A change of direction : horseriding

Letting children make their own decisions can sometimes be 'testing'. I must admit that it's been a rough emotional road here for a bit, for all of us really. What I found most difficult, personally, is my daughter's innate love of dance disappearing. I can't seem to put my finger on one determining factor; it seems that there are several things at play here.

Mariposa does have a natural talent for dance. She's amazingly flexible, has excellent rhythm ... but a few things seem to have gone amiss. Over the years, she's been bumped up to join other girls of her ability, making her the young one in the group. This made her happy at the beginning, because she always wanted to learn the next more difficult thing rather than just going over the same material. Her request to join another more mature age bracket (the one Maestro is in, actually) just won't work. She's yet to turn 10, and they're in the 'under 16' age bracket. The group she was in seemed to be going through a 'silly' phase, talking (according to her) about nonsense and excluding her from conversations.

Bandana ~ Mariposa's horse on Wednesday.

What to do?! We allowed her to drop all but ballet at the beginning of the year. If a child has a natural talent, you don't want them to just give up, do you? But it became evident that our insistence was causing her so much anxiety and we had to yet again reconsider.

If we let her finish up with dance, we need to replace it with something else, and hopefully something that will not only bring back her spark, but present a few challenges to keep her interest.

"Can I do horseriding? PLLEEEEASE!"

Sigh! Another expensive endeavour.

Bandana - preparing for a ride.

Private lessons are a must before they'll let you join the group sessions, unless you can organise your own group for a mid-week session. The latter had been tried before and failed. The good news is that Mariposa had been to have some horseriding lessons before, so really only needed a refresher.

So, as you've probably already guessed, horseriding lessons have started. This week she has participated in a full week holiday program to bring her up to scratch ... and she's a very hard worker, and quick learner. I take her down to the stables at 9am and she's finished by 5pm.

Pillow - enjoying a spot in the late afternoon sun.

The challenges have come pretty thick in the first couple of days. Bad weather didn't help, which kept the children from riding. Stable duties and horse maintenance were on the agenda for most of the time. Thankfully the gale winds and rain has held back since Wednesday, which meant more riding time.

One of Mariposa's new friends, who lives just down the road from the school.

She brought her own pony along to learn about Natural Horsecare.

Mariposa has also made some new friends. When I arrived to pick her up yesterday afternoon, she was busy dancing around whilst sweeping the floors, singing some funny song. The girls were all laughing together, then everyone suddenly became serious when they noticed me there.

Completing chores at the end of the day.

I think tomorrow will be a day when Mariposa will enjoy a good sleep in. Despite the long day and cold weather, she's had a lot of fun. Deep down, I do hope that she won't dismiss dancing forever, but then it's quite possible she may. Meanwhile, she's happy and hopefully we can continue to accomodate her learning this way. (Yes, I'm opening up a new savings program for horseriding!)