Information and Resources At M-Bar-K Farms we specialize in helping people get started in horses. We understand that some parents feel completely at a loss when it comes to helping their horse-crazy child. For some children this is a passing fancy, but for others it is an obsession. There is right way and a wrong way to go about getting into the horse world and we hope that this page will be helpful in this. Question: My child loves horses and we are thinking of buying her a horse of her own. We can afford the upkeep, so what should we do? Answer: We understand that the thought of surprising your child with her first horse can be fun, but unfortunately in reality it does not work out very well for quite a few reasons. You would not think of buying your child a piano and not giving them lessons first to see if they will stay interested in the instrument. That is also the best way to go about horses. Your child will be perfectly happy with a year or two of weekly riding lessons and that will help you decide if this is something she will stay involved with. About half the people who come out and take lessons realize there is way more involved with horses then they pictured. The other half still want to get one, but they decide that they need to go about it in a completely different manner. Question: My child's instructor is selling a used saddle for $475.00. We see brand new ones at the store for $275.00. Wouldn't a new saddle be better? Answer: When it comes to saddles a lot of time a used one is a better choice. Many saddles are cheaply made nowadays and will rapidly lose their value and usability. A good used saddle that was $1,500 originally and is now $475 will be worth $475 when your child is done with it as long as it is cared for properly. A cheap new saddle of $275.00 may end up being worthless after a few years of riding in it. These cheap saddles also may be uncomfortable to ride in or worse, they may sore up the back of your child's horse. This could be a potentially dangerous situation. Question: I have been looking for a riding instructor for my child and the prices range from $25.00 per hour up to $60.00 for a half hour lesson. Wouldn't I be better off going with the less expensive ones so that my child can take more lessons at a lower cost? Answer: This is a common question. The reasons that the prices vary is based on the skill and knowledge of the instructor. Same thing with the piano instructor. Would you pay for your child to take lessons with an instructor who has never had lessons herself and has only been playing for a year or two? Or would you want one who has been taught in a professional school or has twenty or thirty years of experience? More lessons with the first instructor is not going to get your child anywhere. Riding is very risky. Good lessons will help your child stay balanced and in control and will minimize this risk. Bad lessons are not only a waste of your money if your child is not learning good habits, it is worse then that. Bad instructor's may teach bad or dangerous habits out of their own ignorance. Increasing the chances of your child being hurt by tenfold. Don't spend $250.00 for ten cheap lessons when your child isn't learning half of what they would learn in just one lesson with a qualified instructor. Look up the background information of these instructors and ask to watch a lesson. You will see a big difference between the two. Another problem that people run into are insisting on taking lessons with someone with a great show history. Not all good instructors show extensively and not all show winners can teach students or train horses. Many have just been handed or lucked into a great one in a million horse. These people usually make horrific instructors because they don't have the patience to deal with people very well since they did not have to work from the ground up to get where they are. Question: I want to help with my child's horse, but I don't know where to start. Answer: One way is to ask your child's instructor to give you a ground horsemanship lesson. One on safely handling the horse, grooming, tacking-up and how to properly care for things. This will show you how your child is being taught to do these things and how to help your child when they need it. At M-Bar-K Farms we help parents with these things as well as minor vet care, trailering instruction, walking you through horse showing processes and much more. We can guide you through the entire process of horse ownership so that you and your child will have a wonderful and successful experience with your horse. We structure our lessons to meet your individual needs. Question: Buying a horse is such a big step, but I think my child may need more then just a lesson once a week. What else can I do? Answer: If your child has been taking lessons for a year or two and is wanting their own horse, but you aren't ready there are two steps that you can take before taking that plunge. One is Part time leasing. Sometimes your child's instructor or another boarder at the barn your child takes lessons at will split the cost of their horses board, shoeing and routine vet care. Your child can get the feel of horse ownership with only half of the expense. The next step up from that is a full lease. Some owners have no time for their horse and will allow you to pay a small fee, plus all expenses to use their horse all the time. There are usually a lot of stipulations involved in either of these options. M-Bar-K Farms can help guide you through this process from picking a horse out as well as going over the contract with you. After about six months of this you should be able to tell if horse ownership is for you. Is your child still very involved with this horse and has she been able to meet all of her responsibilities at home and school? Have you been able to handle the expense without to much trouble? If the answer to these questions is yes, then it may be the right time to move on to the next step. If the answer is no, then you have not wasted thousands of dollars on a horse that you will now have to figure out what to do with. Remember "It is way easier to buy a horse then it is to sell one". Question: My child is very young and/or small. We want to buy him a pony, but his instructor wants a small horse. What is the difference? This would be his first horse. Wouldn't a little pony his own size be better? Answer: In this situation size is not what is important, safety is. We only recommend ponies for advanced child riders. Ponies can be very hard to control and if they are behaving very badly it is extremely hard to have them schooled (retrained). Schooling is very important for beginner horses. If a pony is too small for your child's instructor to ride and keep his training level up then the pony's training will sink down to your child's beginner level. There are ten times more good quiet horses out there then good quiet small ponies and sometimes you may have to pay much more for a good pony then a quiet gentle horse. Horses are also good since your child is less apt to physically outgrow it as quickly. If your child outgrows the horse in ability, then it is a good time to look at ponies to give your child a much more challenging mount. Question: My child has been doing great with her leased horse and I am ready to buy her her own horse. Any suggestions? Answer: Yes, please make sure that your child's instructor helps you with this. Her instructor may know of horses that people are looking to sell and also has contacts that they can go through to locate some good ones. Your instructor can spot horse traders who prey on inexperienced horse buyers and they can usually spot soundness or vices before you can. A good instructor knows your child's abilities and can pick out a horse who's temperament is a suitable match. You can permanently ruin your child's love of horses if you buy a horse that is too much for them to handle, or is below their skill level so that they become bored with the horse. We had one parent tell us that after his daughter took five years of lessons he bought her a 17 year old horse and she lost interest in the horse after just three years. We were surprised that she was interested in the horse for more then three weeks. This horse was way below her skill level at the very beginning. Another parent bought her totally inexperienced child an untrained five year old morgan mare as her first horse. After the child was repeatedly thrown in the dirt, she wanted nothing more to do with horses. Her mother told us that she thought this was the best way for her daughter to learn. Actually it was the best way for them to ruin this horse and get their child injured. We suggest one to two thousand hours of riding experience before attempting to work with an untrained horse, including foals and yearlings. Question: People tell me that we can find good family horses very cheap at an auction. Is this a good idea? Answer: We sometimes take our students on field trips to auctions to show them why they should never buy a horse at one. First of all there are two different types of auctions. There are select sale auctions at large world shows that have very nice horses from reputable breeders, but usually these horses go for a lot of money and are not good first horses since they are meant for high level showing or racing. Something a beginner is not ready for. The other type is the local "Every Thursday Night" auction. When we walk through one of these places with our students we point out horses that are permanently lame, scarred, starved, very young and untrained or very very old. Some are very sick, sometimes with extremely contagious diseases. This is also a dumping ground for problem horses that people are trying to get rid of. Horses are routinely drugged to mask soundness or temperament issues. You will not save any money and you will have a heart broken child if that nice horse you bring home is so lame that your child can never ride him, or becomes a horse that runs away, with your child holding on for dear life, when the drugs finally wear off. If this happens you will have no recourse except to try to pass the horse off onto another unsuspecting person or give the horse away. |
For the Parents of Horse-Crazy Children
M-Bar-K Farms
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