1. RESPONSIBILITY

She will learn her horse will depend on her. You have to feed them, groom them, give them water and give them a place to live. She will earn it's trust by taking up the responsibility of being her horse's mom, bestfriend, groomer and rider all in one.

2. KEEPING OUT OF TROUBLE

The barn will be somewhere that she can always go and I will gladly take her. I guarantee she will love that horse of hers 10x more than she thinks she loves that boy on the football team.Riding will give her an outlet when she's sad, angry, bored, or just feels like the world is ending (like most young girls do at times). On the other hand, if she get's in trouble..she will know the consequences of no stables for her or I could say cleaning the stalls would be her punishment, but we all know in the horse world that's really never a punishment.

3. BEING DRIVEN

Horses are bigger and arguably smarter than she will be. During a horse show you will have to be mentally and physically strong. She will really have to love horses, it's not like you just jump bareback on a horse and gallop around those barrels as easy as you walk..it takes years and years of practice. Riding will teach her to be driven and determined because I'm willing to bet if she's anything like me (or any other girl riding horses and ready to test limits) that she will be bucked off a thousand times, but she will get right back on knowing she had just learned a lesson.

4. PATIENCE

I know she will hear the saying that "patience is key" and that is the damn truth. Horses will push her to limits she didn't even know existed. Somedays they'll agree with you and others just not so much..kind of like people. Horses sense how you feel so if they get that feeling of anger or being scared then be ready for their reaction. If they know they can act up, they will. She will remember she must remain patience when teaching an old horse new tricks (or a young one for that fact) and that when she first learned a new skill that she didn't just sit down at a piano and knew how to play Beethoven's Symphony No. 5. It takes time so she will learn how to take that time and make good use of it daily.

5. ROLE MODELS

Having role models is a very big part of growing up. Having someone to look up to (the right person) will teach her differences between right and wrong and set awesome examples for her as a person. The inspiration you can receive from role models is limitless. I know that for me growing up, some of the best role models and people I met were the people I spent my days trail riding with.

6. CONFIDENCE

Knowing you can handle an animal of that size and power definitely will give her confidence to handle anything that comes across her path. Nothing will give her some self confidence like nailing that 5ft vertical fence after spending all those days putting time and effort into it.

7. LOVING & CARING

The first thing I ever fell in love with was horses. My horse really taught me how to love and care for something other than just my 8 year old self. Loving a horse makes you become so selfless. It shows you that anything that you love you will have to put time and effort into caring for it and making the relationship grow stronger.

8. HARD WORK

If you've ever worked on a farm then you know hands down it's something that you have to put a massive amount of work into. Now if she decides she wants to show horses then she'll really see some hard work..waking up at 3:30 am, loading up the trailer, and preparing you and the horse and spending hours and hours of practicing.

9.BRAVERY

She's going to have to be braving handling horses.I want my daughter to be brave. Brave enough to go as fast as she can and wants onto of her horse and I want her to jump the highest fence she can because all of that will translate into other aspects of her life like being brave enough to stand up to that bully in school or to want to stand out in a crowd of people doing the same things.

10. VALUE OF THE DOLLAR

Horses can get pretty expensive...point blank period. When my daughter wants new things for her horse every week then she will learn the value of the dollar and do chores to earn that money..

11. BEING HUMBLE

She will be so very humbled by this animal. Her first horse she experiences will make her realize that there is more to the world. Someone could ride horses for years and years, but still be reminded of their strength when your butt (un)gracefully hits the ground after your horse decides it no longer wants you on it's back for the day.