10/26/2026
🐴 PARENTS, SOMETIMES YOU’RE MAKING YOUR CHILD MORE NERVOUS WITHOUT EVEN REALIZING IT.
Now, before anybody gets their feathers ruffled, hear me out! 😆
I’ve been teaching riding lessons long enough to recognize when a child is no longer concentrating on their horse.
And sometimes, it’s not because they don’t understand what I’m teaching.
It’s because they’re trying to listen to TWO people at once.
Their instructor is telling them one thing, while Mom or Dad is hollering something else from the fence.
And suddenly, that kid who was doing just fine five minutes ago is making mistakes, getting frustrated, and second-guessing EVERYTHING.
Here’s what I think parents sometimes don’t realize…
Your child wants to make you proud.
They want you to think they’re doing a good job.
And when you’re constantly correcting them from the sidelines, some kids start worrying more about disappointing YOU than concentrating on what they’re supposed to be learning.
Now add a nervous parent to an already nervous child…
And we’ve got two people worrying and one poor horse trying to figure out what everybody wants! 😆
Here’s something I wish more parents understood.
When you pay a riding instructor to teach your child, you’re not just paying someone to tell them what to do.
You’re trusting that instructor to help your child learn, make mistakes, solve problems, and develop confidence.
And sometimes, the BEST thing you can do as a parent is simply sit back and let that happen.
Let the instructor instruct.
Let your child think.
Let them make a mistake without five people immediately telling them what they did wrong.
And when they finish their lesson?
Ask them what they LEARNED instead of immediately pointing out what they messed up.
Because confidence grows when kids learn to trust their own decisions, not when they’re constantly worried about everybody else’s reactions. ❤️
Credit: Megans Menagerie
