Throwing millions of dollars and rolling up horsemanship for ten years, does the mother of the four children in Shunyi regret it?

Equestrianism, from a niche sport, has become a trend in the doll-pushing circle. The parents I want to share today have been practicing horsemanship with their children for ten years. There have been setbacks and bottlenecks, but the child has benefited a lot in the end. Is equestrian the patent of the rich, and how much does it cost? What exactly do children learn to learn horsemanship, and what role do parents play in this process? ...... And I heard the experience of people.

This article is reproduced from the public number: Study Abroad All Know (ID: EduKnow)

Wen 丨 Tian Yuezhou edited 丨Leon

Yale's Ph.D. in anthropology once said that every city has an "Upper East Side," an exclusive neighborhood for elites to live, socialize, and shop. If this sentence is moved to Beijing, Shunyi District is this "Upper East" highland.

However, our family moved to Shunyi, not for the name of the "Upper East Side", but to escape from Haidian, where the king of the roll was crowded.

In 2015, I took my two children and my family to Shunyi and began the road outside the system.

A group photo of the family

The choice of international schools was suppressed by the momentum of domestic public schools at that time. Seeing the children of friends around me go to public school, not only the children's rolls, parents need to devote all their energy and resources to complete what I think should be done by the children themselves at school.

After realizing that we couldn't get winded, we went to Shunyi to settle down. What I never expected was that Shunyi was not a resting place for Buddhist parents.

At that time, in addition to adjusting the operation of my company, I added two more children, and at the same time was busy paying attention to the surrounding schools.

A deep feeling is that in international schools and private bilingual schools, children not only roll learning, but also activities, sports, and art. It is difficult to find cram schools around the school, but there are many extracurricular classes for various arts and sports.

Especially in sports, international school mothers are significantly more interested in fencing, ice hockey, golf, and equestrian; In terms of art, ballet, Latin, oil painting, piano, violin and other projects are more common. For example, my family plays small schools to study traditional classics, Chinese painting calligraphy and Go, and as a result, we can't even find a suitable interest class.

In order to fit in, I started thinking about redesigning my children's interests, at least so that they had "social topics" at school!

After a round, it was decided to let the child learn horsemanship. What I didn't expect was that the child not only persisted, but also benefited from it.

Now, equestrian has become a trend that parents in the circle pay attention to, but is it worth throwing money in? I would like to share my ten years of horsemanship with my baby.

Stumble into the equestrian circle

I myself am an artistic student and have experienced first-hand the great benefits of quality education in all aspects of life, so I encourage them to have more exposure to art and sports.

When the eldest Yuexian and the second eldest Yuexin were very young, I took them to contact as much as possible in the categories of art and sports, and watched more performances and competitions. Equestrian, a subject in which they both were interested, started as a weekly course and focused on interest training.

In my opinion, learning equestrian skills can not only be used outdoors, but also interact closely with animals, and it is also a good way to socialize in the future.

Of course, they also have a weekly Chinese Studies course: classical recitation explanation, calligraphy, Chinese painting, Go, tea ceremony, martial arts, Chinese medicine, etc., and the study of dance (Chinese dance).

My sister's joyful dance performance

As they get older, the siblings have shown different interests and are willing to put more effort into it.

Between hobbies and studies, I don't have much to ask for my two children, two points:

You can't delay your studies, and stop your favorite interest class when your grades fall;

Renting or buying a horse will not be considered until the technology is solid.

At present, they both have good grades, and the graded courses must be in Set one, and they are the first echelon figures of the grade. When IGCSE subjects are selected, teachers make it clear that they want them to choose the subjects they teach. The two also have a rough plan and direction for their future, and never talk empty.

And the riding horse partner, Yuexian started equestrian lessons around 2011, his first horse began to accompany him in February 2017, and the second arrived at the end of 2022 and has already started the race journey; The younger siblings are currently riding the club's teaching horses.

Older brother Yuehyun is obviously more equestrian, starting a horse at the age of 6, and having his first horse at the age of 11 due to his excellent performance, and the weekly lessons were increased from 1 to 3 times, and then to 6 times.

Brother Yuehyun

From riding 1 horse at a time, to riding 2-3 horses each time in the past 1 year, you may have to ride up to 4 horses if you take dressage. (To briefly explain the dressage steps, the more you ride, the higher the requirements for people's control ability)

I was amazed by my son's perseverance in equestrianism. He is often the last child to leave the club, especially when it is cold, he can ride the indoor hall to the personal room, empty and lonely.

In winter, once I went to see him, it was very late. The empty indoor pavilion is not so strongly illuminated, only he and his horse partner are doing flat ground training.

