Progression of Children Learning to Ride

racypawz

racypawz

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Hi. My 7 year old little girl is coming up to her third Christmas at our local riding school...and is still being lead, walking and trotting only. She's itching to have a go on her own, and has done on friends ponies, really enjoyed it. But the riding school are reluctant, saying she is not strong enough if the pony were to 'do anything'. The furthest I've got is holding the lead rope right at the end. As a Mum, I don't want to push the riding school into doing something 'dangerous', but at the same time, I don't see any progress. What should I be expecting to happen next? They seem fearful of health and safety. I think I was jumping small cross poles at 7!! (but that was 30 years ago...) Thanks x
 
How often does she go? Unless it's only a few times a year then progress is shockingly slow :eek:

My local riding school has keen youngsters jumping (tiny cross poles) on their own after a month or so...
 
Crikey, I don't think I'd be happy with that either. My daughter is 8 and is walk trot canter and small jumps on her own on 3 different ponies at her riding school. Surely they must know the ponies well enough to be able to trust them with a child without a leader? Nice that they're safety conscious but I'd have a word and if that doesn't work consider looking elsewhere.
 
That's a ridiculous argument. A riding school teaching small children ought to have small ponies that can be trusted not to "do anything" in most circumstances - how else does anyone ever come off lead rein? You could apply the same argument about strength to waiting until someone had the ability to deal with it if the pony "does anything" - and you'll never get that sort of knowledge until you do come off leadrein!

Assuming she's happy in walk and trot, can steer and stop without you towing the pony, and is well balanced enough to be riding without reins, it's time she came off it. She can always go back on again if she needs to at any point, but otherwise she's never going to get past a certain point.

If the school can't accommodate someone coming off leadrein, you need to find a different school!
 
that is quite a long time to be on the lead rein!! I was at a similar riding school when I was younger where I would trot around the school for half an hour at that was it. my mum asked them if I could canter and they said I wasnt ready :/
changed riding schools and was jumping within a month!
 
Agree with what the others have said. I wouldn't be happy. When my daughter started to learn to ride on her 5th birthday she had at most 4/5 lessons on the lead rein & then she was off. I much preferred her to be off as she learned to ride, not sit on a pony. She was out competing sj at 6yrs whilst others were still on lead rein until they were 8 & were then told they were too old for LR. They then had to learn to ride properly by themselves :(
 
That is ridiculously slow and there excuse isn't really good enough as others have said they should have ponies they can trust. At my local riding school once they've got the very basics they go out on the lunge rather than been lead as they can get used to been away from the leader but still in a controlled manor. I'm on my phone so can't see what area your in but would be interested to know what area and school this is ?
 
Change riding schools. It sounds to me as though they don't trust their ponies as opposed to just 'being safe' in which case they shouldn't be riding school ponies. Your daughter should be leaps and bounds ahead of that by now.
 
Assuming she's been going regularly then I agree its slow progress. I'm all for teaching a good independent seat & how to ride with it, rather than with the hands before giving them the reins, but that is slow. I understand why some children with their own less than ploddy first ponies might be on lr out hacking etc, but I would expect a rs to have ponies that can be let off safely in an arena. And the strength argument is rot. Strength isn't the correct way to control any horse, however big, old or experienced you are. I taught my daughter myself from being a baby, but at 4 she was cantering off lr out hacking with me, & doubt I'd be letting her gallop & jump all over the place now if I was relying on her physical strength to be in control.
 
Thank you everybody, I feel reassured now, and not a pushy parent. The school does have small ponies (which even I have learnt to trust in the 3 years I've been there!) I just wanted to know if teaching horse riding had changed so dramatically in the 30 years since I was a beginner. One of the teachers said that she couldn't understand how 7 year olds were being taught to jump elsewhere because they don't physically have the balance. They don't even like her trotting without one hand on the front of the saddle in case she yanks the pony in the mouth (and this isn't just my daughter, that rule is for everyone on our lesson). Now I love ponies like the next person but we've all got to make some mistakes to learn. My little girl has never cantered. I shall find somewhere else. I don't want to say where they are learning, but they aren't that busy. I thought this was down to the recession but I have just heard that other local stables have waiting lists! Thank you everyone for your comments, it's really helped.
 
