Riding lessons: how do kids progress beyond novice?

oldie48 said:
Gosh that's a really tricky question to answer but basically IMHO most children's ponies don't have a proper topline unless they are schooled by a pro/experienced rider or the child has the skill and/or desire to ditch the immediate "fun" and concentrate on the basics. My daughter was 11 when the penny dropped but we still needed a pro rider to set her pony up for her so she could start to feel what was right etc. She couldn't have done it for herself but she had a youngster who needed to be taught the correct way of going. TBH I don't think it's about age, I know lots of adults who have ridden all their life who don't ride their horses so they develop the correct musculature. I'm sure lots of more knowledgeable people will have a view so I am just kicking this off but fwiw most RSs don't teach people to ride correctly and their horses are not schooled to do that either
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In all fairness to riding schools you can't start to ride correctly until you have a balanced seat.
 
I've just read the whole thread 🤣
So what was going on with the pony on the end? Did you move her? How did your DD get on building her confidence again? So many questions lol! Hope it all worked out in the end.
 
I was going to ask the same thing!
Peaches24 said:
I've just read the whole thread 🤣
So what was going on with the pony on the end? Did you move her? How did your DD get on building her confidence again? So many questions lol! Hope it all worked out in the end.
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I remember you, your daughter, the pony and especially the music grades so well but didn't make the connection with your new thread and pony. :D hope it works out well for your daughter now
 
Oh gosh, so much to say and so much I really can't say! Yes we did move the pony as things became rather "awkward", shall we say, after I began to assert myself a little bit more as the pony's new owner. I really think the people who suggested the RS wanted to have their cake and eat it were probably right!

The pony had a bit of time off in her new home and then my daughter started trying to ride her again. This started a whole sequence of events which culminated in some pretty expensive investigations (thank god for insurance!) and a pretty poor ridden prognosis for anything other than hacking. My daughter worked so hard, following rehab plans and trying to do everything possible to get her sound and regain her own confidence, but sadly it wasn't to be. I think the bottom line is that the pony wasn't comfortable and wasn't enjoying the rehab and attempts at schooling, my daughter was aware that the pony wasn't really comfortable and consequently also wasn't enjoying riding her, not to mention the confidence issues which never really resolved long term. So after a follow up with the vet we decided to retire her from any kind of schooling. The vet said that she could do hacking but she is really really not happy out on hacks and my daughter just doesn't feel safe on her. So reluctantly we've decided to fully retire her and in the course of this we've moved her again to be closer to home so we can spend time with her more easily.

And this is where the new pony comes in. The new place has no schooling facilities and my daughter has decided that what she really enjoys (on a safe and relatively sane horse!) is hacking, so that - plus a pretty limited budget - dictated the search criteria. And the new pony is arriving tomorrow, hopefully for the start of a new chapter! We hope that we might be able to work on the original pony's confidence so she might at least be able to walk out in hand, while my daughter rides the new one, that's the rough plan! But at the very least our original pony is so much more settled now that nothing is being asked of her, and I really hope she'll be able to live out her days happily with a new friend.

Despite all of this heartache I don't regret a thing. It makes my blood run cold when I think that she could easily have been sold to someone who would have kept working her through quite significant discomfort (because she's so honest and stoic as a rule). We have learned so much, and I've no doubt we've made lots of mistakes, but I think she's now happy and comfortable and the bond between her and my daughter is wonderful to see!
 
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