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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My 7 year old is very interested. This is not an activity or world I am familiar with at all. If you rode or your kids rode, I’d really appreciate some insight into how this all works. What kind of riding school should I look for? Any safety things to consider? Is it super expensive, and is the culture quite exclusive/fancy? What kinds of strengths would this build? Do you eventually choose one style and train in that, and do you have to compete or can you do it for the joy of connecting with an animal?

I know a lot about music, and could imagine leading a kid down that path if they were interested, but I have no idea about this and how to even do due diligence on a program. [/quote]

I grew up riding and my daughters (twins, age 6) ride now. As to your questions:

I would look for a barn that is close by, one that has other kids, and one that has good lesson ponies. You won't want to lease something right off the bat, so you will need to find a place that has something solid for her to lesson on for a while until you decide if she's really interested in it and wants to take the next step.

It is super expensive. There's just no way around it. You could do a lesson a week on a school pony, which wouldn't cost a ton, but if she starts riding more and needs to lease something, or she wants to do shows, it can add up quickly. So mostly it depends on the level you are doing. We pay $10K/year to lease a pony for each kid, $1,500/month for board, $500/month for lessons, $200/month for horse shoes, insurance on the ponies (I'd have to look that number up), thousands on equipment and clothes, and just dropped maybe $5K on a weekend horse show in NC. Of course, you don't need to do any of those things, but at some point your daughter is likely going to want to do more than one lesson a week.

I wouldn't say the culture is overly exclusive or fancy, although that depends a lot on the barn. Our barn has a lot of down-to-earth people who work hard to be able to pay for their horses and do a lot around the barn and at shows. Other barns have parents who wouldn't lift a finger to sweep an aisle, for example, and those barns are way more exclusive/snobby. The horse world gets a bad rap from those kind of people, but most of the ones who love it are not snobs, they just love the animals and love riding.

The strengths riding builds, especially for girls, can't be understated. There are articles out there discussing it, but basically (1) the amount of responsibility is huge (you are taking care of a living thing!) and it teaches kids a lot about that, (2) you can't muscle your way through riding, so you have to be attuned to your horse and how THEY feel because it is a partnership (this helps build empathy), (3) you are on a 1,000+ pound animal and it is (generally) listening to you, which builds a great sense of independence and self-assuredness. I could go on and on. My dad said having me ride growing up was worth every penny, and I feel the same for my kids.

You can switch styles over time, but generally you would ride English or Western. Within English though you could do Dressage, Hunters, Jumpers, or Eventing, which are all really different. You could always switch around (I started in Hunters, did pony Jumpers, tried Eventing, and ended up back in Hunters and Equitation).

You don't have to compete, but it's a great way to test your skills and be able to work towards specific goals. As an adult, I don't have any desire to compete anymore, and there are many women at our barn who do not. I think it's great for kids, but there is no reason you have to do. I spend time with horses because I love them, not because I want ribbons.

Hope this helps![/quote]

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