Children: when to start riding?

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E. Bainbridge

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Only just registered and already I have a question. :)

Our son's three and a half now, and I thought when he'll be four, it might be a good time for him to learn to ride. Now I faintly remember hearing something that this wasn't supposed to be good for a child's bones at that age, detrimental for the spine, and that actually a good time was only at the age of twelve.

Is that so?

Thanks in advance for any information!
 
I know the 3yo's I had varied. Some had the strength to sit up in a saddle and some had none. The over all impression was that they were too young to understand much more than "I'm on a pony".
I'd wait till they were older so that they are stronger mentally and physically first.
 
I vaguely remember being told that if you start riding too young your legs become slightly bow-legged due to wrapping them around the horse.
In fact I'm sat on the sofa now with my knees up and together and wondering if I am!

I started when I was 4 btw!
 
I think most RCs don't take them until they are 4 anyway. Personally I would wait until the child was 6/7 and could get more out of the lessons.
 
Not sure about bones/spine etc.

By 4 children are able to sit on and be led perfectly happily, getting used to being on and around ponies.

As an instructor, I cannot do much until they are 6/7, because generally they do not have the co-ordination or balance.
 
I started at 5/6. My daughter first sat on at weeks old, & by 6 months was on an aged shetland with my hand behind her back for a few minutes. At two was cantering the same aged shetland on a lr. At that age & level its no more strenuous or damaging than learning to walk, & is fantastic for balance & posture. Only problem with young kids riding is if the saddle is wrong for them, as many are at that size, they sit in an awful backwards seat that I'm sure does nothing for either their bone or muscular development, as it encourages bad posture. Stick any toddler on bareback, you get a near perfect classical seat. In a 15" saddle, you get a seat very likely to hinder posture if done for long periods, & therefore muscular & skeletal probs I'd imagine. Which is why mine rode bareback or in a pony pad sometimes. At 7 she has posture that can be nothing but advantageous. Not forgetting the riding advantages she has as a result. However, I think the manner in which they ride is as important as the age. For me, I wouldn't have been happy with my daughter learning to ride in a saddle at that age though. She was 4 before she regularly rode with stirrups in a pony pad, & even then 50% of the time was bareback. Only last year at 6 did stirrups & a pony pad get daily use, & still in it now at 7 as I can't find a saddle that both fits the pony & is good for her position, & more importantly her physical development. Incidentally, I know a human physio who like I thinks its the manner in which they ride, rather than the age that has either a positive or negative effect on physical development.
 
I don't see any harm in staring early. At that age they can't cope with any type of strenuous riding anyway. Agree that the saddle must be appropriate too though. I had my own pony at 4 and it hasn't done me any harm :)
 
I'm all for confidence building, and at that age a potter around the lanes or around a field can do wonders for their future confidence. They can not cope with instruction much, but do respond well to praise, so 'well done, you are holding the saddle brilliantly' has a huge effect on how they progress later on.

I started riding at 18 months, on a flat felt saddle simply cos I could not walk at that age - the pony walked for me! My legs and my back have had no issues since now some 32 years later. The longest in that time when I haven't ridden a horse is about 6 months - while being pregnant!! I do agree regarding the type/fit of saddle though, which must not hinder the child.

My daughter has ridden, and sat on ponies from about 2 years old. 10 mins max a few times a week has done her no harm! I'm waiting for 'can I have a horse riding lesson' now!! :eek::eek:
 
I got my daughter her first pony at the age of 3, but she'd been sat on my cob and walked around a fair bit by then. In all honesty I'm not sure she got much out of it other than a pleasant experience until she was about 6. She's literally just turned 8 now and has the most amazing seat and hands, along with great balance and coordination, so maybe the early start helped her after all.

I think if I were to do it all over then I wouldn't have bought her a pony until she was much older if at all though. She seems to much prefer her lessons at a riding school to her time riding her own pony before she outgrew her mare.

I do believe she has benefited a great deal from being around her pony and my horses though.
 
Patterdale-lol!
No, pony wasn't mine, belonged to a good friend who liked to see him do stuff. I still have my 14.2 who is fab with tiny tots so she's always been on her too, & as the 14.2s a real schoolmistress, I've often been able to trade letting an older child ride or do local stuff on her for my daughter on their lr pony. Had a lovely first ridden on loan, but from an early age expressed a preference for more forwards types. I bought a yearling pony as a sympathy vote 4 yrs ago that she fell for, & despite me trying to convince her otherwise its now very much hers, been riding her just over a year now & is very much a second pony type. Though she has at least one ride a week on the 14.2. Been offered use of a couple of small jockey less ponies, if you can lunge & longline yourself & have a small child, I've discovered an abundance of small ponies requiring exercise!
 
I don't know about England but in Ireland schools generally don't take on students under the age of six. I think this is unless a. Parent owns horse on yard or b. it's a leadrein just in walk .

I wish I could've started at this age but sadly Mum wouldn't let me start until I was 10 :( (originally 13 but constant nagging knocked off a few years) 7 years later and here I still am! Even more horse crazy and taking out a loan!
 
Our local Equestrian Centre won't take them until 6 as they reckon they don't have enough co-ordination before then to be able to ride properly.

However, my son used to sit on my mare with me leading him around from the age of two and he got his first pony at the age of 5, but the pony was an absolute saint and taught my son so much.
 
