10 Invaluable Lessons your Child will Learn from Horses

There’s something about children and horses. They seem to go together like, well…kids and ponies. But in a sport that is expensive and risky, it is understandable that many parents are hesitant to bring their kiddos to the barn. But it’s about more than just learning to ride or spending time with pretty ponies. Horses have a lot of valuable lessons to teach us all, but especially kids. Here are just some of the lessons you can expect your child to learn when they begin riding.

1. Responsibility

   The cowboy code: always take care of your horse before you take care of yourself. Horses need a lot of care. Rain or shine, they need feed, grooming, and stalls cleaned every day.

2. Grit

   There’s nothing that will make a kid gritty like learning to walk an unruly pony, getting dumped in the dirt, or learning how to follow through with getting that trot transition even when the pony won’t go and their legs are tired. Grit is a powerful character trait that can only be learned through doing hard things. Horses will challenge kids, and give them great rewards for their hard work.

3. Planning and Execution

   Learning to ride means learning to plan an approach. Picking the right speed and trajectory to get to the jump, obstacle, or just go around on the rail is critical to execution and effective riding.

4. Emotional Intelligence

   This is a two part lesson. Firstly is learning to recognize your own emotions, as horses are powerful mirrors. If the rider is nervous, so will be the pony. The other side is the emotional intelligence to recognize what the pony is feeling and being able to take action based on the behavior. If the pony is nervous, but the child isn’t, a good rider will notice the pony’s behavior and redirect its attention.

5. Confidence

   I have the pleasure of hearing kids say “I am so proud of myself” on a regular basis during their riding lessons. Working through a challenging ride or performing a task that they perceive to be difficult, whether saddling on their own, or learning to post the trot, go a long way toward building confidence.

6. Team Work

   Despite common beliefs, equestrian sports are team sports. The team of horse and rider is the most important. While it is incredibly rewarding, it can also be incredibly challenging at times. Working intimately with a team mate that doesn’t speak your language and that can be moody or inconsistent makes team work a critical skill for a successful ride. The team of rider and trainer/farrier/vet/bodyworker are also all important teams that riders have to work with for the success of their riding career, especially as children grow up and take on more responsibility with their horse’s health.

7. Respect

   It’s hard not to respect a creature that outweighs you tenfold. A horse’s power and mind have a way of instilling respect in young riders in a quiet and pervasive way. Learning how to listen to their pony and also how to command reciprocal respect gives kids an understanding of respect that is deeper than most.

8. Nurturing Others

   Caring for a pony after a ride or nursing an injured or sick horse teaches kids how to put the needs of others before their own when needed. They learn how to give TLC with a sensitivity that can be profound in establishing a child-pony connection.

9. Focus

   We know today that many kids have a shortened attention span due to the instant gratification of technology. Getting distracted in the saddle means a wandering pony, loss of balance and coordination, or going off course. Kids that ride have to learn how to focus for long periods.

10. Consequences

    With horses around, both positive and negative consequences are immediate and clear. If you kick (even accidentally), pony goes faster. If you look left (even to talk to your trainer), pony turns left. Learning that a child’s actions have a direct and immediate effect on the world around them is another great lesson that horses have the ability to teach.

There are so many other lessons that horses have to teach us all about life. They can teach us about grief, independence, codependence, life cycles, nutrition, being present, resilience, and so much more. But these are the ten lessons that I see most often learned in kids that ride horses. So, if you are on the fence about getting your child in the saddle, I’d say give it a try! With the right instructor and training program, your child may just learn to be a better person both in and out of the saddle.