How do I convice my parents to let me horse back ride???

Question

My friend has been taking from this teacher for ever, but my parents are a little uncomftorable. she is aa fantastic teacher, and she has teached alex really well. she just isn't--well, she is a tad worldy--lets just put it that way. she is a fantastic teacher, and she isnt THAT worldy. Shes the best teacher around, and she's really nice. non the less, my parents are uneasy not only about her, but also about the dangers of horseback riding. they are afraid, honestly, that im gonna get killed, or terribly hurt. they keep warning me that "if you go behind a horse and hey kick your head, you die!" or, "have u ever heard of that superman guy, he got paralized cause he fell of a horse!" i keep trying to tell them that it is dangerous just like any other sport, but they wont believe me. how do i convince them???

Answer 1

Well horses ARE dangerous and unpredictable so it is only natural for your parents to want to keep you safe. The most important thing about a great teacher is one whose focus is above all your safety. Question the teacher on her methods for keeping students safe, protective equipment you will be wearing (safety vests and helmets) and if she can refer you to any books on safe horse handling. (Let your parents know that while accidents can't be prevented deaths from horseback riding happen more often from individuals who ride WITHOUT safety gear!

I have listed one such helpful book below specifically written for parents. Parents are often fearful of the unknown (it took me from the day I could speak until I was eight years old before I could convince my parents to let me ride) and horses are big scary looking animals. They do however teach discipline, responsability, love, as well as develop motor skills and communication. Not to mention it is a fantastic workout!  Start little, asking your parents for ONE lesson just to see how it goes. I don't know many parents who will refuse one lesson and then when they have a chance to watch you and see how much you enjoy it they will be hard pressed not to allow you to go again. Read safety books on horses BEFORE your first lesson. Neither of my parents had horses or knew anything about them however my mom became just as enthusiastic about them as I did after awhile. If that doesn't work ask for a subscription to a horse magazine and then show or talk about the articles every chance you get, that tactic worked on my mom. She even tried the we can't afford it but I traded out my first lessons for stall cleaning...just be persistent, it will pay off!

Answer 2

Okay.  First of all, some parents can't afford lessons and don't want to say it because they have some vestige of self-respect.  Understand this.  Or maybe they're worried to death about you.  In which case, d**n, you're lucky! Good parents.

The best thing you can do is wait until you can pay for yourself.  Pay for all of it, and sit down and talk to your parents.  Expalin what you want to do, explain how you'll afford it, explain all of your safety measures.  In other words, act like a calm, rational, mature child/teenager.  

My mother is so paranoid about my falling (my sister was concussed when younger) that she cannot watch me canter without being nervous.  I have waited about ten years to do what I have wanted since I was six; my mother finally let me not because I begged and whined and threw tantrums, but because I accepted that I could not have everything I wanted.  And I waited.   In the end, it was actually my mother who arranged my lessons.

In all fairness, you do sound like a spoiled child.  Maybe you have good reasoning, and it'd be easier to hear it in real life.  What I see here is "My friend takes lessons with this awesome cool teacher and I can't because my parents are meanies who worry about me it's so unfair how can I make them change their minds?".

1. Horseback-riding IS dangerous, they are right.  However, they are thinking of the worst of the sport.  Have your friend and her parents (ESPECIALLY her parents) talk to yours.  Have your parents hear other opinions.  Put it this way, they know that you'll say it's safe because you want to do it, and hence will disregard what you say.  If they can hear reputable, UNBIASED opinions, they might be more likely to listen.

2.  You can't convince your parents.  Present your case and leave it.  If you're lucky, they'll change their minds based on their own gained knowledge and appreciation of your reliability.  If not, that's the way it goes.

Remember -- you may not ride now, but if not, wait.  It may be in high school, it may be after college, but you can have it eventually.  Just make sure you have a way you can afford it, if you can't do it under your parents' sponsorship.

Answer 3

I've gotten more injuries in 1 season of soccer then my 7 years of horseback riding, and my parents still sometimes freak out over how dangerous it can be. Ask them if they would consider letting you ride if it was a different trainer, or if they went and watched your friends lessons and saw that it isn't a horrible sport.

Answer 4

Well, try to educate them a bit.  Ask them to attend a horse show with you and have them talk to a teacher.  Let them ask the questions....show them the precautions that are taken.  Shoot, it's not like you'll be jumping right away.  You'll start slow and any good teacher will have you on a horse that will work at your ability level.  Show them and educate them.  Let them see how beautiful riding is and how athletic it can be.  Show them the benefits, cause all they know right now is the bad stuff.  Good luck.  And if they don't like the teacher you picked, shop around.  Perhaps they will find one they trust.  Don't set your heart on this one person only.

Answer 5

when i did ride more then i do now, i can honestly say the worst accident ive had was falling twice in a row and the second time hitting the wall that was when i was about 14.

at the same time the worst biking accident (just for fun with my friends racing round the school) i fell, hit my head off the curb and ended up in the hospital with memory loss for a few days( and a huge headach). that was when i'd say i was about 12(i really cant remember, all i was told was it happened the day after my bday and i cant remember what i even got for that, lol)

horses cannot kick you're head off. just for the record.

anyway, i'd agree with getting them some reading materal and educate them a bit.

i will also agree with you're parents it's dangerous, but so is being alive.

i've seen hockey players with not many teeth, football players with all sorts of injuries... have you're parents watch the olypmics, and get the states of how many people are injured in each sport this year.... i figure that's an easier way of looking at alot of sports at once and comparing the risks v the rewards.

good luck. just get them to read and do some research for them

Answer 6

Tell them that if you are going to take lessons, chances are, the horses will be very calm, laid-back, or even bomb-proof. Which pretty much mean the horse probably won't do anything crazy. And since you will be with an experienced horseman, they will know what to do if something does happen.

I've been around horses for 11 years (and I'm 15) and I have never been kicked because of going behind a horse, let alone kicked in my head. I have fallen off numerous times, but still never gone to a hospital. (I don't know if this will help. Sorry if it doesn't)

Good Luck.

Answer 7

ur parents suck kick there butsss

Answer 8

if you ever did get hurt the horse would stop and what for you ask if you do ask if you can ride the same horse for he will know you he is the horse