Children will only learn so much at school. They need to develop their skills and improve their socialisation by venturing outside of their comfort zone and trying out new activities. One of the best hobbies your kid can adopt, and one that they will cherish for life, is horse riding.
It’s one of the most beautiful ways for a child to learn compassion and it’s a great form of exercise. If you still need more convincing, don’t worry, you’re in the right place. Here are seven reasons why your kid will love horse riding!
Get Active
Horse riding is a fantastic way to get the blood pumping and those muscles moving. Not only is it mentally rewarding, but it’s physically stimulating too. You’ll get your child to practise their hand-eye coordination, tone their body, and improve their overall reflexes.
Enjoy the Outdoors
More often than not, horse riding is practised outdoors. Therefore, this is a great way to ensure your child is spending quite a bit of time reconnecting with nature. This is especially important in our day and age as technology tends to take over our kid’s free time.
Learn Teamwork
When you are horse riding, you are practising teamwork to its fullest extent. You are forming a connection with the horse, and you must trust each other. Your child will learn to be responsible for their animal and the importance of working together.
Falling is Normal
One of the best lessons that horse riding could ever teach a child is that falling is a completely normal part of the process. In fact, many riding schools teach the children how to safely throw themselves off if a dangerous situation were to arise.
Healthy Competitiveness
Horse riding also encourages a sense of healthy competitiveness in your child. From a young age, they can enter competitions and start winning their horse show rosettes. Help them display their trophies in their room and foster a sense of pride within them unlike no other.
Getting Back Up
Just as important as the lesson of falling, is teaching them to get back up on their horse (literally). It’s an important life lesson that can be taught in the form of an equestrian sport. As they grow older, they will sometimes fail and fall, however, it’s how they get back on track that truly counts.
Inspires Confidence
Last but not least, horse riding is a phenomenal way to instil confidence in a child. When they are young and riding such a large animal, they feel like they are on top of the world. It inspires confidence while teaching compassion, so they get the best of both worlds.
At the end of the day, it’s important to encourage your children to try new things. Give them the confidence to believe they can achieve anything they set their mind to. Encourage them to get back on their horse if they fall. Undoubtedly, horse riding is one of the most beautiful sports they can practise, and it teaches incredible transferable skills too.