There is a tendency as we become adults, and then parents, to believe that education is the playground of the young. Our children go to school and are invited to partake in extra-curricular activities while we adults simply stop looking. We stop dreaming. While our children look up at a horse and imagine themselves in medieval England, we think about the bills, what we have to buy for dinner, and consider the traffic we have to battle through to get home.

Horse riding lessons are available for children as young as four years old. And they’re a great way to teach children respect for animals. There is also a definite joy in watching as a child, of any age, stands next to a horse for the first time with that excited glint in their eyes. They sit on the saddle and are led around the paddock, gaining experience with every step their horse takes – how to hold the reins, where to put their feet. They are taught grooming techniques and those who stay the course become adept at mucking out the stables on a Saturday morning.

And their parents sit on the sidelines – watching them from the fence or, on a cold day, the comfort of their car.

We assume pony trekking and horse riding lessons are only for children. Except that they aren’t.

Horse riding is for everybody, and although somehow many of us have passed an age where we believe we can learn something new, there is nothing stopping anyone – six to sixty – from having that first horse riding lesson, standing there looking at the horse with a romantic ideal of knights in shining armour battling dragons, or galloping across beaches, or sitting sidesaddle like a princess with silk and satin draping the steed. Adults can have horse riding lessons too, even if they’ve never had an experience like it before, and it can be an excellent stress reliever.

Try it. Don’t stand on the sidelines believing you are too old to dream. Take that first step. Here at Dunton Stables, we welcome you to make the most of our horse riding lessons and even horse riding holidays for the ultimate escape. We love to teach our skills to others, not just children. Embrace the joy that comes with learning to ride and let that spark show in your eye.

To embrace a new skill in 2017, why not book your adult horse riding lessons or a horse riding holiday with your children at Dunston Stables today?