Children and Ponies thoughts?

anadain

anadain

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 June 2010
Messages
119
Location
Northumberland
Visit site
Do you have children that ride? What age did thay start? Any hints/tips?

My 3 year old has her own 11.2 pony who she adores - I take her out on a lead rein and lunge (only walk and trot) and it scares the pants off me! She keep asking to go faster - got more guts than her mother!:D

picture.php
 
oh bless her that is such a cute picture!!!!!!!!!! i cant really advise - my daughter was 12 when she started but i would say you are doign all you can to keep her safe - if pony is ona lead rope in a soft sand school i dont see any harm in a little canter?????
 
My daughter has been on and around mine since before she could walk, she seems to have claimed my dales as her own and shes only 22months!!
 
....oh and I'd also be intrested in any hints or tips thanks, and anadain what a lovely little pony you have there :)
 
i have three children, the oldest is seven she started when she was four, she loves it we got our first pony when she was five. At that point the other two started riding then then four months later we got a second pony we now have six ponies/ horses, they do all the work for them. My older little girl is very good she loves dressage her last test she 59.9 so i was very pleased she came 7th out of 16 women. One thing i would say is let them go at there pace my middle child is less able than the older one so we do the level she is able to do. Most of all it has to be fun good luck
 
My younger girls were 3 and 1 with their first pony and like yours did a bit of walk and trot. We then brought a wonderful fell when my eldest daughter was 13 and my other girls were 6 and 4. He is pretty forward and can get strong so my middle daughter has been riding him on the lunge until about 3 months ago(she is now 10) when we finally took the plunge and let her off. No stopping her now she conquered her first clearound last weekend. Bugbee717 makes a very good point that you have to take into account the childs progression and personality. My youngest daughter is as tough as they come but my middle one's confidence could be easily shaken. Good luck with your little jockey she looks adorable on her little grey pony.
 
my wee sister got her first pony at the age of four and has now turned six and is walking, trotting and cantering happily out on a hack off the lead rein, along side the stupid horse that is taz, as there are times she has to go up front if taz wont go past something thats scary, and she will pop the odd log out on a hack too.

it all depends how the child is, personally if she wants to do a wee bit more theres nothing wrong with it as your taking it at her pace, rather than pushing her into doing things she doesnt want to do, thats how we done it will molly, and she wants to go hunting in the winter :O
 
What a lovely picture! My girls have sat up on my 15hh cob since they were old enough to sit upright. My eldest used to work her in the school, off the leading rein, at seven years old. Both children learned to ride on her. Yes, she was huge, but she was a gentle old soul and I trusted her completly. Eldest now has a real Thelwell pony who manages to catapualt her between her ears at least once a month, while youngest has the loan of a shetland. My five year old is getting to grips with inside and outside rein/leg and her circles and transistions. I agree with other posters, let them determine the pace and keep it fun! Youngest is a lazy devil but she gets a demonic look in her eye if she competes while the eldest is a worrier who gets sick to her stomach at the thought of making a mistake in front of other people. But it is a great childhood for them both - I worry too and non horsey people have told me I am irresponsible for letting them ride but they love it and their ponies so much. One thing that has really helped my kids is being involved in Pony Club and being based at a PC centre. They mix with kids their own age and they all learn and support each other. Its very, very frustrating for little ones to watch older riders cantering about on gleaming 16h sports horses and then struggle to get a trot out of the hairy RS ponies! They take a lot of comfort in being in the same boat with others.
 
I have a 2 yr old little boy who is mad keen and insists on coming up infront of me on my horse although would love to ride alone ( which at the moment I cant let him do )and as we are moving to a house with our own land I am looking for a pony for him/companion for my horse. It is just so difficult finding something you can trust with your child. My horse is fab - so calm and gentle with him but horse is 17hh so I am not really comfortable with him riding on him as which ever way you look at it, it is a long way down. I just cant decide whether to get a tiny - eg shetland or something a bit bigger so he wont outgrow it too quicky - it is not like he can mount from the ground anyway lol! Any advice?
 
My 18 month old is already sitting on... (Had to wait til his head was big enough for a hat...) We kinda hold him on but he loves it!

Vx
 
I'd proceed with care, when my daughter was 7 she was the same, wanted to go faster, faster (did Junior Camp, local shows, gymkhana etc) and then one day we had a spooking incident and she had a nasty fall - put her off for over a year, wouldn't ride, gave up loan pony. Now at 9 she has just started riding again but is quite nervous where she was fearless before and we are still having to stay on lead rope in trot in the manege as she hasn't the confidence to do it by herself - one very tired mum after a lesson with all that running!
 
Thank you all for your comments. Tinker is a real sweetie an old pro he has COPD and is "aged" but we still thought he was worth buying! He works great on a lunge with voice commands so I'm very lucky! My heart is in my mouth when she rides and my biggest concern is that she falls off and gets a fright. I really don't want to put her off as she enjoys it so much but I also don't want her rushing ahead! She shouts faster faster when she is riding! I want her to enjoy riding and the company of a pony without too much worry over schooling etc -however I have been considering pc for her.

