Our kids and our horses
Bill over at Our First Horse writes about their 10-year-old son's current lack of interest in their two horses—
Well, we had hoped he’d take to the horses more than he has and would write some posts here and there. It hasn’t happened. Yet. We haven’t given up hope but he’s not showing much interest. Mikki and I can’t really understand this since we would have both LOVED to have had a horse at his age ...
When we bought J. and C. their
POA pony Thor several
years ago, had him secretly delivered before breakfast, pretended
there was something odd going on down at the barn that the whole family had
to go investigate after we finished our huevos
rancheros, and lo-and-behold,
when
we got
to the
gate there was a handsome, spotted, blue-eyed pony waiting in the pasture,
we expected them to
be
delirious
with
joy like my husband and I would have been had someone just given us a pony
at ages 4 and 5. Truthfully, as kids who've both been around horses their whole
lives, they were fairly casual
So fast forward a few years later, and now I find myself with a daughter who is just about as horse crazy as I am. And when I understood the extent of her love for the horses, I gave her my prize—my Andalusian mare Caprichosa. My son is a different story, however. He loves his horse. He really does. But horses are not his passion, and I'm not quite certain that he understands what a privilege it is to have such a thing. And I'm sure he definitely has no concept of the financial cost.
Once when our family was riding up the Cave Creek Trail in the Pecos Mountains, we passed a group of hikers who told us they were from New York City. They knew the trail etiquette and stepped aside for us because we were on horseback. They seemed filled with wonder as we passed by. I could tell they were just dying to touch one of the horses. I know what it's like to live in a big city. How easily you can get disconnected from the natural world. So as I was thanking the hikers for letting us pass, I halted Caprichosa and asked them if they'd like to pet her. From the looks on their faces, you'd have thought I was offering them a handful of diamonds. I dismounted and explained to them what kind of horse she is and told them that she loves people, that she's quite friendly and social, to not be afraid, go ahead, they could touch her. You should have seen the looks on their faces when that lovely mare nuzzled them one by one. My kids still talk about that.
So, here's what I think. No, a parent can't wrangle or will a kid to be interested in horses, no matter how much a parent loves the whole equestrian life, unless we want to face the consequences of that later. As an avid horsewoman, and a mom, I've had to learn the art (and I'm still practicing, believe me) of standing back and letting my son (whose definitely not as wild about horses as I) find his passion. And, in the meantime, there's a horse in the barn who is his, who is suitable and safe for his skill level and helps him feel a sense of accomplishment when he does ride (and he digs the whole mountain trekking thing). I can also use his horse myself and for packing into the mountains or as a guest mount. She also seems to have potential as a vaulting horse too!
For what it's worth, this works for us. Although all of that hay sure is hard to pay for sometimes.