Lap around, change direction, slow step, fast step, run, and repeat, and occasionally the horse's hooves carry up the mat field debris in the field, which is raised and scattered in all directions, silent.

The two guys were silent and didn't notice me, and the quiet in the venue only heard the breathing of the horses, like adding an old movie filter, one person and one horse, freezing time. At this time, I was very shocked, the child is willing to endure this loneliness and enjoy it, human growth is in such a process.

1. Face the bottleneck period of movement

I remember that in 2021, Yuexian suffered several consecutive races, horses refused to jump and eventually led to elimination (EL) situation, simply put, there was not a complete jump race for a period of time, not to mention children, adults were also a little broken.

But he did not give up, still stubbornly got on the horse again and returned to the training ground.

At that time, in addition to psychological support, I was able to constantly communicate with the coach, find professionals to analyze, show them videos and listen to suggestions, and then add dressage classes every week to strengthen the ability to level and control horses.

Dressage also belongs to venue equestrianism, which requires higher control of the rider, needs to be retracted freely, emphasizes artistry, and has the saying of ballet in equestrianism.

Initially, Yue Xian was reluctant to accept the addition of dressage classes, believing that it would affect his riding performance in the course of obstacles, which in my opinion was cognitively biased. I had to keep explaining to him and encouraging him to try.

I would even go to the racecourse to look at the class, because he would cancel the dance class when he had the opportunity. It can be said that our relationship was a little tense in those days, because as the enlightened mother of the child's impression, he rarely insisted on forcing them to do anything. Fortunately, we have survived together, and if we encounter such setbacks again, I believe that Yuexian can spend it more peacefully and confidently.

Of course, Yuexian is not tired and occasionally steals a little lazy, but love can indeed defeat everything.

In fact, Yuexian played golf well outside of class time, and the coach has been preparing him to participate in the competition; Go is very satisfactory to the teacher, and I hope that he will go to the exam to play a dan position; The game can enter the national service, close to the level of professional players.

However, after all, people's energy is limited, and he must give up some for equestrianism, and have choices, and life is the same.

2. The current situation and daily life of equestrian siblings

At present, eldest brother Yuexian, national second-class athlete, member of Beijing Youth Equestrian Team, Chinese Equestrian Association track obstacle national third-level rider, dressage intermediate first-class rider.

In the past five years, he has won two competitions in large and small show jumps and dressage, and won many individual and team championships and runners-up, and the title of "Excellent Little Rider" of the China Horse Association.

Due to his two-way advantages in his studies and specialties, he has attracted the attention of the Chinese Equestrian Association (CEA) and the Beijing Equine Association (BETA), and in June this year, he was interviewed by the industry magazine "Equestrian", and in March, he was also reported in the BSB column of the international school.

My sister is pleasant, very attentive to dance, she is the kind of Hengren who can't finish while crying when participating in training, she is a contestant who won three gold medals in a row in the BTV dance competition, and her performances have been on CCTV and BTV.

In the second half of 2020, after transferring to the I DO Dance Step Academy in Tianxing and learning dressage steps with Olympic rider Liu Lina's coaching team, dance and dressage have been promoting each other, and this summer vacation has increased the dance step course to 5 times a week, and is currently the second level rider in the dressage of the China Horse Association (CEA).

After arriving at the Tianxing Tuning Club, Yuexian's two younger brothers also gradually opened horse pulling courses under the influence of their older brothers and sisters, and had close contact with various pony horses, and the old San Yuede (6 years old) also entered the independent riding stage.

In addition, the two children also attended the club's horse culture, equestrian encyclopedia, stable management courses, and participated in Pony Club member activities - visiting museums, going out to the park, planting trees, etc. Children really love to go to the horse farm, and will take the initiative to watch the big brother's horses, feed carrots, pick hooves and brush the little pony, and take cultural classes very actively. On weekends, I can safely take 4 babies to play in the horse farm, and after the indoor class, I can also have fun outdoors, and there is good food, which can be regarded as liberating the old mother efficiently.

From Haidian mother to Shunyi mother,

Buddhism is still forging ahead

It is good to say Buddhism, let the children act according to the heart's will, and promote them to a certain extent; It is also true to say that endeavor has always emphasized perseverance, tenacity, doing your best in everything, and leading by example.

For example, as a parent, I never simply accompany them to class, but personally go down to learn about show jumps and dressage classes, and I have also fallen into the horse. In this way, it is better to understand their feelings, and it can also help them analyze problems and find solutions together based on their own experience.

When I encounter problems myself, I will ask them for advice. Undoubtedly, this is conducive to the parent-child relationship, the child is so old, does not feel their so-called "rebellious period", and the whole process of communication is smooth.