We did have a miniature horse (it wasn't broken for riding but let her sit and be lead around) as she is so tall she was already outgrowing the mini at 3 - hence the 11.2 hopefully she will be on him for a while! If not we will cross that brige later but Tinker is here to stay he is such a character:D

She thinks she is going to ride my 16.1 next- shes already been on his back - god help me I am such a scaredy cat! :eek:
 
ceiron said:
dont kids hips not settle til 4 hence why most riding schools wont accept under 4 s as you can cause irrepairable damage to their hips before that age .....
Click to expand...

Is that right? I had not heard of that, I have been riding since I was 2 and have seriously knackered hips. Interesting........
 
my little girl is coming up 5 next week and has 2 ponys, 1 is a lead rien 10.2 and one is a 11hh aged gelding that she rides everywhere, she can walk, trot and canter off the lead rein and has just started riding my 14.2 cob in walk and trot, she has had her lead rein since her second birthday, i usually let her control her own speed on them altho my heart is in my mouth when she canters up the field,i wont let her hack alone tho i either walk along side or i have her on the lead rein off my cob,
 
I don't think that for the 10 minutes that my little boy sits on a pony that he is going to do 'irreparable damage' - he and thousands of children before him have sat on rocking horses for longer than that and they don't have a health warning ? Maybe if you did it for hours at a time etc but at his age he cant do anything for hours - apart from sleep ;)
 
My little girl will be 6 next week and has been riding since she was 3. She could ride better then, than she can now. This is mainly due to her having a couple of bad falls which has completely shaken her confidence. After the fist bad fall, she had private lessons in a riding school for 6 months as she was so shaken she wouldn't ride her own pany. This worked really well at getting her confidence back, until she went into group lessons. The lessons descended into complete chaos one week and she lost her nerve again (so did several of the other children and they had to cancel the class). She then refused to ride at the riding school, but is now back to riding her own pony. She had a really bad fall last week, but jumped straight back on... this is a huge improvement. Only time will tell how this all pans out and whether she will continue riding.
(Before anyone jumps on me... I'm not pushing her to ride... she absolutely adores her pony and is brilliant with her on the ground. We have said she doesn't have to ride if she doesn't want to. It's her own determination that keeps her pushing thru and makes her carry on).
Guess what I'm trying to say is it very much depends on the child and on what experiences they may have. As has been said by a couple of other mums, a fall may slow them down and then you may have to start from the bottom again. My heart is in my mouth when I watch her ride, but I admire her determination and guts as I'm not sure that I would keep going.
 
I'm 44. I started riding when I was 2 (on a donkey!) moved onto my own pony at 5 and I don't have hip problems. My daughter started at 4 (only because I didn't have the time before that to take her). IMO it helps improve balance and co-ordination.
BTW I think your pony is sooo cute!
 
My daughter is now 13, but had her first sits on a pony at about two, but these were very intermittent and only when she asked to do it. When she was about 4 or 5 she started doing a little more - learning to rise to the trot and doing fun handy pony stuff in the field. After that she went to the local riding school and had weekly lessons til age 9 when we got her a pony of her own.

She is still very keen now, and I think much of that is because she didn't do too much too young. I think the biggest mistake parents make is letting riding get too serious too quickly. It is great to let tinies get their balance sitting on a pony and to learn to love and respect but not fear ponies, but too much in the way of 'proper' tuition and lead-rein shows every weekend at a young age can result in riding becoming boring and children losing interest.

I know so many children who were out at the lead rein shows on a regular basis at an early age who have either lost interest entirely or have to be bribed to compete by their parents!
 
I agree,with all the comments and love your pony and daughter picture BTW, my daughter sat on my own horse at only few months old and has always been around them, she was riding an 11hh welshie very similar looking to yours from aged 2.5, he was so cute but a little devil though and when she wanted to ride off lead rein aged 5ish, my heart was in my mouth a lot of the time, especially trying to canter on him, we did not have a school at the time, so, me and OH used to stand one end of a field each and get her to canter between us, so one of us could "catch" her and pony if he decided to tank off with her...LOL .
she did lose interest for a while, mainly i think, as I always had to drag her down the yard when doing my own horse everyday.....anyway she is now 11 and has had current pony for 4 years, he hasnt been an easy pony (comes from rescue home)but, she loves him to pieces and they have come on leaps and bounds over the last year, i guess what I am trying to say is let them go at their own pace and enjoy it, it is all too easy to get caught up in getting them to do everything "properly" ( i still find myself nagging her when we are hacking out about her seat and aids etc..)but, i do try really hard to let her find her own way, as long as pony and she are safe and happy, of course! .have fun, they grow up so quickly!
 
