When to come off lead rein?

pricklyflower

pricklyflower

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Hi there, wonder if any of you with previous experience could help. When did you know whether your child was ready to come completely off the lead rein? What age did they come off and how long had they been riding for before you took the plunge? My daughter is very happy off the lead rein at home (lessons, jumping, beach rides, etc) but I don't think she's ready at shows. She's only 8 so is still young but wants to get on and do things off the lead rein, I just worry that she won't know what to do if things start to go wrong when she's on her own.

Am I being too over-protective and should I just take the plunge? Unfortunately where I am (not sure whether it's the same with all districts) at the Pony Club once they do something off the lead rein they can't go back on again which means if something happens once, she's on her own for good.

Any advice appreciated, thank you.
 
I think if she's happy at home she'll be fine at a show. I take it she can w/t/c? Can you find a nice little show with small classes to go to for the first time?

At home when I'm teaching, once I'm never interfering with the pony and the child is in total control I let them off the rein.
 
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I think if she's happy at home she'll be fine at a show. I take it she can w/t/c? Can you find a nice little show with small classes to go to for the first time?

At home when I'm teaching, once I'm never interfering with the pony and the child is in total control I let them off the rein.

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Yes she's happy w/t/c, where I am (Channel Islands) we only have PC that caters for the little ones. Maybe I'm being over protective ... she's starting lessons with a new instructor (in CI it's difficult finding decent people to teach, along with dentists, saddlers, etc!) maybe I should wait and see what he thinks... Many thanks for your reply
 
Mine took herself off the lead rein when she was about 7. I made the mistake of leaving her in the indoor school (with supervision) when I was mucking out. YO came past stable and said 'Sophie appears to be teaching herself to canter' ran out to the school in a panic to find small child doing exactly that with a big smile on her face.

Confidence is a huge part of it (theirs, not yours
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) so if she's quite happy take her to a schooling nite or something that you can easily intervene in if it goes a bit wrong and see how she gets on
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Lucky you! I tend to run next to my child clients when they are learning to canter. Running on a surface, talking and holding on is HARD WORK!! I don't think I'm paid enough!
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I spent one year at shows doing lead rein classes. Hated it but did them for daughter as she enjoyed it. When she was 6 she did her first canter at home off the lead rein. Four days later we were at another show. Took her over to watch the first ridden ring so she 'could see what was involved for next time'. At this point she announced' now I can canter can I do it now?'. I hesitated as she wasn't ready but she persuaded me to let her in.
She went in and came 5th out of 11. Had little control in canter but loved it and never did lead rein again (hurrah).
Five years later she is showing at county level and has competed at her first national champs.
Morale to the story? Let them tell you when they're ready.
PS-I've banned my daughter from joining our local PC, but that's another story
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Strange of PC to not allow them back on lead rein again - if child has a confidence crisis, then they need to go back to lead rein again, IMO. Oh well, nowt so strange as PC!

If the pony is a good one, then let her go off lead if she is ready. If pony has any issues, just be on hand to grab when necessary. My daughter was fine off lead at 8, but I always held the little b*****d at a certain point in our woods, in case he decided to turn for home!
 
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