Sigrid,
I feel the pain in this and see it so often. It’s a heart breaker for so many reasons. Thanks for your comment. Barbara

TK
It’s too bad there aren’t more children growing up in families that have roots in horsemanship. I’m afraid though, the majority of children that ride today come from families with no horse experience at all. It’s so important for them to find an instructor who is grounded and well trained. Thanks for your comments.
Barbara Fox

If you are a parent, please, please, PLEASE don’t look at your child’s riding abilities through rose-colored glasses! It is SO important to be honest with yourself and your child! You could get them killed if you aren’t!!!

Growing up with a parent that knows horse-care, and thrived under a family that had horses for generations, is a great advantage over those that don’t. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve argued with people over something so simple, or something I’ve done thousands of times to help a horse in some way, and the people I’m telling will blow me off because it “didn’t say that on the internet.” While I’m not saying that my advice is always the right action to take, I am saying that it never hurts to try something as long as it won’t harm the horse or rider.

Sometimes this first generation of horse ownership will take the advice of a trainer, and sometimes that trainer is a first generation themselves! That scares me the most! I knew of one lady (first generation) that had a horse with EPM, and her trainer (first generation, though you wouldn’t know it from how authoritative and opinionated about everything she was!) recommended they inject the horse with her own “EPM cure.” So they gave the horse an arsenic injection (without consulting a vet or having one there to administer the drip) and the horse was dead within 24 hours. I’ve also known plenty of instructors that ruined a good horse because they were horrible riders themselves. So really, getting the advice of a professional just depends on the professional! It’s the sad truth, but you can’t always trust those you think you should be able to trust!

Susan
The scenario you mention happens way too frequently. Maybe if you talk to the parents about the need for their child to practice between lessons instead of focusing on the horse. When I board a student’s horse I make it clear that the horse has to have a certain amount of exercise and if they don’t provide it I will at a certain fee to them. I can get by with that because I’m not in the boarding business. I’m in the student business. Everyone has to set their own standards and stick to them or else there is a certain amount of “trembling underfoot”, if you get my drift. The best advice I have is that you have to decide what you can live with in your own place, and then be firm about it in a kind way…be assertive!:-).