Forgot to say, she rides every 2 weeks for an hour. We had a pony at home on loan for a while when she was 3 so is quite confident around ponies. We couldn't keep him because he had laminitis and asthma - couldn't live in and our paddocks were too lush, so we had to move him back to his home where they have bare paddocks for laminitic ponies. Hence starting riding lessons.
 
I can see the logic in not having kids using the reins to balance, that's exactly how I teach. But, once they have basic balance holding the pommel one handed does nothing. Especially as they're on lr I would expect them to do stuff like trotting with hands on head etc to develop an independent seat, & thus good hands, rather than just holding the pommel. That way they won't make mistakes with the ponies mouth because they are balanced enough not to, rather than because they've been physically prevented.
 
That really is slow progress. I would have another word with the instructor? I've been riding for 6 years at my very commercial large RS and have never jumped higher than about 2ft, it's very frustrating!
 
I've just been talking to a lady who said the same thing about balance exercises. They have NEVER done any riding without reins, rotating arms, touching head etc. We occasionally do 'around the world', stationary, at the end. It seems we've got so far and just stopped. And it's very expensive!
 
Change RS. My daughter was walk and trot only, and was off the lead rein half hour fortnightly private lesson for best part of 2 years and was told 'nearly ready to canter' for a year of that, and also no space in any group lessons. At 7 we changed RS, in her assesment lesson at new RS she was happily cantering within 15 minutes, was told her walk and trot was very good as she could rise to the trot on correct diagonal(at least she'd been taught the basics well) and did some trotting jumps over x poles then cantered off after a jump in 2nd lesson by 3rd was happily popping over 1ft cross poles, in canter, and could ask correctly for the right canter lead most times.
 
ring them up and cancel her next lesson, dont spend any more money there!!
then try and find a new RS, when she goes for her first lesson its important to tell them how you feel about the lead rein situation. you may be surprised and they may let her off the lead rein in the first 15 mins!
 
littlelegs said:
I can see the logic in not having kids using the reins to balance, that's exactly how I teach. But, once they have basic balance holding the pommel one handed does nothing. Especially as they're on lr I would expect them to do stuff like trotting with hands on head etc to develop an independent seat, & thus good hands, rather than just holding the pommel. That way they won't make mistakes with the ponies mouth because they are balanced enough not to, rather than because they've been physically prevented.
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Agree with this. It is kind of nice to hear of a RS that put their ponies first, the thats a bit OTT. I could understand if they'd insisted on her being on the lead rein for a year if she really was tiny and weak, but three years!!:eek:


FlaxenPony05 said:
That really is slow progress. I would have another word with the instructor? I've been riding for 6 years at my very commercial large RS and have never jumped higher than about 2ft, it's very frustrating!
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Trouble is, from my experience when I've filled in at riding schools as an instructor, people sue them for anything, so a lot of them just won't take any risks or push people nowadays. I have my AI, and rode at my local RS to get going again after a break, and they wouldn't let me jump higher than that - even when I was going to view a 6yr old horse the following week, and really needed to be jumping more again!
 
I have taught quite a few children up to cantering in the past few years. Although each child is different, your daughter should definitely be on her own by now. I was always cautious, and would rather i KNEW they could cope by themselves, but as a riding school you know which ponies to trust, and which ponies you don't. If the child could walk and trot without holding onto the saddle, or yanking on the reins, then I would let them try by themselves but standing close. If they look like they need a bit more guidance, I would do some rising without holding on to anything, e.g. hands on hips rising with me leading. So they are practising but not hurting the ponies mouth.

I would go somewhere else, but I guess one advantage, she should have pretty good balance and be very comfortable in walk and trot! :D as she has done lots of it! :p
 
7 years experience working in riding schools.

