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So your teenage girl wants to ride horses. . .Dec 07 '04 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line horses don't have to be an expensive hobby; your child can ride for free if they want to work for it
Great! You don't have to have money to do that! I spent my teen years with horses, and it didn't cost my parents anything. The benefits of having your teen (girls especially) with horses as much as possible: 1. Taking care of animals teaches responsibility, as you can't take a 'day off' when you feel like it. 2. There is always something that needs to be done- grooming the horse, cleaning stalls, cleaning tack, feeding, exercising the horse, catching horses to bring in/turn out to pasture, watering, holding horses for vets and farriers, etc. 3. All the walking around doing things for the horses burns calories, as does active riding (posting the trot, jumping courses, etc.). 4. If she's at the barn, she's not doing drugs, getting drunk, getting pregnant, etc. 5. If you go to shows, you learn sportsmanship, as acting out in front of a judge will get you nowhere fast. 6. You can excel as part of a team from a stable, yet still compete individually. 7. Kids with low self-esteem benefit because it is 'awesome' to have a huge animal working in sync with you, and feeling yourself getting better at communicating with it all the time. Horses also are great 'listeners' and don't judge or tease like kids do, so they make great pals during the torturous middle school and junior high years. Okay, so how do we get into this, especially if finances are a problem? Well, you (the kid) works for it. I took some lessons at first, paying for them, and then asked if I could work for my lessons. I ended up working for my lessons by spending every weekday after school catching, grooming, and tacking the lesson horses for the stable. In the process, I learned a lot about horses, got plenty of extra chances to ride (leading trail rides, teaching summer horsemanship camps, doing 'pony parties' at people's houses), and basically became a piece of the barn. I even got to show for free; when the shows were held at my barn, all of the expenses were waived. When the shows were at other barns, the expenses like trailering, trainer fees, etc. were waived; I only paid the show fees owed to the host barn. I was always at the barn, so boarders started asking me to exercise their horses when they went on vacation; I got to help with the training and care of various horses; I got to assist vets and farriers; I got to load horses onto trailers and tag along on many journeys to feed stores, etc. By doing more than simply climbing onto a horse for a lesson and then leaving, I learned WAY more than the average riding student. I feel I got a much more thorough education. Sure, I put in a lot of hours, but it was fun. Meanwhile, my parents always knew where I was, I earned some extra money for extra chores here and there, I learned skills that helped me get jobs with equine vet clinics in college, and I made contacts that were valuable in many different ways (think: Who boards horses at riding stables? People with money and links to the 'higher class' in the community--ties to the medical fields, etc.). I got a lot of friends that shared my interests (granted there are the HAVEs and the HAVE NOTs at every barn, but I felt like I had a herd of about 20 lesson horses to call my own--I was given the opportunity to ride any of them anytime I wanted), I had a place to go when I needed a place to 'get away from it all' (a second home, basically), and I had many experiences to put on my resume. For a kid under the age of 18, that's a lot! By the time I went to college, I had 5 years worth of work experience year-round! When I went to college in a different town, I was able to make the same arrangement with the stable there, although not to the same extent. I cleaned stalls for lessons (granted I didn't have the same amount of free time in college). From talking to many different 'horse' people, I know there are a lot of stables that are willing to have 'working students', so if you have a kid that is willing to work to be around horses, don't let a lack of money keep her dreams dreams. Those dreams can be a reality. Even if you do have the money (my parents did, actually), it's a great learning experience for the kid to earn their own lessons. It teaches responsibility, gives them a feeling of paying their own way, and they learn a lot more about horses than the kids who take a tacked horse to the arena, ride for an hour, and return it to a working student. Besides, like I said before, all the hours your child is at the barn are hours you know where your kid is! Your kid will love you for letting them spend hours a day at the barn (and you'll love knowing they're right where you want them!). PS--I maintained a 4.0 GPA with AP Calculus, AP English, etc. through graduation, and went to college on a full scholarship. I did my homework when I got home at night, or when things got slow at the barn.  |
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