Having a parent who has ridden around Badminton or trained a Cheltenham Festival winner is always going to give you a head start when it comes to your prowess in the saddle. But these top riders are leaving nothing to chance with their children...
“He was literally roaring with laughter, whereas my daughter wouldn’t be quite as daring!” says Harry, recalling a time when he had Charlie in front of him in the saddle. “There have been days when we have had to literally peel Charlie out of the saddle after hunting.”
Olympic dressage rider Laura Tomlinson with daughter Annalisa
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Two-year-old Annalisa doesn’t seem to be fazed by her company working in the school behind her… We wonder if her new brother Wilfred will be so at ease in the saddle?
National Hunt trainer Ben Pauling with his daughter Tillia
“The main thing for children under five is to make riding fun,” says showing producer Sarah Parker.
William Fox-Pitt’s daughter gets familiar with the hounds
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Smartly turned out and ready to go: would you expect any less from William and Alice Fox-Pitt’s offspring?
Son of H&H’s showing columnist Simon Reynolds, Luke
(Image credit: creditUnknown)
“Instead of the show ring, I’d much rather Luke goes to Pony Club where he can have a more relaxed introduction to riding that isn’t based on winning or losing — somewhere where fun and games and camaraderie are high on the agenda,” says Luke’s mother Natalie.
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Henry Gauntlett looks at home alongside his dad cross-country schooling
Don’t miss this week’s issue of Horse & Hound magazine (13 April 2017), where we find out what the perfect age for children to learn to ride is – and how you can give them the best start possible in the saddle
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A graduate from Durham University, Madeleine joined H&H in 2011 and became Features Editor — producing content across the magazine and website, including the popular inside back cover article ‘The horse that made me’ and the weekly ‘The best of my fun…’ interview. She has written on topics as diverse as hay making and headcams, to hot totty in the horse world and circus horses. Madeleine now works as a freelance feature writer for Country Life, The Telegraph, Horse & Hound, cntraveller.com, The Spectator and The Field, as well as writing obituaries for The Times.
