18 Feb Introducing Your Child to Horses
Things to Do With Kids in the Poconos: Introduce Your Child to Horses
Have you ever wanted your kids to love horses and horseback riding as much as you do? But, you don’t know where to start and what the best practices are to introduce your child to horses? Luckily, Mountain Creek has already thought of 5 great ways to introduce the little ones to horses and other animals in a natural, safe setting. We love getting future generations as excited about horseback riding as we are! So, if you ever need to find a horse stable near you in Pennsylvania to introduce your kids, we’d love to have you and your family come visit us!
Things to Do with Kids in the Poconos to make Poconos Family Fun:
- Take it Slow: Start off With a Petting Zoo
- Help Them Enjoy a Pony Ride
- Introduce The Children to Horseback Riding Lessons
- Visit a Stable Nearby Your Home and Volunteer
- Take a Family Trip and Go Horseback Riding as a Crew
#1 Petting Zoo
A petting zoo is a great way to start socializing your kids with animals. In fact, it’s such a great way to get kids ages 5 and under introduced that we wrote an entire blog on it! The best part of the petting zoo is the various different animals you get to encounter. Goats, donkeys, chickens, all the various “farm” animals your child has heard about but never seen!
Gambler is always ready to meet new people.
#2 Pony Rides
If your kid is too young to start riding lessons, then a pony ride is a great introduction to horses. A fun fact about the word “pony” in “pony rides” is that it has nothing to do with the type of horse! When a person leads a horse by a lead rope it is called “ponying”, which is where the term “pony ride” comes from. Here at Mountain Creek, we use our full-sized horses for pony rides because they’re such good boys. Some of our horses even prefer to take children as opposed to adults during rides!
Full-sized horses mean full fun!
#3 Horseback Riding Lessons for Kids
At Mountain Creek, we do not offer horseback riding lessons for kids. However, it’s a great way for children to build confidence and a relationship with horses. A trainer will be there to teach your child not only how to ride but how to care for and train their horse. We recommend Pleasant Ridge Farm for lessons in our area.
#4 Visit a Stable Near You
If your kid is too young for riding and is a bit too scared for a pony ride then we recommend having them visit the stable. Most stables are accommodating where you can take your child into the stable to meet horses (but not ride them). We recommend calling the horseback riding stable near you before showing up to make sure this is possible! This is great for children that are interested in riding horses but too young. While it might not fill up a ton of time, at The Ranch at Pocono Manor you can always make it a little trip into and go into our petting zoo as well, or book a family wagon ride!
#5 Easy Family Trail Rides
Lastly, if you have children that meet the age threshold of riding horses (here at Mountain Creek children must be at least 7 years old and must be at least 50″ tall to ride), it’s a great family experience to take a trail ride. Horseback trail rides are easy and it’s a wonderful way to build relationships with trained horses while enjoying the scenery. Our easiest family ride at Mountain Creek is the 45 min horseback trail ride.
Overall, the best tip for introducing your child to a horse is not to force it. If your child is scared and doesn’t want to pet the horse or go for the ride forcing them to only leads to an overall negative experience.
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