Interacting with horses is not only a lot of fun for children, it builds their character in ways that will benefit them in all other areas of their lives. The best thing that any parent can do for their horse-crazy child or teenager is let them learn to ride and handle horses.

Horses Build Confidence
Horses are large and intimidating, so naturally it takes a lot of confidence to be able to control one. Letting a child handle a gentle horse will do wonders for their confidence. Most people are naturally a little bit afraid of horses because they are so big. By handling a gentle horse children/teens will overcome their fear and learn that they can safely handle and control the same animal that they were once afraid of. The better your child learns how to handle the horse, the more confident he/she will become. When children do well with the horses that they handle their confidence goes up and their self esteem improves. They know that they have accomplished something worth while.

Horses Teach Responsibility
Horses will teach children responsibility very quickly. Make sure that your child does all the work involved in caring for the horse. Everything from feeding, mucking stalls, grooming, saddling and riding/longing. Children will want to ride but they may not always be eager to do the work. However children almost always fall in love with the horses that they handle and they will want to take as good care of them as possible. Once they know that the horses depend on them and that in order to ride they have to take good care of the horses, they will learn to be responsible.

Horses Teach Patience
Horses are like small children, and training a horse is much like teaching a child. When your child has become a confident rider, letting them help train a horse will be an excellent experience for them. Horses require a lot of patience because training a young horse involves a lot of repetition and time.

The rider must consistently give the horse the proper command until the horse responds correctly. For most horses this takes a lot of time so the rider must be patient and reward the horse for its efforts. Training a horse to do something, even if it is something small will boost your child/teens confidence.

Horses Teach Sensitivity
Horses are very sensitive creatures. They can tell if someone is afraid, angry, happy, etc. They communicate with body language and are very sensitive to their handler’’s body position. Because horses are so sensitive, the handler must be also. The handler must be able to tell how the horse is feeling and why it is behaving the way it is. The handler must learn to interpret the horse’s body language and to communicate effectively with the horse using its own language. When a horse misbehaves, the handler must decide whether or not the horse is doing so out of fear, stubbornness, anger, pain etc. and must respond appropriately.

Horses Teach Trust
Horses must be able to trust their handlers. One of the first things that your child or teen will learn about handling and riding horses is to be trustworthy and dependable, because if the horse doesn’t trust its handler it will not obey him/her.

Horses Teach Respect
Children will learn to respect their horses and themselves. Horses are large, dangerous creatures and they demand respect, yet in order to be handled safely they must also respect their handlers. By learning how to handle a horse, children will become more respectful and more respectable. By being trustworthy, confident and responsible your child will earn the respect of his/her horse.

Horses Teach Us to be Open Minded
Every horse is different and will have to be handled differently. A good horseman never stops learning, even so called experts will admit that they learn something new everyday from their horses. Horses will make your child realize that learning is an on going process that never ends.

Horses Teach Us to Learn From Our Mistakes
When children first start learning to ride and handle horses they will make a lot of mistakes and will quickly learn not to make the same mistake twice. That is what riding is all about. When a rider makes a mistake he/she cannot deny it. He/she must acknowledge the mistake and correct it. Mistakes can‘t be dwelled on either. They rider must move on after correcting the mistake. Handling and riding horses will teach your child to use their past mistakes to improve their future horsemanship skills.

Horses Teach Self Discipline
Horses take a lot of time and work, so your child will have to be dedicated to learning how to ride and handle horses effectively. I have found that dedication is rarely something that children lack when it comes to horses. People, especially young people, have a natural attraction to horses and enjoy spending time with them. However, because horses are a lot of working your child will soon learn self discipline. For example, instead of sleeping in in the morning, they will be out feeding. Horses must be fed twice daily and have access to fresh water at all times. Their and their stalls/pens must be cleaned regularly and they must receive regular exercise. This will take a lot of time, but most people find that it is worth it for the time they get to spend riding, or just being with horses.

The time that children spend with horses makes a tremendous difference in their lives and the skills that they learn from handling horses will apply to all other areas of their lives (school, work, ect.) making them happier and more successful individuals.