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Discuss horse riding and ownership on our Horse forum.

Horse riding progression

7 replies

chicky80 · 01/06/2019 21:44

My daughter is 11 and has been riding since she was 5. She attends a pony club twice a month and takes weekly private lessons. I'm spending quite a bit of money on this hobby of hers although it is her only hobby and she loves it. The issue I have is that I feel I'm paying these half hour private lessons and she doesn't seem to be gaining anything new from it. She loves to jump and is mostly just having a jump off for 30 minutes! Any horsey folk out there what are your thoughts? What can she learn next? Progression? Is it time to loan a pony rather than lessons? Thank you for any ideas 😊

OP posts:
NameChangerAmI · 02/06/2019 08:43

OP, can you clarify what's a "jump off" in the context of a private lesson?

Just asking DH (he's a BHS Stage 4 AP Coach.)

The questions he's asking me to ask you are:

What height is she jumping at?
What type of jumps are they (e.g. cross poles, spreads, doubles, skinnies?)
Has she learned to jump a simple course, of say, 8 jumps?
Does the riding club have outdoor facilities, such as cross country jumps?

floraloctopus · 02/06/2019 08:48

11 is quite young to loan a pony unless you can do all the work, plus she's still growing and you'd outgrow it fairly soon when she has get teenage growth spurt. I'd wait a little and talk to your daughter about what she wants, maybe it's time to find a different school that does hacks and so on.

NameChangerAmI · 02/06/2019 08:56

I forgot to say, if you loan a pony, you will definitely still need lessons, OP, but you probably already know that.

maxelly · 02/06/2019 23:25

Yes, it would be helpful if you can clarify what exactly she's doing in the private lessons, a jump off is usually the tie-breaker at the end of a showjumping competition where riders compete to jump the quickest clear round, so an odd thing to be doing in a private lesson with no-one to compete against! Does she always ride the same pony or is she getting experience with a variety of different ones?

In general terms of progression, I wouldn't be expecting her to jump every lesson even if that's what she likes best, nor is it a race to see how high she can jump, although kids often think it is! The things NameChanger mentions (different kinds of jump, gridwork, short courses) are great ways to improve her jumping. She should also be working on her flatwork and starting to understand how to school the horse and improve its way of going, as well as improve her own position and effectiveness as a rider (both of which will improve her jumping as well!). She could look at the different British Dressage test levels, work out what level she's riding at at the moment for flatwork and ask if she can start to learn some of the exercises from the next level up - ideas to mention to her instructor could be e.g. medium trots, simple changes of canter leads through trot, walk-canter-walk transitions, basic lateral work like leg yields and shoulder ins, all should be achievable by a capable 11 year old on a well schooled pony (whether your riding school has such a pony is another question!) . As she improves she should also have the chance to do some different fun things such as XC, hacking, mounted games etc, not just ride in the arena all the time.

As to how to achieve this, I think more saddle time could well be a good thing for her - she may also start to find the private lessons a little dull. Loaning or buying a pony is of course a way to achieve this but a major commitment that can end up affecting the whole family so really not to be entered into lightly especially as you are not horsey yourself. An 11 year old is not able to take responsibility for the full-time care of an animal so you'd need to pay for full livery or do it yourself. Please don't feel obliged to do this, very many pony mad little girls don't get their own ponies until they are adults but can still have fun and learn!

Some ideas which are a bit less of a commitment: if you can find one, a good group lesson with others of a similar age and ability can be great fun for kids, they usually get an hour for the same price as a private half hour. Does her PC do camp, badges etc, they are a good way to motivate and progress (if not can you ask the leader if they can start?). Some riding schools do a 'share' scheme where the kids can come and ride +look after one of the school ponies a few times a week for a fee (a bit like a lease), which can feel more like having your own without as much commitment! Or finally in a few years she will be old enough to help out at a riding school at a weekend, good way to get horse care experience and often the kids are 'paid' with free or discount riding lessons...

Booboostwo · 04/06/2019 13:34

Riding is the kind of sport where you continue having lessons. Olympic riders have regular lessons because ‘eyes on the ground’ can be a huge help.

However, maybe she has outgrown this riding school? A new riding school may be able to offer new challenges.

What are her goals? Does she want to complete in a discipline? This offers a nice set of structured goals to achieve. Or is she interested in learning to ride many different horses? Or becoming confident out hacking, building up to going on a fun ride?

BlueChampagne · 04/06/2019 13:52

Totally with her on the adrenaline of jumping at that age, but her flat work also needs to progress. This will help her jumping too.

Agree with everyone else that she will continue to need lessons even if she has her own pony. Definitely need to establish goals. Is she doing Pony Club tests and badges?

lastqueenofscotland · 04/06/2019 20:25

She will 100% still need lessons I’ve friends who ride and produce professionally and they have lessons all the time.

What is she learning at the moment and how is she behind where you were expecting?

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