Horse riding - is it a good thing to do?

[donnie]

dd1 ( nearly 7 ) has expressed an interest and there are liveries/stables near us. It is pricey but, cost aside, what would people say is good about it?

TIA.

yes, the danger aspect is clearly a serious consideration, but dd is quite daring and athletic so i think we will go for it, at least for a while. Thanks, everyone.

the danger is part of the thrill.

just get her a proper fitting hat. and some steel toe cap wellies if she's going to be doing any sort of stable work.

if she's going to be jumping she may also be givin a loan of a back protector from stables

It's dangerous and expensive - but i've ridden for 40 years, I ride every day and I love it, adore it, am not human without it and am permanently broke. My parents always hoped it would be a passing phase

We sent DD on a 'kill or cure' pony trekking PGL holiday when she was 9. She'd never really ridden but had insisted for months she wanted to go on this particular holiday, even though she wouldn't know anyone there. I thought that much quiet, firm insistence in a 9yo was quite impressive so we agreed she could go.

Very expensive it's turned out to be too. But we've met some lovely families and she has a lot of fun. She plans to be an equine vet. Whatever her future holds, I've suggested she pick a career option that will mean she can afford her own horse and stables

£23 for an hour here.

Dd1 is also planning to try for a well-paid job so she can afford a horse. She was 12 last week and one of her fave presetns is a stable with schleich model horses.

I am so not horsey.

LOL at how many non-horsey parents have kids that love horses.

Does anyone know why there seem to be so many more girls attracted to horse riding than boys. It doesn't seem a particularly girly thing to me? Am I missing something?

My dd has been to pony club quite a few times this summer. Cost is £30 from 10am to 4pm and includes a ride at 11am, horse grooming and tack cleaning, lunch, another ride at 2.30 then some more cleaning and grooming.

She absolutely loves it and is teaching me everything a townie doesn't know about horseys

Haven't noticed any snobbery where we are - maybe that comes when you start going to events and stuff.

I have heard that it is very very competitive though, with your archtypical "pushy parent".

Buy her one of those £299 "living" horses instead, much less expense in the long run, no muck and highly unlikely to injure her.

(I broke my spine in 2 places in a riding accident, I am no longer a fan).

It's good exercise, fresh air and ....erm.... don't know. Oh yes it's fun! Also a very convenient way of getring rid of those pesky left over tenners that are such a nuisance.

Thankfully we have a lovely stables nearby with the most down-to-earth owner. Takes no sh*t from posh horsey people. Sent one packing the other week because she complained her dd didn't get the horse she wanted.

I know quite a few horsey polo chaps, they are yummy. I loved riding when I was younger and would love to take it up again, it can be an excellent distraction from boys/binge drinking etc.

Re the girl bias, name - dh thinks horse riding is rather perverse and that grown women get some sort of sexual satisfaction from it .

Girls, for some reason, have a tendency to get fixated on teh beasts

Pros- good exercise, teaches balance and coordination.
an element of risk- a pro imo, kids are too swaddled up!
a bit of dirt- also a pro!
can be expensive though
Try equestrian vaulting, less pricy, can make rapid progress ie cantering within a couple of sessions for some kids, is a fast devolopping sport in this country so opportunity to get onto teams and get to national level possible after not as many years as some sports. See british equestrian vaulting website (just google)

A friend of mine once said she hopes her daughter's obsession with horses lasts into her teens - if she's at the stables, then she's not hanging around street corners/shopping centres/god knows where else/spending hours on the phone or on bebo .

I think you get some pushy parents in every sport.

£16 for an hour and a half here [smug]

LOL, Roskva, that's exactly what my dh says.

I rode (and still do when I can) and so do my dds.

It is a good form of exercise (not just the actual riding, but also the walking up to the field, mucking out, etc etc.). I like the fact that you don't have to be sporty in the conventional sense to be good at it. I'm a pretty decent rider, but have poor coordination and have never knowingly caught or hit a ball in my life. I like that it encourages children to be out in all weathers (this may be seen as a con if you're the sort of parent who doesn't like her children to get wet/muddy!) and that it teaches them about caring for living things. There are all sorts of different things you can do once you've mastered the basics... from just hacking out and enjoying the countryside, to the exciting (but slightly scarty) stuff like cross-country/jumping/[drag-]hunting, to the discipline of dressage, etc etc etc.

It can be dangerous. Ensure that you go to an approved yard (BHS or ABRS or both). Get a hat and back protector to the latest British safety standard, wear proper footwear (not wellies) and tie long hair back (I used to be made to wear a very attractive hair net... haven't noticed people doing this any more these days!). None of these precautions will make it 100% safe. Horses are big and strong and can be unpredictable. There's an element of risk in just being alive, though, isn't there?

scarty??? That was meant to be 'scary', obviously.

Agree that it's expensive, btw. But imo it's worth it. I'd rather have an old 2nd-hand car (e.g.) and allow my dds to ride. But each family has to do those sorts of calculations for itself.

My oldest daughter used to horse ride until it got to the pint where she wanted to compete and we can't afford a horse and she didn't want to lend one form teh stables so she quit.Its a very very expensive hobby! But I think you either lovce horse or hate them.She loves them and vows to return when she is older and can afford to pay herself!

I can't contribute to this thread. The "horsey" riding is totally different from what it is here in the states.
In Texas many children follow the western horse history with rodeo training. The danger element is there and dismounting is taught off a bronc, not a competition horse.
I grew up around horses, learned to ride (western style, not English saddle) so I'm sure the view of a horse as a hobby isn't the same.
Is the permanent spreading typical of the saddle? Western saddles don't do that but we aren't taught to bounce in the saddle either.

God, it's the best thing ever

I have ridden since I was 5 and still love it, makes me totally happy

I loved it too, since I was 4. My two daughters though don't share the same interests. They tend to follow their father and have taken to martial arts.
I can't get him on a horse now. He has never been and thinks I'm crazy to want to get so close to a large animal let alone mount and ride it.