Came of lead rein after her scare and what happened...

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mulledwhine

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After seeing a really nasty accident a few months ago daisy has not wanted to ride on her own anymore.

Tonight was her first proper formal lesson on her pony and the instructor told her she had to ride on her own, that was such an amazing thing that she actually did it.......

Them it came time for her to trot to the back of the ride, at first she was doing really well umtil pony realised that no one was hold him, he got excited and bucked, oh no.

We made her get back on, there was a few tears but she continued.

Bless her she is only 5 but she was brave.
 
Shes only 5, let her go on the lead rein, she has got years ahead of her to be off it.
Its an exceptional pony that will trot around a school with no control at all. Couldn't you walk next to her and hold him when he goes faster than a walk?
 
hope the buck hasnt put her off as she is only 5 ..maybe lead her on a longer rope or walk beside her

little ones just havent the strength if a pony tripped or worst..my son is 8 and yes he can ride off the LR but he also had a nasty accident a few months with a pony reared backwards while he was on top..thank god for his hat
hes back on LR until hes feels comfortable and confident again

theres no rush for kids to come off LR..depending on the pony aswell

yes she was very brave to get back on
 
Clodagh said:
Shes only 5, let her go on the lead rein, she has got years ahead of her to be off it.
Its an exceptional pony that will trot around a school with no control at all. Couldn't you walk next to her and hold him when he goes faster than a walk?
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i agree with this, whats the rush shes only a baby. It seemed every time my eldest daughter got on a pony when she was younger something would happen now she is thirteen and my horse only has to shift her weight and she is petrified Best thing to do is let her take her time and she will move on when she is ready. Good luck and lots of vibes to your daughter:):)
 
She is 5years old ,in a group lesson ,off the lead:(
Most ponies will get a little keen in the trot to the rear type of lesson .She should be on the lead or in one to one lessons at her age IMO.
I hope she hasnt lost her confidence completely.
 
Agree with the others, at 5 yrs old, if she wants to be on the lead rein let her.

I came off an RS horse a few months ago. I got straight back on with no problem (apart from being a bit sore) then had another 2 lessons on the same horse. My nerves and confidence deteriorated, not immediately after but over the period of 2 weeks to the stage that I was petrified of getting on any horse and could barely get out of walk by the final lesson.

I had already bought my mare by the time I realised my confidence was truly shattered.

It's taken weeks with alot of patience from others, riding on the lead rein and I'm finally getting there. Still not fully back to normal, I still ride like a pleb when I first get on but I'm finally loving riding again and laughing as I normally do when things don't go to plan rather than dissolving into a dithering mess.

I'm 40, your daughter is 5, the decision to come of the lead rein was mine, in my own time.
 
After it happened, one of my friends walked next to her just in case.

I would never force her and wanted to put her back on the lead, but was assured all would be ok.

Next time I will just run next to her, although next time is jumping so will have to lead as he is too strong for her on her own.

Thanks for all the replies :)
 
haycroft said:
hope the buck hasnt put her off as she is only 5 ..maybe lead her on a longer rope or walk beside her

little ones just havent the strength if a pony tripped or worst..my son is 8 and yes he can ride off the LR but he also had a nasty accident a few months with a pony reared backwards while he was on top..thank god for his hat
hes back on LR until hes feels comfortable and confident again

theres no rush for kids to come off LR..depending on the pony aswell

yes she was very brave to get back on
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Agreed, with above - with had kids up to 10 or 12 years (depending on experience) on lead rein at pony club, if they were nervous, had a new pony, or disability of some sort, it was agreed better safe than sorry. Not many 4 or 5 year olds not on a lead rein, and when they ask to come off lead rein, that is a good indication they are feeling confident and able to cope.
 
Sometimes instructors push the children too far too soon.....At 5 your child is very young to be told she had to do it on her own. Me-I'd be looking at quality of the instruction. Each kid is different. One of my daughters was nearly 8 before she rode off the lead rein, the other was ready at 6. A lot depends on the pony too.
 
Where I worked it was recommended that children began having lessons from age 7; before this age really they don't have the strength to control properly and learning is limited, pottering around on a lead rein for a half hour hack was fine though. I'm not saying that this would be right for your daughter, but there were valid reasons for waiting until they were a bit bigger and better balanced. Confidence can easily be dented at such a young age and it would be such a shame for this to happen to your daughter.

