There are so many different hobbies and activities that are available to our kids these days that it can be hard to choose what to enroll them for. From drama to sports to arts and crafts, there are various classes which can have fantastic benefits for your child, and which they will really enjoy. Horse riding has been a very popular hobby for decades and millions of people around the world take enormous pleasure in it. Many people wrongly believe that horse riding is just for the mega-rich, but this could not be further from the truth. Horse riding is a fantastic hobby for people of all ages, but it is particularly great for kids.
1. Riding is Fun
First and foremost, riding is an incredibly fun hobby which all children can enjoy! The thrill of getting up on a horse never really diminishes and the incredible speeds that experienced riders can attain give you a real adrenaline rush. The experts at http://www.ayrequestrian.com/ explain that there are so many different disciplines in competitive horse riding, which your child can practice such as dressage, showjumping, and horse racing. All of these require the development of different skills which are so much fun to learn.
2. Lots of Fresh Air
We all know the benefits of getting outside in nature. Fresh air and sunshine both have positive effects on our physical and mental health. Horse riding is an excellent hobby for giving kids the opportunity to spend more time outside and get all the vitamin D and fresh air that they need. Children spend a lot of their time cooped up inside at school and at home so this opportunity is priceless.
3. Riding Encourages Determination and Willpower
Horse riding is one of the most challenging hobbies there are. The courage it takes just to get up on a horse for the first time is tremendous and after that very first day, the challenges just keep coming. Every stage of learning to ride a horse, and then becoming a master equestrian takes determination and willpower, and these are fantastic traits to instill in your child. The first time your child trots, gallops, and jumps can all be very scary, but the courage they gain from doing so will be invaluable.
4. Your Child Will Learn Responsibility
When children go to a riding school, they don’t just learn how to ride a horse, but how to take care of one. Your child will learn all the responsibilities required from grooming and caring for the horse’s health, to mucking out its stable. Some of these are difficult, mucky jobs which are unlike any of the chores your child may normally do at home. These tasks make your child responsible and teach them the important lesson that you need to work hard and make sacrifices for the things you love.
5. It’s a Great Opportunity to Meet New Friends
Horse riding is a perfect opportunity to make new friends as your child will meet many like-minded people at their riding school. As people of all ages love to ride horses, your child will meet not only people their own age but also younger and older riders too. This is important in child development as they can act as a mentor to their younger friends and learn from their older ones. Learning to get on with lots of different people is a very important life skill and riding classes are the ideal environment to develop this skill.
6. It’s a Hobby for Life
There are many hobbies which we do as children that we rarely continue into adulthood, but horse riding definitely isn’t one of them. It truly is a hobby for people of all ages and all the best riders started out when they were children. Just being around a horse is an incredibly exciting thing and so the vast majority of people who start horse riding as a child end up continuing to ride for the rest of their lives.
Horse riding is such a wonderful hobby and it really does have so many benefits for children of all ages. As well as all the fun your child will have when riding a horse, they will also develop their determination and willpower, and learn to be responsible as they look after the horses. Despite what many people think, horse riding does not have to be a costly hobby and there are many riding schools that allow their students to ride for free if they help look after the horses. If you are looking for a new hobby for your child, sign them up for riding classes today.