Questions for horse people

[Innisfree]

If you did not grow up with parents who had horses, how did you learn about horses yourself? What would you recommend for tweens or teens who are interested?

 

Our current situation involves weekly group lessons, but I'm not crazy about the stable. It seems to derive more income from boarding than from lessons, and most of the kids in lessons own (and board) their own horses. The stable heavily pushes involvement in very expensive shows, which I'm not certain I really want dd getting involved in.

 

After talking to local horse people, there don't seem to be other stables which are very good alternatives. They are all very focused on these shows.

 

It's been many years since my own riding days, but I remember a greater emphasis on horsemanship beyond just riding. We had shows, yes, but they were school shows, with low entry fees and relatively informal dress. We were encouraged to hang around the barn and help out and learn during the summer. This stable does have a one-week summer camp, in which dd will participate, but it still doesn't sound like it involves much actual horse care: mainly riding and swimming.

 

So... Has horse culture changed since the '80s? Is there generally more emphasis on expensive shows, or is this a local thing?

 

And, how do kids learn to care for their horses?

 

I'm not opposed to letting dd get more involved with horses if her interest continues, but I am scared of everything to do with owning a horse right now. I do not know enough, and I'm not sure we have deep enough pockets. And I just don't really like what I think I'm seeing: lessons focused on riding but not on broader horsemanship, and a goal of horse ownership and heavy competition in expensive shows. Shouldn't there be another component of actually *learning about* horses? How does that happen?

 

And, btw, dd is already in the only 4-H horse option locally, but it is very limited and really can't teach much. Think 2 hours/month involvement, 6 months/year, ages 5- 16.

 

Anyway, I'd be grateful for any advice you can give.

[AnthemLights]

I was crazy for horses growing up.  (Still am   :tongue_smilie: )  No way my family could afford to buy or keep horses or even pay for lessons.  So I made friends with the neighbors down the road who owned horses. Helped in the stable with grooming, taking care of tack, mucking out stalls....went over whenever I knew the farrier would be around....stuff like that.  I ended up buying my first horse from them when I was in my late teens.  

 

Which I know probably doesn't help you.  Unless you have happen to have neighbors or friends that own?

[Innisfree]

No friends who own horses, no. There is someone a couple of miles away, but I've never felt comfortable just knocking on the door of a stranger and saying "could you introduce us to your horses?" ;-)

 

And, also, I don't know them, and I'd want to before sending dd over. But I have often wished I did know them.

[Sdel]

I'd look into 'working student' options at your local barns. Most offer work for lessons too. My daughter and I have both been taking lessons from a lady for the last 6 months and for her students who are looking to move into their own horses she teaches them horse care as a working student. We are frantically working on building a barn and learning horse care this summer because my instructor is downsizing and she offered to have us take our lesson horse home. DD got her first lesson in stall mucking yesterday.

 

Stefanie

[zimom]

I was a horse crazy teen.  The only thing in our town growing up was a less then ideal, should probably call it terrible, place that let you ride their horses for $2 an hour in the 80s.  It was all I had but I was there every weekend and rode and hung around every Saturday and probably learned a great deal about how not to care for horses.

 

In college I was very fortunate to find a great barn with caring owners.  I quickly became almost like a surrogate kid to them and they took me under their wings.  I did everything for them, mucking stalls, feeding, watching their own kids, you name it.  I just learned so much.  Eventually a unique situation came up where an amazing horse needed a new owner and they made it happen that he became mine (for free).  I worked off his board each month.  

 

All that to say, is eventually the right situation will come along.  I strongly encourage doing everything.  I did very,very few shows. Working behind the scenes is where I learned everything.    

[Innisfree]

Thanks, guys. I'll ask around about "working student" options. I appreciate the information.

[Paula in MS]

I wish you had access to a better barn.  Our barn has many boarders and also many students taking lessons on lesson horses.  It is very hands on and requires that you groom and tack your own horse.  This is done supervised for awhile.  There are shows but no one pushes them.  Because we are an eventing barn in the middle of a hunter/jumper area, there is not a lot of show access.  Students show up in the summer to hang around the barn and "help" with camps.  I also frequently see some students who do not own horses show up and groom lesson horses.   I think you will find the perfect thing if you just keep asking around.  A lot of small non-competitive barns probably exist that you just don't know about yet.

[Guest]

You might look online for some trail riding groups in your area and then from there figure out where they board, if you aren't looking to compete. Around here we have the highly competitive show barns and a mix of pleasure/trail owners barns. They two aren't really mixed because each group wants different facilities. Before we bought this place we boarded at a barn with 150 acres- trail riding paradise. There weren't many people who were competitive h/j there though and I loved it for that. Sorry to say, but it keeps the snoot factor down a bit. The kids there just ride to ride and their horses didn't cost more than my first house.

 

If you want your kids to learn horsemanship I would suggest looking up Clinton Anderson Down Under Horsemanship online. He used to have a show air on RFD TV but I am not sure if it's still on there or not. Anyway, imo, he's one of the best ways to learn great handling practices when you don't have an in person expert. He isn't all touchy feely like Parelli who I can't stand. The biggest things with beginners is learning save handling and that you are the boss and Clinton teaches that in spades. He has a DVD beginner course that is very very comprehensive.