Of course, I myself have experienced a lot of anxiety.

In the early days, the competition was small-scale, and the children were just as happy as the game; For a long time, rent a horse or buy a horse, what level of competition to participate in, what frequency to participate in, what ranking to take, all thrown in front of us, as well as the test of the management level of the horse farm and the club for us, thousands of heads, unconsciously involved in the track.

Fortunately, I have constantly consulted with all the industry elites and understood that it is better to gradually calm down in everything.

Looking around the increasingly rolling up equestrian circle, I am glad that I was initially a little alienated and less anxious, and ten years ago, I was exposed to equestrian sports, and I felt that it was popular, not so strong competitive atmosphere, or I was dull, which was also a kind of luck.

As a full-time HR executive of a foreign company and a self-run enterprise for nearly 20 years, the recruitment and training of the elderly in the workplace are commonplace, and they have some experience in extending the management of people and resource utilization to education:

1. Specialties must start from hobbies

Be true to your passion and be committed to it. As for what benefits can be brought later, such as help in further education, background information for personal application to school, etc., it is a natural success, and in the future, it will also help you who enter the society unexpectedly.

The reverse is half the effort. I once saw parents take their children and tried two classes, asking the coach if the child had talent, and if not, he would not spend this money. I also saw that some students with special talents threw away their specialties after entering universities or jobs, and never touched them again.

2. Education, more is support

Kindergarten, let go of crazy play, you need to be able to integrate into the group's games, but also learn to play by yourself;

Primary schools, to develop autonomy, independence, and curiosity;

In middle school, independent learning ability is revealed, guiding children to think about the future, choose career directions, and formulate steps to achieve goals by themselves, and parents play a supporting role;

Universities should be completely autonomous, without much parental business.

At the same time, if you have always accompanied your hobbies, you can undoubtedly provide a higher quality experience for studying.

3. Maintain long-termism

We must know how to persevere in everything, believe in the power of time, and not only see results in the short term.

4. Not too obsessed with talent said

Especially sports require long-term hard training, accumulate experience, and wait for quantitative change to qualitative change. No denying talent, but not too much reliance on it.

Equestrianism, only if you have money can you learn?

How much money does it cost to learn equestrian skills? I believe that many parents are particularly concerned about this.

Frankly speaking, abundance and thrift are made by people, if you plan to support your children to go more professionally, you really need to do a good job of one (hundred) fixed (ten thousand) capital reserve;

If it's a tentative study, the cost is about the same as going to a good local gym.

Hope that children will have achievements in equestrianism, renting horses and buying horses is a topic that cannot be avoided, but the price is very uneven.

Good handicap horses can reach millions, and walking horses are much higher, but you can also buy a dozen or two hundred thousand domestic or older mature horses.

For beginners (whether adults or teenagers), buying a horse is not recommended. Practice the basic skills first, contact more types of horses, consolidate the basic movements, and then go further with a certain degree of certainty; For beginner level, you can try renting horses; Intermediate level and above, you can consider buying a horse.

Note that the cost is not only to buy and rent horses, but also to raise horses, train and compete in the future. Just to participate, there are registration fees, inspection and quarantine, transportation, stable, feed, coaches and horse workers, etc.

The cost is continuous, and it is necessary to always be prepared for the impact of unexpected events, such as the temporary interruption of the training process due to the injury of the rider or the horse, and the problem of the horse's retirement and retirement.

So, think twice about buying a horse.

In short, equestrian sports, and equestrian culture, really influence the way children treat people and see the world.

In addition to exercising will and improving physical fitness, the spiritual world of Boss Yuexian has undergone sublimation and reshaping at the same time. He once said:

"I aspire to become a well-rounded rider like Huatian and can represent my country in the Olympic Games in the future. Studying in a British school has enabled me to embrace multiculturalism, not only to cultivate knowledge and ability, but also to strengthen my own determination to love my country and family.

If the youth is strong, the country is strong! If I have the opportunity in the future, I will go all out to win glory for the country! ”

This passage was written by Yuexian when he applied for the national youth team, and it still seems to be sonorous and full of willpower. And watching his interview this year, I am already thinking about how to continue the equestrian road on my own in the future, no longer relying solely on family support, it is really good, and only from the heart of love will be so cherished and planned for this.

I believe this influence will continue and the children's equestrian path will go on. After the start of school, the eldest brother Yuexian will face the early application of the 12th grade, and the equestrian specialty will inevitably be the most shining stroke in his background description.

*Tian Yuezhou: Founder of Qinghe Dance Collection ®, director of Today Art Museum. He is a member of Beijing Dancers Association and a director of Beijing Zhongshan Cultural Exchange Association.