5 y o dd1 just conned me into letting her start riding lessons. What do I need to know?

[SheSellsSeashellsByTheSeashore]

She told me she was feeling sad. I asked what would stop her feeling sad. Did she want new games on her ds? No she will be sad forever.

Afte a while she declared if she went horse riding she might not feel so sad.

So how much will it cost? Can she just turn up as she is? Will she need special shoes/clothes? Is sh atually old enough? What in particular do I need to look for in a riding school?

We both need something to take our minds off what is going on. So I think starting lessons soon would be a good idea.

Start saving up now!

She doesn't need special clothes at first, although some schools don't lend hats, so you might need to buy one (make sure you get it properly fitted by someone who knows what they are doing - a badly fitted hat is worse than useless!) A pair of very cheap riding gloves if you're starting in the cold and wet. Strong shoes with a little heel will do.

Depending where you live, lessons cost from about £12 to about £25 for a 30-45 minute group lesson. She may be happy with a walk out to start with, which may be cheaper.

Look for cheerful looking people, happy looking horses, a neat (ish) yard, a teacher who is properly qualified (ask) and insured (ask) and who isn't a Saturday girl. Maybe ask around at school for a recommendation?

Good luck!

Echo Seeker's thoughts about what you are looking for - a happy, relaxed, tidyish yard and a teacher who has good rapport with the children, makes you fill in some sort of insurance form, and is qualified. Hoardes of little girls in immaculate riding gear is a bad sign, IMHO. Loan of hats and some knowledge of fitting them would be a good sign that they don't expect you to be made of money.

According to a recent thread the price of lessons can vary hugely.

any strong shoes/wellies with a heel will do fine - leggings also fine to start with - her own hat and some cheap jodphurs if she looks like she will persist with it (how tall is she - I have a very battered but warm pair which DS has grown out which you could have FFP?)

Apparently there is only one riding school in our town. So limitd on choice.

I have just rang and the lady sounded lovely and explained everything. They are insured to teach riders from age 4 and loan hats.

She will need comfy clothes and rain mac if it's wet, but they do have an indoor area if the weather is too bad.

They teach in age groups aswell as ability, so she wil be with children aged 4-9 who are begginers.

She will also need wellies/boots with a small heel. Which she doesn't have, so a trip to the shoe shop is called for methinks.

She starts on Sunday and it will be £10 for half an hour, so fairly cheap then?

DH will kill me, but she is going to have so much to deal with soon I think it will be good for her to have something new to look forward to.

Sheis 3ft7 Stealth. This is going to cost me afortune isn't it? She was meant to have one dace class a week for fun. She now dances four hours a week and has comps at Easter. DD1 doesn't do things for fun. She throws herself into everything headfirst and becomes obbsessive. Sometimes I wish I had normal child who is happy to lounge infront iof the tv but I guess it is good that she is active

£10 for half an hour sounds good.

Would she be interested in very battered (with a couple of holes which I have sewn up)navy blue jodphurs (they might be a bit long for her and would do nothing to delight a girly heart?) You are v. welcome but may well find you can get second hand ones locally in better nick

Brace yourself for the cost of a hat. You won't see much change from £50.

What size feet has she? We've got a lot of different sized jodhpur boot lying around.

We pay £21 for an hour. Which I think is quite reasonable. Usually in an outdoor or indoor arena, or for a hack.

She borrows a hat from the stable. She has boots (£24), jodhpurs (£25 ish) and riding gloves (1.99). She just wears a gilet over a sweatshirt.

Yes she is old enough. At our stables they start from about 4 depending on size.

Take out a second mortgage

She will love it

She will get covered in dirt / hay / horse poo

It is the start of a lifetime love affair

Hope she enjoys it and it doesn't break the bank for you lol you might find yourself becoming a horsy parent..be aware that this means eeeeeeeeeaaaaaarly starts, horse poo, money (lots of) ditto patience and ........ more money

I hope not Bluesapphire. I have a slight fear of horses. Taking her pony riding was bad enough.

She is size ten feet. She is v girly and unfortunately for me and my bank balance has a thing about navy. She won't wear anything navy or brown. Black is okay but not navy.

I'm not sure how she would feel about getting dirty. She hates her clothes being messed. But I will take her and see how she feels about it.

Ask around - I am sure someone will have girly jodphurs - as with all children's clothes they grow out of them faster (generally) than they wear them out.

I'm just wondering why you need to enter in to something so expensive just because she is feeling sad? Sorry if I'm being a bit negative but it is evidently very expensive and you said she does dancing aswell, would it not be better to address why she is feeling sad. Your OP suggests that your approach to her feeling sad was to offer her more DS games which isn't really a solution to sadness - you do say that you have something going on but is riding really going to solve this problem? Just a question really - if it will solve the problem and you can afford it then no worries.

Bother, shesells - none that small!

I know why she is feeling sad cluttered and nothing can really solve it. But having something to look forward too might help ease it a bit for her. Or least take her mind off it for that 30 mins.

T'is okay seeker. I will buy her some wellies. They are not that expensive and she seems to like wellies.

I can afford it so long as I am not having to pay it all out at once. Plus the school I phoned said all she will need for now is decent wellies and her £10 class fee which I can easily afford.

She has everything she needs for dancing atm so that is not costing much. She might need a new dress for her comps but with the amount of different coloured shoes she has accquired this year we should be fine on that score. And her dance school normally sell costumes at cost price where they can.

I can understand this so well, She Shells. Have been very tempted to let dd start riding to take her mind off things which also cannot be solved. Unfortunately, we can't afford it and haven't got the transport but otherwise I would.

She'll have to cope with the dirt though. Might actually be good for her to find that many girls her age are quite happy to spend their spare time shovelling shit.