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Post by Ryan&Dizzy on May 11, 2006 13:34:28 GMT 1
awwww i hate people like that!one of the regulars at a show i used to go toa lot was a tiny little boy (must have been about 4) on a little shetland. he did all the lead rein classes with his brother and would go round every corse or show ring screaming' no no no i dont like it let me off, let me off!' and jumping was even worse! yet he was still there ever week and continued to get placed well!
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Post by Lulu on May 12, 2006 16:16:18 GMT 1
Mhmm I agree children should enjoy their ponies, but I also think children should learn how to look after a pony too. I do get mine to help muck out and stuff, but don't insist they do it every day as I don't want to put them off
I have 2 girls, 7 and 9yrs old. The 9yr old is very competitive and wants to hunt, gallop, jump all day long. In fact I've had to refuse to enter her as she wants to do bigger than 2ft6 as she thinks the 1ft jumps are for babies. Thing is there is a Tom Thumb competition coming up, and it's on ages only, ie, class 1 8yrs and under, class 2 10 yrs and under, class 3, 12yrs and under, class 4 under 14yrs.
Gues what class she wants to do. Class four, as it's the highest at 2ft 6. I'll allow her to doclass 2 and 3, but have pointed out that she is up against a lot older and possibly more experience children. But she flatly refuses to do her own age class, which is 1ft9. She has jumped XC with me at a local chasers course and did all the jumps there. The biggest there was 3ft3.
So with my oldest I feel I have to hold her back for her own good.
But my youngest is a different story. I wonder if she's interested. Turns out she wants to be like her sister but is scared. I have told her I do not mind if she never rides, she does not HAVE to, but it is expensive to keep a pony for her as a pasture ornament. We have agreed between myself and my daughter to have private lessons at riding school weekly for the summer, and see if that helps build up her confidence, and get her going a bit better. Then if she improves we can think about buying that special pony to have fun with and feel safe on.
Thing is, I can't buy a pony for her, till she has more confidence as she gets nervous trying them out and we can't "try" out a pony properly for her till she's done a bit more. Her current pony was passed down to her from the older sister, and is basically almost retired, just walk and trot only as she's too stiff to canter and will buck you off if you try (which did not help at all !)
I'd like to think I am not pushy, I don't care if my kids ride or not, but my two are so different, it's quite interesting.
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natalia
Grand Prix Poster
Posts: 2,103
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Post by natalia on May 13, 2006 22:31:45 GMT 1
Lulu, if your daughter wants to jump bigger, and has a good pony and the nerve to do so then let her! As long as she's jumping at least that height at home she should have no problems and if she dosen't go clear then so be it, she may have learnt her lesson. I am currently teaching my instructors daughter to ride, my instructor is ex international pony team trainer. Her daughter is 6, has NEVER been pushed in to riding, but loves it. We never asked her if she wanted to ride, one day, she just asked and that was that. She jumps on my horses fearlessly and terrifies the life out of all of us by riding the little uns so confidently, although she's only been riding about 2 months! Her mum is refusing to teach her or push her in anyway, letting her make her own mind up as to if she really wants to do it, which is why I'm the mug that has to supervise these manic sessions! I don't belive in pushing children to be little molds of ourselves, some want to ride and some don't. Theres no way if I ever have children that they will automatically get a pony, they will have to work for it.
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Post by sunnylynn11 on May 17, 2006 20:52:30 GMT 1
I have the opposite with my daughter, she's only three & VERY keen. I went to a show last Sunday & she stayed at home with hubby on this ocassion, we were trying out a new pony & I knew she'd be a nightmare if I took her, I only done an in hand class with the pony & my sharer done a ridden class on Zico but had my daughter have been there, she would have inststed on doing the in hand class & begged to ride Zico. Its the first time ive gone with two ponies & as I had the new pony, I wanted to keep my wits about me. I have never pushed her into anything, she has got to be the happiest person on the yard, she mucks out, grooms with her little pink brushes, picks up feed buckets, washes them out & mixes up the feeds again & she LOVES riding. If she really didnt want to do it, I would never make her do it. She gets a little annoying at times cause she isnt always happy to just walk & says "mum, can I do trotting now", I cant run for a bus so its gets a bit tiring running round the manage .
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Post by jinks on May 26, 2006 14:00:00 GMT 1
My son loves horses I have to watch him as he in there trying to pat them..round the legs etc. He goes to a local riding school which is very good he rides one of 2 small ponies both very good. He only goes for toddler 20 minuite rides but he is getting a good seat and sits perfectly, I bought him his own hat and boots and now riding trousers he gets very exicted when its time to go, one pony he mostly rides is "his pony" he says. He trots round and round the indoor school, which is fine he sleeps well after all the exercise, He sits on my boy who is 15.2 and shows no fear at all bareback or saddled. He likes mucking out too he has his own little wheelbarrow. If he interested later I might get him a pony, god forbid me to be a pushy mum...I hope I dont get like that, my oh would give me a good kick up the backside I think if I even started to get a bit like that. It is sad seeing children terrified its child abuse yes I agree with that.
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Post by fin on May 26, 2006 22:17:37 GMT 1
Pushy pony parents scare me. They're like football parents (I HATE football--how can you not when you see mothers standing on the lines screaming 'Take him out! Gooo--oooon! Gerrim!' at their seven year olds?) in that they seem to take competition to such extremes that it can only be detrimental to the kid. On the other hand my son plays inline hockey to a reasonable level, and in some of our local teams the level of parental support is nil. OK, it's expensive because kit's not cheap, but you'd have thought if they were going to pay up they'd have time to drive their kids to games or take an interest in their training, wouldn't you? But no. They're dropped off every session, sometimes not even checking that the coaches are already there or that the session's even on. And we normally have a car full of boys whose parents can't be arsed to drive them to Manchester for tournaments etc. Ultimately they're using the team as a cheap babysitting service where they can get rid of their kids for the day.....
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vab
Grand Prix Poster
Posts: 1,125
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Post by vab on Jun 5, 2006 11:52:12 GMT 1
I have to confess I took my 7 month old grand-daughter up to sit on a pony the other day and she seemed to enjoy it certainly did not cry although not sure if lead rein pony appreciated the dribble running down her neck.
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