise.

We did dance, swimming and scouts (started at beavers) as the hobbies that stuck for many years. My DH is 6'2 and I'm 5'11, we had this idea DD would be too tall for a gymnast, so never bothered. She tried martial arts, cricket and netball but she didn't stick at them.

She enjoyed dance but quit when she went to secondary. She still does swimming, and is still in Scouts. Now aged 12.

DD would loved to have tried horses but the bank balance didn't stretch that far.