Ridecamp: [RC] riding with kid- very rewarding

Hi. My daughter just turned 12. She started on an instructors horse when she was 8. She rode well and took lessons every once in a while till age 10. Then we took lessons every week together. We then bought her a great 6 yr. old appy who was ridden on roads and thru everything by a 14 yr. old. My daughter now does trails with us. At first, it was TOUGH. I mean, this girl complained about everything from her hand hurting to ger foot hurting to whatever. She complained about the weather being too hot, too cold, etc. I was in tears because I was so frustrated. You have to remember, trail riding is SO different from riding in an arena especially  at a trot.  She wouldn't trot even slowly on trail for a LONG time. I was only taking her once in a while because I couldn't handle the complaints. My husband finally pushed me into thinking if I took her every weekend, she'd get better. Well, after about 2 months of every weekend riding, she now 
does not need a 15 minute notice before we trot and she goes first over obstacles. Her mare even jumped over a small creek and she would talk about that for a week.  Her fear was, and I found this out later, that she was afraid the horse would take off with her and not come back. She now has a lot of confidence in herself and her mare.
My daughter tells me every weekend how much fun she'd had that day (and we've ridden from the start with 2-4 other horses and sometimes just go the 2 of us). It makes my day when she says that. I'm looking forward to being with her on her first competitive trail ride which will hopefully be this summer. 
Riding together has made us so much closer and it was worth hearing all the complaints.

Deborah