riding lessons

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
...
enigma wrote:
Rosalie B. wrote in
m:

Check to see what they require in terms of helmets. They
should not let the kids on the horses without one. Buy him
one so he has his own. If by chance he does have a fall,
you need to get another one.

oh, i know! i hope he's not as hard to fit as i am. i need a
weird size long oval helmet

Ideally he should wear boots to ride - ankle type boots are
OK and are more suitable for children anyway. They should
have a heel and hard soles. No trainers/sneakers.

yup, so they don't slip through the stirrup. he has cowboy
boots.

I had a kid in my 6th grade homeroom (when I was a teacher) whose
mother said that they tied her son's feet to the stirrups and that the
saddle slipped and he was dragged. I was horrified.

A saddle doesn't need to slip to be dragged. Without heeled shoes/boots, a
foot has a reall good chance of even just slipping through a stirrup and
then your foot can get stuck and all it would take is a sudden move, and you
could fall off, with your foot still stuck in the stirrup. I took my cousin
out on the horses once, when we were about 14 or so, and she didn't have
shoes or boots with heels, so I had told her straight up not to put her feet
in the stirrups (given that the 'proper' way to sit in a saddle is with your
heels down and your toes pointed up)
Also, take into consideration saddle size - often saddles that are made for
horses are bigger and sometimes can't be adjusted for someone short.
To tie a foot into a stirrup is so very, very stupid! I would be horrified
as well!

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