Personally I'd be keeping her on the lead rein regardless of what the instructor says for her own confidence as well as safety, when your daughter is fed up and asks to come off it is probably a good guide to when she is ready.

Some ponies are completely different off the lead rein too as has been said and although fine for lead rein are not so good for first ridden ponies.
 
It is a big step to go from being on lead rein to going it alone.
Personally I think it is a good idea to take them off the lead rein gradually.By going from being on lead rein, to being on long lead so still on lead rein but with the leader slightly further away and then being on 'assist' so the they have a 'leader' running along side them.
Doing it in steps will help build their confidence up, they will begin to ride independently but also have the security of having a leader there for just in case.
 
My two daughters started riding at 4 and 5. They have just completed their first year, so now 5 and 6. I often feel they are pushed to far to soon, they are often given what I feel are too large ponies for their age and size. The ponies can be quite strong and the girls stand no chance of staying on when the ponies decide to pull or buck.

They also canter over ground poles to learn jumping which I again don't feel they are ready for, and this always ends with a least one child falling in the group lesson. My youngest has fallen off numerous times this year and has now lost her confidence and doesn't want to trot or canter anymore. She is being lead around again and is not taking part in the cantering. I just let them do what they feel happy with, oh and have said to the instructor which ponies I am not happy with them riding!!!.

I don't want them put off riding for life, it should be something they enjoy and take at their own pace.
 
She had bees riding off the lead happily until she saw the horrific accident :(

She has been asking to come off the lead and has done so a couple of times, bur still nervous.

As too a daisy rein, he normally has side reins but as we were in am indoor school, stupidly perhaps, I did not put them on.

So lesson learned for next time, pit side reins on, keep on a long lead until SHE says she wants to come off, and then just run along side.

Such a shame she witnessed this accident, I have never seen the like of it, and was awful for her to witness at such a young age, especially as she had been riding solo for around 6 months before it happened :(

Thanks again for the replies x
 
Quartz said:
the girls stand no chance of staying on when the ponies decide to pull or buck. ...
this always ends with a least one child falling in the group lesson. My youngest has fallen off numerous times this year and has now lost her confidence
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Just picking up on this, not to get at you Quartz! But this always staggers me, when I hear of places or people where it's commonplace for somebody to hit the deck every session. That's just bad tuition, I'm sorry. If you cannot asses the ability of the rider in front of you and chose suitable exercises for them to enjoy and improve then you shouldn't be teaching them, simples. If I have one rider off a month I think I'm having a run of bad luck, one off a lesson I'd have died of blood pressure by now ;) And that doesn't mean I don't let my school kids move out of walk, they certainly do that ;)
 
hope she gets her confidence back, but agree with what others have said.
People have to remember its a hobby for fun ! no point doing it if your scared or its getting dangerous, only takes one funny landing to be very serious- at any speed in any situation.
You wouldnt forgive yourself if she got hurt.

All young kids get scared, they NEED to get scared at some point so they have a sense of reality and stay safe. I always cringe at the overconfident kids at riding schools who have never had a bad fall and think its like a rocking horse (speaking from personal experience! at 7 I decided I could easily fall off without getting hurt and ended up snapping my collar bone..ouch!) soon as they get hurt BAM months of lead rein.

If they want to get off then let them imo; its really shakes little ones up when they realise its not a long safe pony ride; and when theyve calmed down they can get back on and start up slowly, they learn to be better balanced, safer riders who accept the dangers involved and will not be shocked at another fall.

Im 16 and a few weeks back i had a nasty fall after years of not falling off! I was jumping 4ft courses and racing around like an idiot until then and I immediately refused to ride, then got back on in my own time and within a week settled my nerves.

All the best x
 
If it was my daughter I would be changing instructor! If the child was reluctant to come off the lead rein then it would have been wiser to let her do a little walk work off the lead and then put her back on for the faster work. It certainly wasn't a wise decision to ask her to trot to the back of the ride on her own. If for some reason you don't want to/can't change instructor, then I would have a long and honest chat with the instructor about your daughter's confidence issues and how you feel it would be better to take things more gradually.

