Introducing children to horses in a fun environment

Many children don’t get the opportunity to come in close contact with horses in everyday life. For those living in the city, the lack of open spaces means it is often not a hobby explored in younger years. If you would like to introduce your children to horses but don’t have the facilities nearby to commit to regular horse riding lessons, there are other ways of getting tuition, usually in a group situation that allows for fun alongside learning new skills.

Children’s camps are run by many riding schools and can be a fantastic way of keeping kids busy during school holidays throughout the year. The camps are not just restricted to summer time, so keep an eye out for courses running at other school holiday times, when it might work out more convenient for your family. A lot of these camps are geared towards children with little or no previous experience of horses. They get to learn the basics on riding, and can practice this for several hours of the day. The other important aspect of camps is that they also focus on the care of the horses. Time is set aside for the jobs needed to properly care for your horse, so children will quickly learn to appreciate how much maintenance, cleaning and feeding is needed to have a healthy and happy horse.

Riding schools often cater for groups visiting or wanting a once-off day of lessons. This could be a good idea for a birthday, taking your children and their friends to meet horses and get to learn some basic skills. Riding schools will probably have a minimum and maximum number they can cater for, so be sure to check around for one that will suit your group best. Minimum age limits apply also, so check that the children involved are at a suitable age and height to fully benefit from the day and the range of horses available at that school.

School groups are also frequent visitors to riding schools, and are quite popular with city-based schools looking to bring their pupils to a very different setting. Again, learning not just about riding skills but also about the dedicated level of care needed for horses is a real eye-opener for children not normally exposed to animals. Perhaps you could suggest this to your child’s teacher as a potential day trip during the year?

There are clearly several ways of introducing children to horses when they are younger. Letting them experience this wonderful sport and hobby when they are young and adventurous is a great way to instill confidence, getting them used to dealing with large animals and appreciating the behind-the-scenes work involved. Opening children up to new experiences will greatly expand their horizons and give them a good insight into all the wonderful things the world has to offer.

Check out riding schools in your area or in surrounding counties. Ask about the instructors and what different aspects the children will be introduced to. And above all, make sure they will have fun!

HelenElizabeth is an Irish writer available for proofreading, editing, and general writing work.