D of E Expedition on horseback

[Just2MoreSeasons]

Hi,

My daughter who usually is less than interested at trying new things has expressed an interest in doing her Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award next year- but wants to do the expedition in horseback.

I should add I'm not a rider and neither do we own a horse. My daughter has been having lessons for around 7 years and when I checked on line it seems she has all of the skills she needs to do it already (the only one she needs to practice is opening and closing a farm gate without dismounting- but she has a whole year to sort that).

Does anyone know how we would go about sorting it? Any riding centres that offer it? Approximate cost of loaning a horse for the weekend and paying for the supervision (I'm guessing it's eye wateringly expensive but we have a year to save and I'd love to make it happen if we could).

I'd really like to set expectations early on if this just isn't practically possible.

Thanks for any advice or tips in advance.

(Not related to D of E) Have you looked into a pony share arrangement?

From a DofE perspective it's allowed at all levels subject to group size and supervision etc.

In practice it's going to be really hard to arrange and very costly unless she's either at an Uber posh school with it's own stables or there are group within her year at school who could do it together and split the cost of a supervisor.

An alternative option (and carrot) might be to look at one of the organised expeds for gold if she completes bronze and silver another way, and to use the riding lessons as either a skill, a physical activity, or possibly even some horse related volunteering e.g. supporting pony club or disabled riding lesson.

It's brilliant she's enjoying it so much, riding and being around horses in general is great for confidence IMO so she should def keep it up, horsey kids make friends who are often saner/nicer/more chilled than the cliquey friendship groups in school and also the sport itself teaches loads of other valuable life lessons/skills, resilience, leadership, learning from/bouncing back from failures and mistakes, patience, the value of hard graft... the good news is that while I'm all too familiar with that feeling of pressure to get them their own (but Mum everrryoonnnne else has their own pony!!!!), they can get all this (potentially even more so) without having their own and from doing all the ancillary horsey stuff like volunteering to help out on the yard, leading the younger kids and helping to teach them, sharing a pony, riding school mini competitions, doing pony club or BHS progressive tests (there are PC centres now specifically for kids without their own ponies). And like others say, maybe even if she can't do her bronze expedition on horseback she could quite likely still incorporate riding into the award through the community service or skills based parts so hopefully she wouldn't be too discouraged?

Freerein is the only company I know that does unacompanied trails - not DoE but if you wanted an experience for her I can 100% recommend. www.free-rein.co.uk/

It's a great introduction to long days in the saddle :)

You have all been BRILLIANT. Honestly, thanks so much everyone. So much to take in and digest here 'I'm going to print off and highlight!!

No - she doesn't go to an uber posh school - local state comp - but I know of at least 6 or more other riders in her year group.

She rides and hacks out and did help on the yard. There's a lot of politics at the yard though with a huge amount of the owners family running it. It would be pretty difficult for an adult to manage all the fallings out etc but its more so for a child. She got cold feet about helping after doing it for a few months and I thought I'd leave the decision to her. They also work her really hard - and whilst im not adverse to her doing some hard work (and learning thats it not all fun being around ponies) they didn't really take care of her basic needs on a few occassions I felt. I wish there were another yard we could try but Ive yet to find one.

And YES to getting her to do the Bronze expedition on foot and working her way up to doing one on horseback when shes showed more commitment.

As for a pony share -sigh. I know she'd love this. But we are rural in pretty, touristy countryside. The land is very expensive so we couldn't keep a horse nearby, which means driving, which means ME putting in all those hours to look after pony. As much as I want it for her, I really don't want it for me. I feel a bit shitty about this to to be honest. I just say for her to do well at school, buy your own horse one day. I don't know. She's a good kid, but I do believe that she has pretty much all she desires except this one thing, and waiting isn't the end of the world. Hopefully she will be patient and the prize will be all the sweeter.