Would say this is shockingly slow and I would be tempted to move schools. In general at seven I after 2 years I would at least think a child would be safe in walk and trot, trotting over small cross poles and maybe cantering short, structured distances.

Agree that getting them to the point where they are not balancing off the reins is important but a few months of solid walk and trot on LR largely without the reins should pretty much get this.
 
I do think this seems a long time to be on lead rein, however i have known kids i wouldn't trust to be let go of! Bit baffled as to why a lot of posters are measuring progress with how soon they were jumping and how big, is that the measure of how good you are now? Coz I've seen some pretty poor riders scramble over huge fences thanks to safe horses, but it doesn't mean they were ready for it or that they are good riders, or that it was a good school!
 
My daughter started riding school lessons just before she was five and is now just seven and jumping small cross poles and cavaletti. She was off the lead rein after a coulple of months and has been cantering for about 18 months.
Having said that, she also borrows a friend's little welshie quite a lot so gets sneaky practice in between her lessons ;)
At our RS the kids usually progress at their own pace, which sometimes causes fallings out because they don't move up with their friends but it's the right thing to do.
It's a fact that we don't all learn at the same pace.
 
Its nice to see a riding school being 'safe' tbh! Maybe the child is not actually ready to come off the lead rein? You say you have held the end of the lead rope - did the child have full control when you did in walk - is it possible she didn't and that is why the instructors have not taken the lead rein off.
Some children progress quicker than others; some listen better than others and actually try harder. I would rather have a safe riding school than one that takes kids off the lead rein as 'they MUST progress quicker'. It is not necessarily the riding school at fault when children don't seem to progress.
 
I learnt to ride at 7 years old and that was 14 years ago.

I was on the lead rein for my very first lesson. My second lesson they put me on the same pony again with no lead rein. The noseband was grabbed for my first canter about 9 months later and that was the extent of my being lead.

The stables I was working at 3 years ago lead 7 year olds for 1-6 months after they started depending on competance.

The only time i can ever remember putting a leadrope on a 7 year old with 3 years experience was RDA and the couple of times we'd put someone on a slightly quirky pony for a hack.

Leave IMO.
 
My daughter did her first Pony Club camp with her pony aged 7 (just!) and competed in a one day event totally off the lead jumping a 2ft course happily. She was never really on the lead to be fair as she has always been an independent wotsit!
I do think its odd that the RS aren't helping your daughter to progress further, if she isn't nervous or worried and the pony is safe then she should be able to have a go off the lead rein?
 
Change RS. If your daughter stays on LR there then you know it's for her own good, if not it was the RS.
Children who go to lessons only are always going to learn slower than those with own pony unless they have a couple if lessons per week.

But IME my daughter rides better now because she had lessons, she started at 5 with 1 lesson per week. Was on LR for 9 months, her instructor left and new instructor took her straight off LR and she was cantering and jumping in no time. At age 8 she got her own pony and now at 10 she's onto 2nd pony and jumps BSJA successfully.

Good luck.
 
Thank you all very much for your feedback, it's very much appreciated.

I've given it a lot of thought and I hope she'll continue elsewhere. Last week she didn't want to go horse riding, she was close to tears because they won't let her try on her own. I've watched her, over the years, be quietly confident, then become complacent and finally put right off by the sport.

She has ridden alone on a friend's pony in a sand school, over 12 months ago. She rode for 45 minutes in walk and trot, could turn and make the horse halt from walk. Her trot was as you would expect...she struggled to keep a rhythm and the horse 'fell in' on the corners and kept going on the inside track, but otherwise, and most importantly, she thought it was bloody fantastic!

As a teacher myself, all of us have different learning styles, be it auditory, visual or kinaesthetic and I suppose our riding school doesn't support this in their lessons. It's a shame because I wanted to support my local business. This has been a very useful exercise and I value all your feedback. Thank you.
 
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