Yikes!

Our 13 year old daughter rode Annie today and did not have a good experience. She lunged her at first and then when she thought Annie was listening, got on. I did remind her to be light on her mouth, but it seemed like without much provocation, Annie reared a couple of times, sidestepped, tossed her head, etc. So my daughter got off again, lunged her some more. Then she got on. Annie settled for a bit, but at a lope (which got faster and faster as she went), she bucked quite a bit when my daughter tried to slow her down. (My daughter stayed on fortunately)

This daughter is a quiet, experienced rider who has trained her own colt; I am glad she rode her first because our 9 year old probably would have panicked which would have made it worse.

We’re willing to give Annie other chances, but it’s not looking good so far. We emailed the seller (we have a three week trial period) with the above details so he is not shocked at our final verdict.

Sigh. Back to square one.

***
Lessons learned:

No matter how sweet and gentle a horse looks, do not fall in love until the main rider rides it.

The older the horse, in general, the better. Especially for your youngest child!

If you are looking for a 4-H horse, a horse with 4-H experience is ideal so you don't have to teach it new tricks.

Introducing Annie/Mandy

After searching for a fourth horse for several months now, we finally made our pick. This is Annie whom my youngest daughter will be riding for 4-H. My daughter wants to rename her to Mandy and already wants to use purple tack on her.



She is petite and very sweet. She comes from Burley, Idaho. Her seller delivered her to us with a three week trial period, which is really quite generous of him. On Monday or Tuesday, my youngest will ride her for the first time.

Risky But Worth It

As I was waiting for a school program, I got talking to a friend and the topic got around to the kids and how busy they were. When I mentioned that my kids ride horses, she said, her daughter has always wanted to learn to ride one.

I told her she should look into it lessons for her daughter. She said, "I told my husband if we could afford it, we should get a horse, but he said it's too risky."

The cost, sure, I could relate to. It is an expensive hobby, owning horses.

As for risk. Sure, there's risk. Three years ago, my daughter, who was ten, got bucked off by her young horse and she had extensive nerve damage. And the other day, I was talking to a woman who was selling off their horses because she "did a Christopher Reeve" and broke her back and neck getting bucked off a horse.

But my daughter is fine today, and probably a stronger person for her experience. She got right back on the saddle when she could and has never looked back. She has learned how to stay on a horse. She has always worn a helmet and we stress safety on a horse all the time. Sometimes, riding a horse that decides to buck can be an adventure.

And what a rush of an adventure it has been.

Kids break bones from jumping off trampolines; heck, even just walking down a curb. To miss out on the joys of riding horses because of the possibility of injury is missing out on a great experience.

Thanks to horses, our family has become closer, we spend a lot more time outdoors, our kids have learned responsibility and have grown in confidence. I have grown as a person and as a mother as I have ridden horses and as I support my kids in 4-H.

I know not everyone has the opportunity to have horses, and I am grateful to have this. But best of all, I am grateful we can let our horse-crazy children live their dream now.