Today’s horse training question comes from Kelly. She writes: “My daughter is 9 yrs. old with very little confidence when dealing with horse problems. Her horse has lately been “going after” other horses while riding. He swings around and puts his ears back. This terrifies my daughter to the point of hyperventilation. She cries [...]
Before a child is ready to ride outside the arena on their own, I like to take all my students out for walks in the fields on a well trained, quiet horse. I put a halter and lead rope on under the bridle, and walk next to the horse. Getting out of the arena is [...]
No matter how trained the horse you are using to teach a child to ride, I think it is important to keep the horse on a lead rope or longe line for the first few lessons (or more) until you are confident that the child knows what to do to stop the horse if something [...]
Whether you are a parent teaching your own child to ride, or a riding instructor, one of the most important things you can do to make sure a child is safe is to make sure they have a well trained horse to ride that is an appropriate size for them. At one stable where I [...]
When I am teaching a child to be a horseback rider and horse trainer, I like to keep everything fun and positive. I also carry this philosophy over to my adult students, but an adult can take constructive criticism much better than a child. Especially in the 4 to 10 year old age range, which [...]
When I’m teaching a child to ride, a like them to immediately begin understanding horse training principles. I don’t think you do the child any favors, and you surely don’t do the horse any favors, if you let behaviors like jerking on the reins develop as a habit, and then expect them to stop when [...]