How does your daughter feel about the forthcoming jumping lesson? If she is nervous at all about it, then it might be better to skip it and just concentrate on building confidence on the flat first.

I've seen so many children lose their confidence badly at this age through being pushed too fast. A little patience now can result in a much more confident and able child in the years to come.
 
The accident was at a show. A rather large horse reared up and went over and landed on it's rider the full length of her body, we all thought she was dead. Horse them when mad and upset a few other horses including my friends quite horse who also reared and got it's leg stuck in a tree.

Lots of screaming, blood, panic, ambulances and ambicopter.

It still makes me run cold, so can't imagine what it must have done to her. :(

So she wanted to go back on the lead so that it would never happen to her, even though no amount of telling her that in my 33 years had never seen anything quite so scary and that hopefully never would again it has still made an impact.

She did need to realise that accidents happen as she was too over confident so such a shame that she had to see it :(
 
My 7 year old is still on the lead rein for most of the time, she rides out on the lead rein when hacking and is happy to ride the last part of the rein but sometimes asks for me to take over again if Shadow is forward going.

In the school I still run alongside :)
 
I disagree with everyone, I would be encouraging her to get back on without the lead rein. Having someone walking nearby is common sense but not holding on-five is plenty old enough for her to be giving the right commands. Particularly as she was very happy before.

Kids fall off all the time, they bounce, pick them back up, dust them off and stick them back on! All this 'they must be on a leadrein til theyre 40' business just makes for nervous kids.
 
Cedars said:
I disagree with everyone, I would be encouraging her to get back on without the lead rein. Having someone walking nearby is common sense but not holding on-five is plenty old enough for her to be giving the right commands. Particularly as she was very happy before.

Kids fall off all the time, they bounce, pick them back up, dust them off and stick them back on! All this 'they must be on a leadrein til theyre 40' business just makes for nervous kids.
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What? I'm sorry but as an instructor I would not teach a 5 year old off the leadrein. They do not have the concept of balance and strength at that age to be able to control a pony safely imo.

What she experiences at this age will be the foundation for her confidence and riding in the years to come. Keep it a positive experience where she finds it fun and not hard work - there is no rush.

As for jumping at that age - both her and the pony will just be pulled and jolted around for no good reason.
 
Cedars said:
I disagree with everyone, I would be encouraging her to get back on without the lead rein. Having someone walking nearby is common sense but not holding on-five is plenty old enough for her to be giving the right commands. Particularly as she was very happy before.

Kids fall off all the time, they bounce, pick them back up, dust them off and stick them back on! All this 'they must be on a leadrein til theyre 40' business just makes for nervous kids.
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Agree with this.... obviously wouldn’t force a child to ride off the lead rein, but I know at that age I was hacking and hunting on a rope - lead by mum from her horse and playing with friends and ponies in the fields most defiantly not on a rope and all the falling off and bouncing's not done me any harm honestly :p
 
I think it's a big ask for a 5 year old to be riding and jumping off the leadrein, she's far too young to be getting scared and worried about what the horse might do.

I can understand it a bit more if it were her own saintly pony and am unsure whether it is and she's at pony club or whether it's at a riding school but at a riding school or PC she shouldn't be feeling pressured. Heck any 5 year old shouldn't be feeling pressured about anything!

I've been giving my almost 5 year old niece 'lessons' in the last few weeks (I use the term lessons in the loosest possible sense!) and they have consisted of nice short walks and a few paces of trot on the leadrein, I am going to wait until she is well balanced and eager to get off the leadrein to do much more with her.
Children do alot of 'growing' between the ages of 5 and 7 so there is a huge difference between what a 5 year old and a 7 year old is capable of.

Good luck with her, if I were you I'd maybe change instructors.
 
I agree that children are pushed too much at a young age - there will always be the exception of a super confident child on the right pony - but I just dont think young children are strong enough in the leg to be in control of a pony.

I have two daughters of eight and ten, they have been riding since they could sit up, but are not highly competitive. They have both had a couple of scary falls (may I add they have also had horrible falls off quad bikes:eek:) I would not describe either of them as brave but there comes a point when they naturally push themselves to the next stage.

I can completely understand your daughter being upset after her scare - I would not hesitate putting either of my daughters on a lead rein at any time if it gave them confidence x
 
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