2 sides to every story

[skint1]

I think the RS has been more than reasonable, I can see only one comment on the actual article which also supports the RS's actions/decisions so it is possible that this article will not have the desired impact (whatever that may be according to the mother). If i was paying for my child to have lessons and they had to witness that scene every week, I probably wouldn't say anything because I get it's hard raising children, and I would want my child to be tolerant everyone, but I'd probably find another RS if i could afford to.

 

[2ndtimearound]

Whilst it’s been about 35 years since I rode at what is now Meadow View (it was called Hillltop at the time), so I can’t comment on what the stables is like now, but it seems to me like they’ve done what they can to accommodate her, whilst also considering the horses and their other clients. And unless they’ve closed without me knowing, there’s actually a decent RDA (my godson and his mum used to ride there), which does lessons for those without disabilities too and is maybe a 15-minute drive from Meadow View, that would probably be far better set up to accommodate the girl riding. There’s even an equine therapy centre not that far away (near Twycross). So, there are possibly other options locally where the girl would perhaps be able to ride (not to mention the other five riding schools within easy driving distance, unless any of those have closed), but I think that article may be more of a hindrance than help in her finding an alternative.

 

[Tiddlypom]

I do get what you're saying, although I'd hope anyone teaching a lesson unsupervised would have enough first aid training to look after a Type 1 Diabetic in an emergency (because equally, what if a rider fainted on a hot day? what if they had another type of medical emergency?).

Hopefully the pre ride questionnaire would ask for details of any relevant medical conditions.

If a rider collapses or faints during a lesson, which can happen at the best run of Riding Schools, knowing of any pre existing conditions is a huge help to the staff or the ambulance crew, if called, especially for a type 1 diabetic.

Even the RDA has limits on which riders that it feels that it can help. The horses and ponies are their top priority, and no one wants them upset by an upset, screaming rider.

This RS has made reasonable adjustments to try to accommodate the child, but the mother is not happy and is sounding off.

 

[EventingMum]

Hopefully the pre ride questionnaire would ask for details of any relevant medical conditions.

You would be surprised how many people leave off information that would be really useful for the centre to know. Parents often don't want their children labelled or don't think knowledge of certain difficulties or conditions that are relative to riding when, in fact, disclosure would be beneficial to both the centre and therefore, the rider.

 

[Cob Life]

I don’t think the RS were in the wrong, if she’s that upset about riding grooming sessions and private lessons are 100% what I would have suggested as otherwise not only is it distressing for the pony but it’s also not beneficial to be putting th child under that much emotional stress.

I worked at a riding school as a teenager and one of my friends (with quite severe SEN) had a few falls and became very nervous and didn’t want to ride, so we suggested grooming and she would come and help me on the yard grooming, poo picking and just generally being comfortable around the horses. 2 years later she asked to ride but only wanted me to teach her, my boss said fine but she stayed at the arena to supervise as I wasn’t a qualified Instructor, she gradually progressed back to group lessons with my boos teaching but needed me beside her still initially.

 

[w1bbler]

You would be surprised how many people leave off information that would be really useful for the centre to know. Parents often don't want their children labelled or don't think knowledge of certain difficulties or conditions that are relative to riding when, in fact, disclosure would be beneficial to both the centre and therefore, the rider.

You'd be amazed the lies parents tell.
I used to work at a trekking centre, our insurance did not cover children under 5 which we strictly enforced.
I remember leading a child out one day & asked her how old she was, the reply 'mummy says to say I'm 5'
Truly horrified, parents were told we were not insured for younger children, wonder what she would have done if there was an accident.

 

[Goldie's mum]

Really I'm left just feeling sorry for everyone concerned.

I'm between horses atm & riding at two different RDA/trekking establishments. Both have prominently in their terms and conditions that they don't accept children under 14 (disabled or not) unless accompanied by a parent, guardian or teacher. This RS have already done more than most would have & then got abuse for it.

The child is not being considered. Mum wants to hand the responsibility over to someone else for an hour & go away. I'd say the lessons are much more about mum's need for respite care than the daughter's needs.

I'm not qualified to diagnose neglected special needs in adults but "I'm paying so you have to & if you don't I'll tell" is not the response of a normal, mature adult to failing to get their own way.

 

[PapaverFollis]

Poor bloody kid.

Let her go groom some ponies, mum...FFS. Let her relax for a while and come back to the riding later if she wants. It's not just the ponies that are suffering if the kid is screaming and pulling on the pony's mouth!

 

[Wishfilly]

Hopefully the pre ride questionnaire would ask for details of any relevant medical conditions.

If a rider collapses or faints during a lesson, which can happen at the best run of Riding Schools, knowing of any pre existing conditions is a huge help to the staff or the ambulance crew, if called, especially for a type 1 diabetic.

Even the RDA has limits on which riders that it feels that it can help. The horses and ponies are their top priority, and no one wants them upset by an upset, screaming rider.