@Just2MoreSeasons it does them no harm to have to wait. I've got a horse, my DD rides and is in pony club but she still hasn't got her own pony as the money and time commitment is horrendous (don't have own land so pay livery). She would love one but I've said when she is earning her own money she can see if she can afford one. Due to being in pony club she doesn't miss out on anything and having to ride a wide variety of different horses at the (excellent) riding school will hopefully make her a better rider.
Horses are a luxury especially in the current climate. Would highly recommend you see if there is a pony club centre near you as they do all the PC badges/training and comps but you don't have to have your own horse.

Thanks- thats another lovely reply (you're all very nice here!)

Although my dd is 13- she's in ladies clothes and looks more like she's 16. My memory of pony club (from when she went for a short while when much younger) is that there's a lot of 8-10 year olds. Dd would be mortified to be seen among them
I must reach out though and see what else is around. They do don't pony club at her yard but they do have occasional competitions in the summer she's done before.

I'm dreaming of her finding a new (rich) horsey friend at school who needs help with her horse on the friends land with a friendly mum to boot!! It would solve a fair number of issues!! 😂

@Just2MoreSeasons pony club goes up to at least 21 and there are lots of older girls in pony clubs. They do tend to monopolise the competition teams but that hasn't deterred my DD. In addition she has made a great friendship group there, they do the exams together and are earmarked to become stable girls at the yard once they reach 13.
Knowing horsey people unfortunately I think your dream scenario could turn into a nightmare pretty quickly 🙈 we are a strange lot and relying on other people's good graces often end I'm disaster.

Pony club actually goes up to 25 - my dd is 20
and still a member although she doesn’t compete for her branch any more as she’s too busy with affiliated eventing and showjumping. She’s now finishing off her last couple of pony club tests which are very well regarded in equestrian circles, but several of her friends from pony club still compete for the branch and love it.

I understand your reluctance to take on any more driving but most shares are 2 days a week - riding twice a week would do wonders for her riding if she’s just having weekly lessons and there would probably be a less toxic atmosphere 🤞🏻

@Pleasedontdothat yeh I knew it was early tp mid 20s but couldn't remember the exact cut off.

I'm dreaming of her finding a new (rich) horsey friend at school who needs help with her horse on the friends land with a friendly mum to boot!! It would solve a fair number of issues!! 😂

Tbf I’m on the other end of this - looking for a competent older teenager to help with my daughter’s competition horse, and I just can’t seem to find anyone willing and capable. The last girl went to uni and is sorely missed. There are lots of lovely ponies and horses out there that need sharers, but as with anything involving a living animal they need regular commitment. It’s not much more than the commitment to drive around that a parent would have to make if their child was involved in a team sport though. When you live rurally, driving the kids places is part of the deal!

Re DoE Bronze on horseback, I would say DD has the skills and the means to do the expedition on horseback. She has extensive experience doing self-supported multi-day rides with me, we have all the lightweight equipment, and is (without stretching the truth) a world-class navigator. But it was still too difficult to organise.

A much better suggestion would be to do the expedition on foot like most kids do, and to nominate horse-riding as the physical activity instead. It would still require a minimum level of riding time. Horse care can be done as a skill. There is plenty of opportunity to involve horses in DoE Bronze, but the expedition is a really hard area to incorporate them even for the knowledgeable.

WRT Pony Club, DD is 15 and not in any of the teams, she has decided there is not much there for her at our branch. Among the older kids competing seems to be the main focus. DD does compete, but not in a PC discipline, so she is not part of the cliques. She finds herself in much happier company at the local riding club, but for that you have to bring your own (or borrowed) horse along with you.

There are several riding centres in the Highlands which do long distance rides that I know sometimes do overnight camps.
Highland Horse Fun is one.
I'll have to look for the others.

Highland Trekking and Trail Riding
Highlands Unbridled
I have either been out with them myself or know someone who has and can recommend them.
The two in this post are particularly spectacular and you should take at look at their Facebook pages just for the lovely photos of nothing else.