Yesterday I taught a lesson to my sole student. She rode Moe and we worked on going through a small gymnastic. Moe was being a real gem- he's usually very strong and fast over fences, but he was pretty quiet for her and I was pleased.
After the lesson, my student and her friend hared off to go groom and ride my student's horse while I chatted with my student's mother. Mom was very concerned because my student and her friend had found a horse online they wanted to pool their money and co-buy.
The horse in question? A yearling Paint filly.
Mom, who knows next to nothing about horses, was asking me if I thought this was a good idea. I told her it was about the worst idea I'd ever heard.
The kids had cooked up a whole poster board presentation for the barn manager; they wanted to convince him to let them board the horse in exchange for some work around the barn. Mom had already told my student the family couldn't afford another horse; my student ignored her and went on with the plan anyway. The best part was that the barn manager told him he'd think about it.
So these two 13 year old girls with very little horse experience bounce over to tell me of their plan and get my opinion. I very gently, but firmly questioned them on how they planned to train the horse, how they planned to pay for the horse's farrier, vet, and other needs, since neither child's parents were willing to contribute. I told them that they both had promising futures as equestrians, but currently lacked the skills needed to work with youngsters. I advised them that if they kept working hard and learning, that they'd one day have those skills. But that day was not coming for a long time. Both kids stared at their feet and said nothing.
I hate to crush a kid's dream, but I'd hate it more if either one of them got hurt taking on a silly baby horse!
3 comments:
Poor girls… but yes, glad someone told them this was not a good idea!! This kind of thing seems to happen way too often and just end badly for both horse and owner.
Less and less impressed with BM?
Exactly! And the kids didn't want to hear it from their parents, because the parents aren't horse people. (Though my student's mom is doing a great job of learning everything she can.)
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