This RS has made reasonable adjustments to try to accommodate the child, but the mother is not happy and is sounding off.

Obviously you want to be able to give the ambulance crew the best information possible, but both working with horses and in other jobs I've had to deal with some quite serious, unexpected medical emergencies. If you're in sole charge of a group of people on horseback, you need to be competent to deal with someone having a medical emergency on horseback, in my opinion. If you're not capable of that, then you need to be supervised by someone who is.

That's not relevant to this situation, but I'd be very wary of a centre who felt only more experienced staff could deal with that sort of situation, because you can't always know what is going to happen.

I agree there are limits to who can be helped and allowed to ride, and I don't think the riding school have done the wrong thing in this situation, but I do think some of the attitudes expressed by a small number of posters on this thread aren't great.

You would be surprised how many people leave off information that would be really useful for the centre to know. Parents often don't want their children labelled or don't think knowledge of certain difficulties or conditions that are relative to riding when, in fact, disclosure would be beneficial to both the centre and therefore, the rider.

Also, this. For all sorts of reasons, people lie or don't disclose medical information to people who really need to know it.

 

[teapot]

Obviously you want to be able to give the ambulance crew the best information possible, but both working with horses and in other jobs I've had to deal with some quite serious, unexpected medical emergencies. If you're in sole charge of a group of people on horseback, you need to be competent to deal with someone having a medical emergency on horseback, in my opinion. If you're not capable of that, then you need to be supervised by someone who is.

That's not relevant to this situation, but I'd be very wary of a centre who felt only more experienced staff could deal with that sort of situation, because you can't always know what is going to happen.

I think you may have misinterpreted my post about this. Yes everyone should be able to cope, especially if they’ve got the two day first aid course etc but also it’s human nature and safer to have those with health conditions, disabilities, adjustments potentially be taught/escorted/coached by someone who’s got a bit more life experience.

You build up junior staff experience over time, not throw them in the deep end and hope they swim if/when they need to. I handled a fair few falls in my time, one of which was horrific injury wise, and the first thing we did was make sure no junior staff were involved. Why? Because they didn’t have the life experience to keep the rider and situation calm. They were more use making sure everything continued to run as normal.

It’s no different to having the most experienced staff handling sick or injured horses imho.

It may also be an insurance stipulation that x conditions are potentially only handled by senior staff. Insurance and being voluntary is certainly why RDA have a limit as @Tiddlypom said.

Oh and as a client with a fairly unusual health condition of my own, I only ever ride with senior staff, regardless of lesson/clinic/hack etc.

 

[Wishfilly]

I think you may have misinterpreted my post about this. Yes everyone should be able to cope, especially if they’ve got the two day first aid course etc but also it’s human nature and safer to have those with health conditions, disabilities, adjustments potentially be taught/escorted/coached by someone who’s got a bit more life experience.

You build up junior staff experience over time, not throw them in the deep end and hope they swim if/when they need to. I handled a fair few falls in my time, one of which was horrific injury wise, and the first thing we did was make sure no junior staff were involved. Why? Because they didn’t have the life experience to keep the rider and situation calm. They were more use making sure everything continued to run as normal.

It’s no different to having the most experienced staff handling sick or injured horses imho.

It may also be an insurance stipulation that x conditions are potentially only handled by senior staff. Insurance and being voluntary is certainly why RDA have a limit as @Tiddlypom said.

Oh and as a client with a fairly unusual health condition of my own, I only ever ride with senior staff, regardless of lesson/clinic/hack etc.

I do agree with this in theory, but unfortunately, as I've said, I've had some really nasty experiences (one involving someone on a horse, others involving children in a classroom) of people having unexpected medical events- I'm not talking about things like someone fainting on a hot day, either, but obviously the details are quite identifiable.

Perhaps this has made me a bit wary (paranoid?), but I feel that therefore, anyone in charge of a group of children needs to have a good idea and be confident about what to do in an emergency situation- and obviously one of the steps would be seeking help from another (or several others) competent person. But if someone really can't cope with that, then in my opinion, they aren't capable of being in sole charge of a lesson, and definitely not of being on sole charge of a hack (equally, I think anyone escorting out a hack needs to be basically capable of handling an injured horse).

(and this is without people lying/not disclosing health conditions, which as has been discussed on this thread can happen).

I do get what you're saying, and obviously if you're a yard with a choice of instructors, then you want to match the most suitable instructor with the client- but I don't believe an instructor who can't handle a medical emergency, at least initially is suitable for anyone.

I guess, also, I don't have that much experience of large yards with a wide choice of instructors and as many staff as you're describing- they aren't common down here! But all the yards I know will try their hardest to cater to people with disabilities and health conditions wherever possible- I think that's a good thing.

And I agree that not every yard can cater to every condition, and there are obviously limits on what even the RDA can cater for BUT I also think the attitude that it's fine for a stable to have a blanket ban on anyone with a disability is not a good one either. I know that's not what you're saying, but I do think that's what some people on the thread have said.