| Kids take us on remarkable, and enlightening journeys. | | | | looking after them when they are sick or injured, etc., is |
| We want the best for them, and we want them to | | | | an immense responsibility, and they just seem to step |
| grow up to be happy, successful, responsible, caring, | | | | up and do it, because for them, its not learning life's |
| and contributing members of society. And through our | | | | lessons, its just plain fun. While on one hand I'm not |
| kids, we learn more about our own value system, as | | | | anxious for my kids to grow up any faster than |
| we try to teach them life's little lessons. | | | | necessary, given growing up is inevitable, we may as |
| Our girls decided they wanted to try horseback riding. | | | | well make the learning and growing process as fun as |
| Both my wife and I have ridden horses on many | | | | possible, and being responsible is obviously a core |
| previous occasions, but this was an entirely different | | | | attribute to develop. |
| experience as we started to view the activity as | | | | There are many other less obvious, but equally |
| parents, and through the eyes of our children. We | | | | valuable benefits. Obviously riding is not like playing a |
| quickly realized the actual riding is only a small part of | | | | sport like tennis, or soccer, or basketball. But it is |
| the overall activity. It is all things equestrian. Its the | | | | physical activity, and the riding time on the horse helps |
| horses, the environment, the gear, the learning process, | | | | improve coordination, balance, and core strength. Even |
| the friendships, the events, etc. So we decided it might | | | | when they are not riding, we've found the kids are |
| be fun to document and share what we learn with our | | | | constantly active around the barn area, making new |
| kids over the course of time. | | | | friends, visiting other horses, helping out with chores, |
| We are still a bit mystified why our kids took to it so | | | | etc. It sure beats having them sitting in front of a TV, |
| immediately, but the benefits were evident very quickly. | | | | or off with friends getting into trouble. |
| Horse kids gain an incredible amount of confidence, as | | | | The only downside we've identified thus far is that |
| they learn to handle, control, and get repeatable | | | | there is a learning curve you have to go through as |
| responses out of an animal many times their size. | | | | parents, right along with your kids. Terminology, horse |
| Even just the process of getting the saddle on, getting | | | | anatomy, riding gear, barn talk, competitions and |
| the reigns over the horse's head, and the bit in the | | | | events,....you name it. Not quite as challenging as a |
| mouth can be challenging, particularly for kids, but | | | | foreign language, but you get the idea. Horse kids just |
| accomplishing it even just once is a huge confidence | | | | seem to absorb it all so quickly, while we adults end up |
| booster. Confidence continues to grow as they learn | | | | learning from them, at what certainly feels like a much |
| the subtleties of walking, jogging, loping, turning, and | | | | slower rate. Bottom line is that as a result of the |
| stopping the horse. We have found that by finding one | | | | benefits of horseback riding for our children, we have |
| thing to help your child gain confidence with, the | | | | become advocates of horse kids. |
| spillover into other areas of their life is very evident. | | | | If you find a better way than horseback riding for kids |
| Just as importantly, horse kids learn responsibility - | | | | to develop confidence and responsibility, and have this |
| grooming, feeding, and exercising what is essentially a | | | | much fun doing it, you should definitely jump on it - it will |
| large pet for them, along with maintaining the stall, | | | | pay dividends. |