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

I disagree that, given the right pony, a 5yo can't ride off the lead rein. I certainly was, and in lessons with other people/ponies too. I rode a saintly little pony who did exactly as asked, and had great fun. We weren't jumping though, just w/t/c. I can remember learning to ride at 4yo and having lots of lunge lessons with no reins/stirrups, then stirrups, then reins, then off the lead in a private lesson on an old, slow, saintly pony and then joining group lessons.

I think perhaps if she's ready to ride off-lead, then that's great - but the pony needs to be quiet enough for her to do so.
 
Please be careful you don't push her into doing things that worry her, otherwise she'll soon not want to be involved with horses or ride at all. I have a couple of friends who were too pushy and over enthusiastic with their daughters, and now neither of their little girls ride or want anything to do with horses.
 
It's all relative to the child and the pony to be honest.
When I used to teach, I had some 5 year olds that managed to co-ordinate and were w/t/c easily and I had the next one that didn't quite have the co-ordination and were w/t.

If the child is nervous but the pony is safe, then as long as the child is happy, I will have a long rope and child will do all the steering in walk (or if confident, the rope is taken off with me walking beside). In trot I kept a hold of pony.

My 4 yr old niece is just starting to grasp the co-ordination and until recently sat there, enjoying the ride but unable to steer etc. She is now able to steer successfully in walk and is currently learning rising trot. And it's my 14.2hh that she's riding which is safer than some 10hh ponies that I have seen :)

That sounds like a horrific accident that she witnessed and if I was the instructor, I would have her on the lead-rein for a few lessons, to build her confidence up and then simply stay beside her as a safety net until she gained the confidence to go by herself.

Good luck and I hope her confidence soon returns. x
 
Daisydo said:
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. :(
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Poor little mite :( She must be very brave to get back on after seeing that!

Daisydo said:
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 :(
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You can tell her it's safe untill you are blue in the face- it won't matter a jot.
Leave her on the lead rein for a while,and when her confidence is up a bit get "distracted" and walk by her with the rope over the ponies neck ;)

She is still tiny,and there really is no rush to get off the lead rein.
 
My just turned 8 yr old is back on lead rein after a nasty accident.
Like others have said you can tell her until you are blue in the face...
I'm more than happy for mine to be on lead rein again, its a pain that lots of shows only have LR until rider is 6 but apart from that I'm just glad she got back on.
 
Daisydo said:
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 :(
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how awful for you both to witness
no wonder shes nervous..but im sure within time she'l be back ful of confidence but may take some time
as i said in my first post the ppony that my son was on just out of the blue reared up straight up and over(had daisy reins on,maybe lost her balance or child pulled reins back once up,happened too quick)with son on board...999 was called and a nite in the hospital with brain scan..so yes it was scary to watch as for a mum esp when its your child
and hes got back on but have gone back several steps,LR just w,t...very nervous when pony walks backwards or going back to close a gate
i thought a child has to be 6 years for lessons at a riding school i could be wrong though,theres lots of exercises and games you can do with a young child and pony without cantering and poles/jumping ..
as long as your daughter is enjoying her riding..slowly does it
yes accidents do happen but hopefully not that many and each child is diffent and cope differently
 
haycroft said:
i thought a child has to be 6 years for lessons at a riding school
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It depends on the individual yard, and their insurance. I used to be on a yard who would take from 4 and a 1/2 but only for lead rein potters around the block. Currently work on a much smaller yard where we ideally don't take them till 7 but definitely not under 6, unless again for potters only. This is for our insurance, and we're not large enough to justify higher premiums for the sake of a tiny handful of younger enquiries we get.
 
It is possible for a 5 year old to be able to ride of the lead rein, and weldone her for trying!!

A friends daughter didn't have a single lesson till she was 6 but had been riding from 4 and by the age of 5 she was walk, trot, canter and jumping little X poles! All of which was done on a range of ponies, from a little Shetland to a 12.2hh show pony!!

She was never forced to do anything but wanted to give it a go! Wanted to be like her big Sis (not by blood) spottytb ;)! Some children can do it:)

I applaud your little girl for her efforts and especially after witnessing a bad accident! I'm sure you'll have a smashing little rider there!
 
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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Cedars - you have said before that you are very new to horses and still very much learning, nor are you a mother - how can you possibly dictate to a mother what is safe for her daughter? :mad:

Nobody knows a little girl more than her mother and her mother will know excatly what is right at the time for her (the OP has said she has many years experience).

Lots of good suggestions above already, lead rein round neck, running beside etc - good luck to your daughter Daisydoo :)

My two were poles apart - my son was fearless, would leap on and go full pelt but my daughter was very nervous. My son gave up years ago and my daughter is still nervous! :rolleyes:
 
Again thanks all.

Green berry, it is her own pony and he is normally very good, I think he was just genuinely excited and threw in a couple of cheeky bucks, as ske came down he bounced back up and bounced her off.

I will let her dictate again when she is ready to come off.

Btw this was a pony club lesson and she has been riding since she was 2 .

Thanks again all x
 
I wasn't dictating I was giving an opinion!! And I'm not exactly new to horses anymore I made that comment along time ago..........! I also worked in a riding school for years so am pretty au fait with little kids riding.

Not that I should have to justify my 'qualifications' to you....!
 
Ah it happens, shell get back to her normal self, if she in PC youll probaly have mini camp coming up soon and will get all her confidence back plu some extra!!

To those that say a 5 year old cant ride off a lead and jump thats absolute rubbish, my daughter was jumping courses at 5 all by herself, controlling her pony (a very well behaved one) and remembering the way!!! It obviously does depend on each different partnership though.

The one thing i dont like to see in lessons though is the trotting to the rear of the ride thing, it can make the quietest of ponies get excited. I would much to see riders and ponies go out in pairs, with a slightly older more confident child leading the smaller more nervous riders, definatly works better.

Good luck and think of the extra cakes youll be able to have while shes back on the lead rein, Ive had to cut right down now mines off completly!!!;):)
 
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