horse riding for 3 year olds

**UmmInayah** · 19-09-2010 20:25

my dd loves horses.

my niece goes for riding lessons and i had to drop her off for one of her lessons on the weekend. i spoke to the woman regarding lessons for my dd. i wasn't sure if she could do it as she is only 3, but she said she does do short 30 min lessons for youngesters.

i am going to call ehr to confirm about it tomorrow, but i just wanted to know has anyone taken their children for riding lessons and what should i expect from them?

**UmmInayah** · 19-09-2010 21:11

no one?

**Aaliyahsmummy** · 19-09-2010 23:16

My little cousin who's 4 is about to start. She is slightly disabled (not sure if that's discribing it right, but most people would not realise she's disabled)

her doctors reccomended it as it will teach her confidence, how to look after an animal, as well as communication skills (she's very shy) not sure if the the lessons your looking at fir your little one will have the same emphasis though.

**Cleigh** · 19-09-2010 23:23

Im guessing they will just mount the horse and walk in circles. Thats basically it. She is way to younge to learn how to fit a saddle or to learn to jump etc. So just walking around to start with. Hope she has fun

**Lemonhead** · 20-09-2010 00:06

Go for it.

She would be doing leadline classes so an instructor would just gently lead the pony around so your DD built up her confidence as that would be the major objective at this stage. You could incorporate some basic grooming duties etc like brushing and feeding and learning how to behave around a pony safely.

How gorgeous

I love horseriding, I just wish I was able to do it as a child like my cousin did.

**DeeLee** · 20-09-2010 00:36

I say go for it. I'd recommend looking into buying your own helmet. Some places provide them, however a correctly fitted helmet of her own would be much safer. If she continues you will need to buy a new one as she grows but it is a small price to pay for peace of mind.

From a selfish point of view I'm not keen on DD riding, we can only afford one horse and mine is too big for her!

**UmmInayah** · 21-09-2010 09:02

thanks for the feedback

i guess i wasn't really expecting her to ride solely lol, but it's good to know if we start now she will build a little more confidence around them and at least watch and see how they are to be looked after

thanks again

**flukeas** · 22-09-2010 08:15

Originally Posted by UmmInayah

thanks for the feedback

i guess i wasn't really expecting her to ride solely lol, but it's good to know if we start now she will build a little more confidence around them and at least watch and see how they are to be looked after

thanks again

I used to be a ridding instructor two was the youngest we would start and we just made it fun a quiet pony on a lead line and lots of little balance excersices to build up confidence ie hands in the air and airplane teaching basic rein control they loved it and you could watch in a simple half hour lesson how much there confidence grew!