Im waiting for the summer weather to return to start leading my 3 and 1/2 year old on a pony at our yard, just around the owner's fields...she has already sat on my big horse, while i was grooming him in his stable and he was tied up with a haynet-must admit im quite nervous, but the pony has perfect manners and im going to make sure i have another pair of hands to help me
 
my daughter has always been around my pony (14.2hh) and has always been able to sit on her and be held on from an early age.

my daughter is now 4 and rides my mare bareback to and from the field on a regular basis (with a hat on) and does what she calls 'proper riding' once a week when my pony gets tacked and and little stirrups and leathers put on my ponys normal saddle and we go out round the lanes and in the school with me leading. we walk, trot and go over trotting poles. my daughter always wants to go faster and do jumping!! ha ha!!

my daughter has just started doing walk and turning on her own in the school but only walk. because of the bareback riding she has a lovely seat and good balance.

think its up to you when you start your child riding if i didnt have a horse then i wouldnt pay for riding lessons until i thought that my daughter would get enough out of it. she only rides bareback so much as when my daughter is on the pony i know where she is and cant be causing mischief!!! lol!
 
well when i was plonked on a pony when i was 6 months old, and was doing pony club, hunting and local shows when i was 2!
i do have back problems now, but doctors etc believe it just happened, and riding didn't effect it.
Going for a 20min wander round the field isn't going to do any harm, and most importantly make sure your son enjoys and don't force him, or other wise riding won't be what it's supposed to be... fun!!
just like to add, my youngest sister, who is 4, was plonked on a pony at 5months old, and has been doing everything since! she has brilliant co-ordination, she has steering and brakes off the lead-rein, although if trotting, someone runs by her just in case. she did her first dressage com the other day, and got 3rd out of 4 :D we've never pressured her to ride, and made it enjoyable for her. she has a good seat, and watching her have a convorsation with her pony is hilarious!
 
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Tank_08 said:
well when i was plonked on a pony when i was 6 months old, and was doing pony club, hunting and local shows when i was 2!
i do have back problems now, but doctors etc believe it just happened, and riding didn't effect it.
Going for a 20min wander round the field isn't going to do any harm, and most importantly make sure your son enjoys and don't force him, or other wise riding won't be what it's supposed to be... fun!!
just like to add, my youngest sister, who is 4, was plonked on a pony at 5months old, and has been doing everything since! she has brilliant co-ordination, she has steering and brakes off the lead-rein, although if trotting, someone runs by her just in case. she did her first dressage com the other day, and got 3rd out of 4 :D we've never pressured her to ride, and made it enjoyable for her. she has a good seat, and watching her have a convorsation with her pony is hilarious!
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Hunting at 2? :eek:
 
My daughter has been sitting on my two since 9 months bareback. Decided to wait until she's 4 as that's when she can start having lessons at the local rs. Seeing how she goes before I buy her a pony, aiming for when she's about 6!!
 
I don't see what's wrong with hunting on a lr at 2. If i'd had the funds to still be hunting regularly when mine was that age I would have taken her. At that age I'm sure she wasn't popping 5 bar gates & huge fences at gallop all day. Mine demanded to do local shows at that age, so I don't see huntings any different. Most 2yr olds would make it known if they weren't happy.
 
littlelegs said:
I don't see what's wrong with hunting on a lr at 2. If i'd had the funds to still be hunting regularly when mine was that age I would have taken her. At that age I'm sure she wasn't popping 5 bar gates & huge fences at gallop all day. Mine demanded to do local shows at that age, so I don't see huntings any different. Most 2yr olds would make it known if they weren't happy.
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I wasn't disagreeing with hunting at 2! I just didn't even know it was humanly possible. Genuinely shocked at the thought of it because I had no idea it could happen! Never heard of it happening that young! I have no reason to think that it shouldn't.

I honestly thought the poster must have meant 12 at first and it was a typo!
 
I start mine at around a year old. Well, when they're stable enough to be toddling properly. My youngest sits and has a plod round the yard, as i've only just started her.

By 2 or 3 they're doing showing, and last one was cantering and jumping off leadrein age 4.
 
I was chucked on a horse as soon as i was back from the hospital after being born!! obviously you can't really learn to ride or control the horse until you are about five i would say and still then it would be minimal, i started jumping when i was 7 :) but i think starting young and being led around on horses reduces any fear you could have of horses when you are older and being around horses becomes second nature, it has to me and i have no back or legs problems etc. from riding since i was young :)
 
Fair enough billy 1007, I thought you meant it in a horrified way. Ime hunts aren't fussed how old they are on a lr, as long as you choose an appropriate meet.
 
littlelegs said:
Fair enough billy 1007, I thought you meant it in a horrified way. Ime hunts aren't fussed how old they are on a lr, as long as you choose an appropriate meet.
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Oh no, I have no experience of hunting other than turning up at a meet or two to watch so I just had no idea!
 
I don't remember how old I was when I first rode but have photos of me on board and I look about 3 or 4...daughter first got on aged 4 (nearly 5) and I was amazed how unflappable she was...so started her at riding lessons at just 5...she's now 6 - and has her own pony..she's started going off lead rein now and again...she's not the bravest of riders, which is fine, but does have a very straight-backed seat....better than mine was in photos from a similar age..
I have a terrible back now but it's from a bad motorbike accident rather than riding early...should have stuck to 4-legged horsepower! :rolleyes:
 
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