Riding costs chucks of time, money and energy. Of all the sports a youngster could start, I figured it probably only outranks curling in the chances of it earning her a scholarship to college (but, it turns out I’m wrong! Check out my new scholarship blog post). And as parents likely notice, riding also puts their child in direct partnership with a very large and sometimes exceedingly foolish animal.
So why should you let your daughter ride?
Honestly, it is for those exact reasons listed above that I think anyone vaguely interested in riding should dive right in. Here’s why.
Thanks to the timely comment of one of my readers, I learned that I underestimated just how far the benefits of riding can go! Not only can riding teach responsibility, self confidence and a whole slew of powerful skills, it can also fetch scholarships all across the country.
After a bit of web snooping, I realized I’d just clipped the edge of an incredible iceberg.
Read more on Show me the money! Scholarships for equestrians…
I could see the frustration rising right up to her blond pigtail braids. “I said CANTER, Captain!” she shouted as the lanky thoroughbred trotted unperturbed around the arena.
“Sweetie, I think you need to sit deeper in the saddle,” her mother offered.
The pigtails whipped around as the girl turned. “I know what I’m doing, mom.”
I gestured the girl over to me. “Hey there. Captain’s getting a bit confused, huh? He needs you to straighten up really tall and just park your butt in the saddle when you ask him to canter. If you don’t sit deep and you keep posting, you’re just telling him to trot fast, okay?”
The girl nodded enthusiastically. “Okay! Let me try it again.”
Now this whole exchange hardly seems fair. The mother was right, but factualness in her answer couldn’t change one important thing: the fact that she was a mother. For some reason, hearing something from a coach versus hearing something from a parent for some kids is the difference between swallowing a teaspoon of sugar and swallowing an onion. Whole.
Read more on The coach’s call–letting your coach do her job!…