I was on a pony in a basket saddle as a baby, then onto a shetland cross as a 2 year old. I was cantering at 3.5 albeit holding onto the donkey saddle handle that I used to have, not the reins. The pony was a gem, and would work loose on voice commands. I don't remember falling off til I was about 6 and wanted to jump a log inthe woods which was probably much bigger than poor pony could manage!

The canters only happened about once a week. I practiced things like steering and stopping other times (so I'm told, can;t really remember it!)

Never got bored, lost interest or had bad hips!

Lovely pic and your daughter looks a nice size on her pony - not like she's about to fly off.

Maybe your first canter could be onthe lead rein?
 
I can offer a few tips for teaching a child to canter, as an instructor/mother and been-there got the t-shirt brigade.

I wouldn't try on the lunge, due to the centrifugal force effect - ie child tends to get thrown to the outside and can easily slip off the saddle, plus the sheer excitement of cantering can be enough to make a pony buck a little, no matter how saintly he is especially if you need to flick the whip.

So for the first few goes in canter I would run in a straight line, with the pony on a lead rein and one eye (and if possible one hand) on the child. Maybe practice cantering in hand with the pony first, so he understands what is required.

If you have anywhere to hack that has a little hill, that is even better, because the hardest part of learning to canter is when the pony drops suddenly back into trot, and the child continues in canter mode and lands painfully on the pommel or neck (or floor) - seen it done a hundred times! Going uphill helps to keep the pony's head up when you drop back to trot and creates a natural slowing down, but you have to be fairly fit (although a few strides is all you want at first).

If the child is younger, I tend to get them to hold on with one hand, just a few fingers under the pommel helps, or even use a neck strap. Trot to canter is easy, it's the canter to trot which is tricky. Once you have managed that, you will probably be ok to canter on a lunge but again, try it first just to be safe - as everyone has said, most children are very brave until they have a nasty fall, and then confidence can be quite elusive.
 
Llewelyn said:
I can offer a few tips for teaching a child to canter, as an instructor/mother and been-there got the t-shirt brigade.

I wouldn't try on the lunge, due to the centrifugal force effect - ie child tends to get thrown to the outside and can easily slip off the saddle, plus the sheer excitement of cantering can be enough to make a pony buck a little, no matter how saintly he is especially if you need to flick the whip.

So for the first few goes in canter I would run in a straight line, with the pony on a lead rein and one eye (and if possible one hand) on the child. Maybe practice cantering in hand with the pony first, so he understands what is required.

If you have anywhere to hack that has a little hill, that is even better, because the hardest part of learning to canter is when the pony drops suddenly back into trot, and the child continues in canter mode and lands painfully on the pommel or neck (or floor) - seen it done a hundred times! Going uphill helps to keep the pony's head up when you drop back to trot and creates a natural slowing down, but you have to be fairly fit (although a few strides is all you want at first).

If the child is younger, I tend to get them to hold on with one hand, just a few fingers under the pommel helps, or even use a neck strap. Trot to canter is easy, it's the canter to trot which is tricky. Once you have managed that, you will probably be ok to canter on a lunge but again, try it first just to be safe - as everyone has said, most children are very brave until they have a nasty fall, and then confidence can be quite elusive.
Click to expand...

Thank you for this I will give it a go (when Im feeling fit and brave!) - I don't use a whip when lunging with Jamie on top I just use voice commands.
 
My kids have been riding their Shettie since they could walk!! We still have our fab shettie - heres a picture of my 7 year old (Riding our Welsh) with me on the beach at Holkham in May this year. We had a great time.

IMG_1180.jpg
 
Last edited:
ceiron said:
dont kids hips not settle til 4 hence why most riding schools wont accept under 4 s as you can cause irrepairable damage to their hips before that age .....
Click to expand...


The reason that riding schools don't have under 4s is insurance... never heard of children's hips 'setting' and I went to medical school for 6 years and did orthopaedic surgery after qualifying... epiphyseal plates close between 14 and 18 years old!

Interestingly children with 'clicky hips' are set in frog leg plasters which holds their legs out in a saddle shaped position (but with their toes pointing out!) So it could be said (albeit untried and untested) to be good for kids hips...???????

Blitz
 
My youngest was 18 months when she first sat on our little Shetland, I have now spent the last 18 years playing with kids & ponies and having the most fantastic fun (not without some ups and downs!). My advice - follow your instincts and your kids, I was way too cautious & often wished I was the kind of mother who could take them hunting in nappies on a lead rein! But do be prepared for tears & tantrums along the way.
 
Glad to hear a mum being so thoughtful cause nothing worse than a child being pushed too quickly. I know people who thought it was funny when the daughter/granddaughter kept falling off, aged 4! My daughters 11 and 6 both ride and the 11 yo lacks confidence but I have to accept that and I love watching her ride esp. when she has a breakthrough. I think that the right pony is the answer but it is so hard to get the perfect one. my youngest rides off the lead at Pony Club age 6 but the 11yo didn't come off the lead rein until she was 8. She just wasn't ready. But she is a lovely rider now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top