Children - lessons on own pony what would be the best way?.....

laceyfreckle

laceyfreckle

Well-Known Member
May 27, 2007
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Essex/Suffolk
As Harvey is coming back into work I am hoping my children will recommence their riding probably by middle of next month. Before Harvey had his improptu time off I was taking both children (one aged 5 (son) but has dyspraxia so is a little clumsy/tactile and one who is 4 (daughter). ) up at the same time, getting one to sit on a block/stool while the other rode and then they swapped over. They did this weekly and probably had 20-30mins riding time each with private tuition (from me).

To teach them I generally had Harvey on a lunge and walked around with him, not neccessarily on a small circle. Both children can now to a degree (Harvey is a little big for them at 13.2hh) halt, walk and do a fairly ok rising trot that just needs tidying up on lunge rein and both can walk and turn off the lunge (but the pony is a bit opportunistic so they tend to stay on the lead!) They also both love doing games, 'riding shapes, riding without reins on the lead and walking and trotting over poles on the ground.

Now when Harvey comes back into work I thought about changing it a bit as they get a bit bored waiting for each other to ride and my oldest son has also started to ask to ride again (he is 8 but also has bad allergies so I don't like him at the yard for long waiting around as such). This year I think the younger two will also progress at different rates as my 4yr old likes going fast and trotting and can't wait to canter where as my 5yr old likes learning more about feel, turning and taking things more slowly.

So I could carry on with what we were doing before but with a lot of waiting around or I could get them to take it in turns.

So 4yr old could go for example saturday 1, then 5yr old on saturday 2 and then 8yr old on saturday 3...they could ride for a bit longer then/not be as rushed too.

Thing is would riding once every three weeks be long enough for them to still progress?

Another alternative would me to get a instructor in (could only afford once a month) for her to teach all three children for half hour each - I could lead but could also keep a eye on the other children. Worried that would be quite hard on Harvey though being as they are all beginners?

Sorry for the ramble, hope it made sense!

Any other suggestions welcome!
 
It's a shame you are not a bit nearer to me as the riding school Leah goes to is fab and she walks, trots, canters off lead rein now and is even attempting jumps, she rides their standard shetlands but wants to go lightly bigger.

She doesn't have lessons anymore because she does pony club every other Sunday and during the school holidays, they cost me £16 a day from 10am - 3pm plus she gets to learn about stable management etc. The routine is fantastic for her.

My son will be starting riding at the same place in May when he turns 4, his lessons are £12 for half an hour, he won't do pony club till he is 5 though.

For the money you would pay for a private instructor would it not be more beneficial to look at riding schools. I know it's a pain especially when you have your own ponies to ride but like you say Harvey is a tad to big for the younger ones. :wub:
 
I would carry on teaching them yourself, I think the rota sounds great, makes each child look forward to their special time with you and the pony and lets each one progress as they want .

Innocence.. I think it is a very brave RS to take 5yo on a day club...we stopped having the 7 and unders at ours when you needed to be a registered childminder to have them for more than 2 hours at a time!!!
 
eml said:
I would carry on teaching them yourself, I think the rota sounds great, makes each child look forward to their special time with you and the pony and lets each one progress as they want .

Innocence.. I think it is a very brave RS to take 5yo on a day club...we stopped having the 7 and unders at ours when you needed to be a registered childminder to have them for more than 2 hours at a time!!!
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They are fully insured for it and my daughter loves it. She is very limited with the things she can do recreational wise because of her problems, but the routine from the pony club days really do benefit her plus they are organised very well.
 
Thanks both of you :)

Problem with a riding school is they are quite expensive (if you're x3) - cheapest one here which to be honest my eldest went to for a while and didn't really learn very much was nearly £20 a hour (each, around £15 for half hour). It did do pony club but it was on top of lessons so you had to pay for lessons too. Also, because Luke is dyspraxic he's very clumsy and a bit of a health and safety nightmare.

Then there is the finding the time to get there for a set time each week etc.

Mine still love playing games too and are at the stage where as well as learning to ride they also love learning to throw balls in a bucket etc lol.

