Benefits of a share pony for parents..

[Goldie'sGirl]

..are there any? As a pose to your child having riding lessons, are there any benefits for a parent, if their child was to have a share pony instead?
Thanks
~GG~

PS-Sorry about all these threads about share ponies

 

[nutkin]

That would depend entirely on the parents. If your parents are horsey then yes I guess that having a pony may bring you closer together in that it is something you enjoy together. If your parents are interested in horses then having a pony to enjoy together could bring about new friends in other horsey families. If your parents are not horsey and have no interest then obviously there is no benefit to be gained by them,only despair at the cost.

 

[ANN H]

I think its good for the child to have a share pony rather than having lessons. I used to have lessons about once a month when I was about 10 and we really used to just do the same things all the time. If your child has a share/loan pony they have hands-on experience of riding, stable management, feeding, etc. Can't really think of any parent advantage though, as you'll still have to ferry your offspring to and from the stables!

 

[Bronya]

Some ideas:

- it's likely to be cheaper or the same money, and the child will ride more often, which keeps them out of trouble (no hanging around with friends doing who knows what), keeps them fit and healthy, and stops them sitting around at home getting bored, esp in the holidays.
- the child will improve faster, esp if she pays for her own private lessons on the share pony, and can then go to shows and things and the parents can say to their friends, 'my child's doing.....' (parents love stuff like that, mine still do it, and I'm 27!!).

 

[april89]

I was going to say, play the "It'll keep me off of the street" card as most parents want to know where their children are and that they are safe. (just don't let them see you on a horse in the middle of a bucking fit! )

 

[*millie*]

Your not fully responsible for it is the main one really, thats why my parents agreed to let me loan before buying.

 

[kyanya]

Sharing teaches responsibility. I barely thought about what I was doing with riding school horses in relation to either mine or my mount's safety. You just get told to canter at C, trot at X etc, and you don't question it in a riding school. But when you're sharing, there's no-one telling you what to do, so you learn to think for yourself. If you go out hacking, you have to find a safe place with good ground if you want to canter. You have to decide how fast and how far the horse can go safely. Sharing really has taught me so much about responsibility - I took so much for granted at riding schools.

Also, you're going to learn a lot more about stable management if you share. You're likely to learn about horse ailments, injuries and illnesses if you share, whereas at a riding school you don't really get to see that side of things.

Sharing's a much better way to prepare for owning as well, if you intend to do that one day. Don't know if you should use that one on your parents though!

My parent's let me share because they could see I wanted more involvment with horses than I was getting from 1 hour per week at a riding school. As much as I enjoyed riding there, I just wanted to do more. I wanted to be able to look after the horse more than a riding school environment allows, and have more freedom.