Starting riding lessons

[geisha]

I have dd aged 5 years who would like to start riding lessons. I can see from googling that many stables offer beginners lessons from 5 or even 4 years old.

Would you let your child ride at 5 (she is tiny!)?

What age did your child start riding (if they do!)?

I'm a little anxious about the safety aspect of it!

Thanks in advance!

The stables nearest us won't take kids till they're 8 (phew, I'm hoping dd will have grown out of the horsey phase by then). The stables a little further away take them from 4 but I've only told dd stable no. 1's policy ...

My main thought is that riding lessons are incredibly expensive and I'm not sure that my dd would really get enough out of it until she's older and better able to follow instructions. I don't want to be in a rush to offer dd every single experience she could have too soon - if she does still want riding lessons in a couple of years it won't have done her any harm waiting and really wanting it - and maybe she'll appreciate it more (I'm still hoping she'll have forgotten though! )

I suspect 5 year olds would be put on the smallest, most placid animal the riding instructor can lay her hands on so I shouldn't imagine there would be too many safety concerns

hunt around. i've found a stables where at 5/6 they let them help out the older girls, learn about grooming, and get about 10 mins on a pony. they can go occassionally, no commitment to weekly lessons & tend to stop in the winter (we have v cold winters here)
so dd (will be 5.10 by then) is just getting 'acclimatised' over the summer hols, with the idea that she'll start properly next summer, when she'll be almost 7.
she's also tiny & very flighty/bouncy, so i have my fears, but think it'll be good for her to learn.

DD started at 9, obviously first few lessons were with much younger children in beginners groups. However she made so much more progress than the little ones, was in advanced classes keeping up with the teenagers in 18 months or so, out on the cross country course when those that she started with were still on the lead rein.

I'm sure if your 5 year old loves it then you'd consider it £20 well spent each week but this tight yorkshire woman can't really see the point!
As far as I see it if she's tiny then she'll be stuck on a shetland until she's physically big enough to handle a more challenging horse.
Leaving it a couple of years will mean shes stronger and more confident, I also liked that dd was old enough to be a book worm and she devoured anything about horses she could get hands on which improved her knowledge.

Just my 2 cents!

Lessons are very expensive indeed - about £18 for 45 mins. house - you make a good point about how much she will actually benefit from 'lessons' at her current age (and size!)I may wait a year or two. I'm so delighted she has shown an interest in something as she has huge issue with confidence.

dd started at 7 I think

I think the occassional little lesson is more appropriate at 5yrs than embarking on a set of lessons.

My DD was 5 when she started. We only take her once a fortnight. We think it is enough for her (and us too as the stables are quite a distance away). It is an hour session but there are other children there too having lessons - it is a group session. The session is £15 but if she were to go for an individual session it would cost £10 for 30 minutes. She really enjoys it and took to it like a duck to water. She hasn't had many lessons yet and is still being led by someone else but is able to do all the up/down bits during a trot etc. I don't know how I will feel when they let her handle the horse herself. I will probably be very anxious but the girls in charge are very careful about health and safety etc. All the best with whatever you decide.

going to hold fire for a bit i think. if she persists will organise a one-off lesson and see how she goes.Thanks all.

ever so envious here

we all had taster sessions over Easter (8yo, 12yo and dh and me!!!) and I so wish I could afford to give them riding lessons

but I'd have thought waiting a bit is fine though; even my 8yo was struggling a bit to follow instructions (though then he is a bit of a slow developer)

Any stables which offers classes to small children will be trained and qualified in teaching them, so don't worry about that. They will be practiced in explaining things to little ones in a way which will be understood. My mum was a riding instructor, and she let me ride her horse before I could walk. I don't recomend that! But starting young can be fantastic for balance and coordination. My sister let her twins ride age 3 (not at a stables) and they're both loving it and seem to get quite a lot out of it.

Ds (5 end of next month) had his first lesson yesterday. He has been pestering me to try for about a year. £26 for 30 min private lesson [OMG emoticon]. Thought I'd let him try in the expectation that he wouldn't really like it and to also stop the pestering (we see horses being ridden and in fields on the way to school every day).

Unfortunately for me he absolutely loved it. He spent the entire time with biggest grin on his face and listening to the instructions his teacher gave him. By the end of the lesson he was doing sitting trot (on a lunge rein and he had to make the pony go and stop and steer). She also got him to do the usual exercises like round the world. I was hugely impressed albeit a bit worried as to what we do next. I've booked his next lesson for a fortnight as we are busy next weekend. After that I will talk to his instructor and see what she recommends.

Ds has hypermobility so will never be able to fully participate in any contact sports so I'm keen to find an activity that he can do and enjoy.

Should add that we went to a BHS approved stables that advertised doing lots of lessons for children. Quite a few stables round us won't do lessons before they are 7. I think it depends on the child but I know that ds will listen and pay attention to instructions and is pretty sensible.