I'm hoping Piccolo will be established enough for proper riding next year, she is a bit smaller then Harvey. Harvey although a bit big is safe with the children though (but a bit bouncy!)

Thinking about edging with the taking it in turns maybe? May also think about getting them to join pony club next year with our own pony but again they'll have to take it in turns for rallies etc.
 
eml said:
I would carry on teaching them yourself, I think the rota sounds great, makes each child look forward to their special time with you and the pony and lets each one progress as they want .

Innocence.. I think it is a very brave RS to take 5yo on a day club...we stopped having the 7 and unders at ours when you needed to be a registered childminder to have them for more than 2 hours at a time!!!
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My main concern is progress, will they still progress at a reasonable level once every three weeks? (When I mean progress i mean acquire new skills/become more confident/balanced rather then do more as such)
 
I would suggest you try the taking in turns and continue teaching yourself for a few months to see how you get on. If it doesn't seem to be working out then you can reassess the situation.

The RS you describe sounds horrendous, L's RS is brill, they do an hour lesson, stable management and an hour games. It helps her to realise that she has to take turns which she doesn't do very well, plus one of the head instructors there is used to dealing with children with special needs as her parents are foster carer's so sort of took L under her wing :smile:
 
I think the idea of them taking it in turns sounds good, it would give them all a good chance at it, I don't see the need for an instructor at that level and age when you have your own horse and seem to know what you are doing. Except you have the problem with them hanging around and the allergies. Is there a safe area you can set up for them to do something to occupy their mind. Maybe they could do some drawing of the one riding? Probably not practical at a stables but even some upturned buckets for chairs and trays on their knees might work. It all depends how your riding area is set up really.
 
MissMare said:
I think the idea of them taking it in turns sounds good, it would give them all a good chance at it, I don't see the need for an instructor at that level and age when you have your own horse and seem to know what you are doing. Except you have the problem with them hanging around and the allergies. Is there a safe area you can set up for them to do something to occupy their mind. Maybe they could do some drawing of the one riding? Probably not practical at a stables but even some upturned buckets for chairs and trays on their knees might work. It all depends how your riding area is set up really.
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Think I'm probably going to go with the rota idea so they don't have to hang around (also it may be easier only having one to get ready!).

However I'm going to sound mean because atm when they take turns they have to sit on their stools outside the stable block where I can see them and then they can either use my camera to take photo's of the others riding if they want to or they can play on their ds consoles quietly or watch. They're not too bad but I do get a bit of "When is it MY turn". The riding area is two parts - basically I have a large grass arena that is around 25m x 45m and I also have a paddock. They mainly ride in the paddock atm.

It has definitely made the options seem easier having them all written down :)
 
When I was a kid, I used to have one lesson every 2 weeks. While my progress was probably slower than it would have been if I had been able to ride every week, I didn't feel like I was being held back. I used to really look forward to my lessons.

Would it be possible for you to fence off an area for them to have bikes/trikes in? That might keep them occupied while they were waiting for their turn.
 
Mary Poppins said:
When I was a kid, I used to have one lesson every 2 weeks. While my progress was probably slower than it would have been if I had been able to ride every week, I didn't feel like I was being held back. I used to really look forward to my lessons.

Would it be possible for you to fence off an area for them to have bikes/trikes in? That might keep them occupied while they were waiting for their turn.
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sounds like it won't harm them to have a lesson every three weeks or so then, they are still all quite young so my main aim is for them to enjoy it as well as feel like they are progressing themselves.

They all have such different horsey aims -

The eldest likes the idea of riding, particularly wants to eventually learn to jump but wants to learn to drive too (?!). I think the fact a certain girl he likes likes horses is some of his motivation!

The 5 yr old really wants to go for a walk around the village and is happiest practising steering around cones etc all at a slower pace.

The 4 yr old loves to trot and wants to do lead rein jumping again this year and maybe some l/r showing shows eventually. She is a adrenalin junkie.
 
I also only rode once a fortnight, progressed as fast as my friends did and although was desperate to go to the stables more, I just wanted to be there rather than ride - riding was a bonus
 
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