"All horses deserve, at least once in their lives, to be loved by a little girl.
" No one is entirely sure who originally said this, but that does not change the beauty one can imagine when a little child is given the opportunity to build a relationship with a horse.
Children and horse riding seem to go together as naturally as the colors of the rainbow.
And because children so naturally want to flock towards horses, when children first desire to go horse riding, it is important that the horse be guided by a confident adult or teenager to the waiting child.
Young children, even those who love horses, might not be prepared for how large a horse is in real life and having the horse approach slowly can help them understand the size differences.
As beautiful and moving the experience of children riding a horse can be, safety must always be the first consideration.
Children should not go riding unless they are wearing a properly fitted helmet and have been properly trained in horse communication.
Sadly, on average, only one in eight riders wears a helmet.
But the good news is that children involved with horse riding are required to wear a helmet in Florida and New York.
Hopefully other states will follow suit.
A proper riding helmet is lower in the back than a typical bicycle helmet and it also distributes the protection equally around the head, instead of just in the front or the back.
The confidence that children acquire from riding a horse is immense.
Even though the first meetings can be a test for the child (and honestly for the horse to), once children have mastered horse riding, they will feel as if they can accomplish anything.
As a matter of fact, this is one reason children use horse riding in therapeutic settings.
Riding a horse can be beneficial for children with a wide range of cognitive, physical, and emotional conditions.
Ultimately, if you want to encourage children in the sport of horse riding, you are doing a wonderful thing.
Their confidence is sure to increase.
Just please remember to teach them to ride safely.