 

You might consider leasing a horse if possible for six months to a year if your uncertain of purchasing. You and dd will still get the taste of daily responsibility without the financial hit if something doesn't work out. We did this for my daughter's first horse when she started wanting to run barrels. I knew her ability was going to change drastically in a year and didn't want to have to worry about either being stuck with a beginner horse when she needed to move on to something more aggressive, yet I didn't want to kill her confidence by buying her too much horse on the outset. So we leased one for a year and then bought her one with a little more gas once she was ready. In my opinion you really can't go wrong with a lease in your situation. It is a LOT of responsibility and a lot of expense. People don't realize how much feed costs vary year to year and if you have a hard keeper etc. I think it's great you're putting a lot of thought into it in advance. I wish everyone would!

[Innisfree]

Thanks so much for the suggestions! I'll look up the videos you mention.

 

Yes, this is a hunter/jumper barn. All that I can find locally are, but people suggesting there may be smaller, less-publicized options are probably right. I'll try to find out.

 

It's not even that I object to the h/j aspect, really. I could see letting dd move toward that eventually, if she maintains her interest. It's just that she hasn't even been riding a whole year yet. Shehas so much to learn.

 

And the attitude at the barn seems to be that the kids who are on the show team, and have their own horses, get the attention. They get time during lessons to ride, while she's in the middle of the ring watching them. She's told to practice counting their strides.

 

Now obviously she rides some, more some weeks than others, but much less if the showing kids are around. And they're happy to talk with us about joining the show team. But my gosh, the costs!!! And I just don't think that makes sense for her at her present level, but she's getting the idea that "this is what you do." She thinks I'm not taking her interest seriously because I'm hesitant about this sort of involvement at this time. Because what she sees are kids owning horses and entering them in shows that cost $100+/class, plus all kinds of extras.

 

They do have her groom, tack up, clean her tack, etc., but when she has trouble managing a horse, she feels self-conscious asking for more instruction. The expectation is that after the initial instruction, she should be able to do it.

 

The "working student" idea sounds very much like what I used to do when I was her age. That stable offered reduced tuition for help over the summer around the barn. I guess if I'd continued I might be in a better position to help her. When I mentioned that possibility to her, she said "but the students don't have to clean the stalls, mom! They board their horses, and the stable hires people for that!" She just doesn't see that being done by kids as part of the whole horse-ownership deal, and that bugs me as much as the emphasis on showing.

 

Anyway, thanks to all who replied. I appreciate your ideas.

[regentrude]

It is probably a local thing. A stable like you describe was where my kids rode. I know nothing about horses at all. My DD started riding lessons at age 10. Kids were involved in horse care. She started with weekly lessons, moved up to twice weekly, then we leased a horse and she spent most week days at the barn, hanging out with other riders, playing with horses. We are in a low income rural area, and expensive shows are not the focus. There were a lot of smaller local schooling shows, very informal, with the goal of learning. Generally our barn had a laid back atmosphere, do-it-yourself attitude (no paid grooms, just one work student who received half off board in exchange for cleaning stalls), no emphasis on expensive gear. 

It also depends a lot on the personality of the stable owner. Ours was very clear about her vision and what she wanted in terms of barn culture.

Edited June 12, 2016 by regentrude

[Ottakee]

If you can find a local feed store ask there for ideas of other barns/stables.

 

H/J world can be very expensive but ask at the feed store too about local "fun" shows which are much more low key and much cheaper...like $5/class.

[Sdel]

I admit, I do stop my kid short over that attitude (not that you haven't). My DD is only 8, so she isn't expected to do things on her own with the current horse (he's too tall for her to groom/tack up properly) but she is expected to help. She's told every lesson that the horse works very hard for her to be able to ride so it is her responsibility to work very hard to take care of him properly by both myself and our instructor. Show barn or not, the attitude that the students are not responsible for the horse is a bit of a deal breaker for me.

 

If a working student option isn't available, you might try bringing your concerns to the instructor and see if there are other small ways to increase some of the responsibility. If most of the lesson kids are boarding their own horse the care aspect maybe is just a bit overlooked. Can she get there early to help catch and bring up the horse for the lesson? Can she stay a few minutes to pick the stall out after lessons? Can she help turn back out? Sometimes you can get a lot of extra in just by expressing an interest of "anything you want some help with?"

 

Honestly, I'm not very keen on the lesson structure you describe, but I've never ridden in semi - private lesson so it may be standard. It might be worth a trial with another instructor.

 

Stefanie

[Reefgazer]

Lessons and working at the local barn will go along way toward learning about horses.

[Guest]

Another suggestion, if you can't find a good local barn, would be to check into any rehabilitative equine therapy organizations near you. They may have volunteer opportunities your dd could work at and in the process learn a great deal of horsemanship on the ground work and care side of horses. Confident handling on the ground leads to a more confident rider.