You might be surprised to know that learning to ride a horse doesn’t have to be an expensive pastime. There are now lots of horse ride sharing groups, shared ownership schemes and horse riding schools all over the UK in which you can collectively enjoy the exhilaration of horse riding without necessarily having to foot all the large bills that come with owning your own horse.

Horse riding is a great way to spend your free time and it gives a range of benefits to people of all ages, some more surprising than you may think. I thought as I have a teenager daughter it might be a cool idea to take a look at some of the benefits of learning to ride a horse from an early age.
Health
Horse riding can be an active sport and once you’re past the very basic steps it can require strength and stamina and it is great exercise.
We all know that obesity levels are on the rise for kids in the UK and according to figures by Public Health England nearly 35% of children between 10 and 100 were either overweight or classed as obese.
One of the great and most obvious things about horse riding is it gets kids outdoors and gets them active. Once Kids get into a habit of being out in the fresh air and doing something fun and away from their mobile phones and tablets they are much more likely to consider it an important part of their life. As a result, these healthy patterns have got a great chance of staying with them into their adult life and that means they are also potentially less likely to have health problems when they are older.
Responsibility
It goes without saying, but learning to ride a horse takes practice and perseverance. These are also important skills that kids can use in their everyday life at school and again when they are older too. Looking after a horse or pony can also teach kids compassion and empathy and a sense of responsibility. All horses need brushing and looking after and a good horse food such as Spillers is vital. Cleaning the stables isn’t the most fun job in the world, but having a commitment to looking after a living thing teaches kids an important lesson in responsibility too.

New Skills
Kids who go to extracurricular clubs and groups can gain confidence in the sense of achievement they get when learning new skills. This is especially true with horse riding and kids often form emotional attachments to a horse. This can even give them a greater sense of nature, the environment and the welfare of not just animals, but people too.
Socialising
Horse riding schools attract a mixture of different kinds of people and it’s healthy for kids to have more than one set of friends, especially ones with different ages and backgrounds, this can enhance their education in many ways too.
Fun!!
Finally, horseriding is great fun and the benefits that horse riding brings to kids (and people of all ages) is not to be underestimated.