First Lesson for DD today and I not sure what I am expected to do..HELP!

[iwanttobelola]

Hi , have finally managed to find a slot for DD (8yrs) to do her first Pony Riding lesson after school today, she is looking forward to it and I presumed I would merely be taking her and watching, however one of the school mums says that in a Lead Rein class (this is described as a Beginners Lead Rein Class on the website) I will be expected to holding the lead rein (?) and helping DD out .. I know less than nothing about ponies and riding so please excuse my ignorance ..is this right? (thought I'd ask here before ringng stables and appearing dim) ....

I think that different schools do different things - some have a small horde of child 'helpers' who hang around and do stablework for free rides and who would normally lead the kids around. Some schools don't have this set up or it's during school hours so need parents to help out.

You honestly need no particular skills or knowledge for this though - the ponies will have done it all before and know exactly what to do when.

All you need to do is wear something like wellies that you can walk comfortably in and get dirty, a few layers to keep you warm but can strip off if you get sweaty and probably a coat that you don't mind pony slobber on. DO NOT put any treats in your pockets or they'll sniff them out and harass you for them!

The teacher will tell you what to do but the basics are:

• hold the lead rope loosely in two hands - one hand about 10 inches from the ponies head, the other hand nearer the loose end of the rope so there is a no rope on the floor to step on.
• Its normally easiest to lead a pony around with you on the inside of the circle and the pony with its head level with your shoulder. Little ponies have little legs so you might find you are walking fairly quickly but match your pace to the pony.
• if the instructor asks you to 'change the rein' it means to cross over the middle of the arena and start walking around in the opposite direction. When you do this, you would want to swap sides so you are still on the inside of the circle.

If your DC is a bit wobbly and uncertain, you could put a hand on their thigh while you walk, just to give a bit of support but best to avoid unless absolutely necessary.

Hope your DD has a great time!

Oh and don't wrap the rope around your hand - in the hugely unlikely incident of a pony pulling back away from you, it would break your hand if you did this. If you hold the rope loosely in your hands like you would a hose pipe, then if the horse did pull back you can keep hold / let go without getting hurt.

This won't happen though, riding school ponies are nearly always fantastically well behaved and more like little plodding donkeys really.

thank you for the advice When I booked her in the lady didn't mention anything about needing me there so we shall see .... DD is looking forward to it although she is very shy, hopefully this will help give her a bit of confidence !

MY DD has been over the years at 3 schools, never once was I the parent expected to lead the horse. I doubt they have insurance to cover the 'parent helper' as they are not a rider.

I sometimes help at my yard/school. There is a knack to leading and I would not have anyone not used to horses leading my horse or my kid.
If they expected you to lead they would have discussed boots and gloves with you surely.

LasVegas I thought they would have mentioned it too , she did tell me what to dress DD in so thought she would have said then "make sure you come dressed to do ...." but then not knowing anything about it did wonder if it was the 'norm' and therefore not mentioned ..if you see what I mean ?

The main reason I was asking is that I am going straight from school (DD getting changed in car) and will have other DD & DS with me so was worried that if I was involved in the actual lesson that they would be unsupervised/in the way ...have roped in a childsitter now just in case !

you must say that you know nothing
Ok most of the other mum want to be near the ponies, so must so that they make there child ride.

Ring them

Well we have been and I was involved in leading the Pony but they did explain what to do etc and apologised for not forewarning me, they do have 'helpers' that do this instead of parents for the Saturday lessons but they are fully booked at the moment... so for the moment it looks like I'll be doing a weekly trot around the arena

did you enjoy it?

I did actually ..everyone was friendly and DD loved it (even though the pony took a shine to my jumper )

yes horse snot is lovely