Am I too young to hack without an adult?

binky652

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Okay so to cut a long story short I loan a pony who's completely bombproof 21year old NewforestXwelsh. My friend also loans a horse owned by the same owner, he's a 26 years old gelding 14.2 hh and a 99% bombproof. Usually we hack with the owner and her other horse and go on hacks all around the local area. Sadly she's leaving to go to the circus leaving me and my friend with only our two horses. Our parents aren't too keen on letting us hack them out, even on 20-30mins hacks with no roads. I can understand why the are conserned for our and our horses welfare if something was to go wrong however me and my friend are both in year9 of secondary school and are very mature and sensible teens who are fully aware of our horses behaviours and capeabilities. I was wondering what other peoples opinons on our situation are as there is nobody at our yard who is up for riding with us as their horses are lame. Who is in the right, us or are our parents just being very over-protective?
 

Kallibear

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How old is secondary 9?

My sharer for my very sensible little cob started riding him out by herself at 15.

My friend was riding her very very sensible old horse out on short safe hacks at 13.

Why not do your BHS Riding and Road Safety test then your parents will know you've had training and know what you're doing?
 

binky652

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13/14 years old:) Thats a good idea, the thing is our parents are horsey and used to ride out and gallop around all the time, you'd think they'd understand why we would like to hack out together! Will deffo ask our parents if that would be a good idea to do ;) Thanks :)
 

3Beasties

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I personally think you are old enough (and sound mature and sensible!) to hack alone, especially as you have quieter horses and presumably know the area the you will be hacking in?

The two children I look after have hacked out alone (not even with each other for company) since the age of 11. They live in a very quiet area and are always made to take a phone with them.

Would your parents walk with you a couple of times so they can see that you are in control and sensible?
 

binky652

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Oh hehe thanks! :p
Yeah they were thinking of coming with us however said they'd want to jog with us everytime we go on a hack which seems as if we're kinds restricted as to where we can hack :) thanks for your reply ;)
 

Kallibear

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13 is pretty young to be allowed out in public by yourself, in charge of a horse. You have to be 14yrs to do the BHS Road Safety test.

If your parents are horsey they'll therefore be more than aware of how things can go wrong. In fact they'll be busy remembering all the stupid, dangerous things they used to do as kids ;)

To be honest Im surprised the owner of the ponies even lets you go up by yourself, never mind take them out.

Will one of your parents be willing to walk with you whilst you ride? Take the dog for a walk? You could trot off then trot back and go for canter etc still. I take an 11 yr old out a lot. Her pony is far fitter than my old semiretired girl so she whizzed backwards and forwards but never out of sight. After a while your parents will allow you a little more freedom, once you've proved yourself sensible and reliable, until eventually you'll be allowed out on your own.
 

SecretAgentBilly

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I started hacking out with a friend last spring, when I was 14. I am allowed by myself for short hacks now I'm 15. When I was 13 i wasn't allowed out without my parents, either my mum or dad had to walk beside me and it was extremely boring :eek: I think if your 14 and you know what your doing it should be fine as long as you take a phone.
 

Lolo

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I think it depends a lot on your competency. I was riding and leading out on my own by the time I was 12, and my sister and I and a friend would merrily go off just us three when we were 11, 11 and 8. We were pretty competent, and knew our way round really well, and had ponies who were generally not the type for awful behavior out hacking.
 

Moomin1

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Well I used to ride my pony out from the age of 12 on my own, but that was a good few years back now.

I don't think that it would be particularly advisable, that being said, if there is more than one of you, and you stick to public areas, and have a phone on you then I suppose it wouldn't be too bad a thing.
 

ClobellsandBaubles

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I was leading out rides at 12 :eek: Hacking with friends of same age and younger from 11 ish but not on my own. Now though I would worry more about traffic and other road users than yourselves. My RI used to say me and my friend were more competent than some of the staff at the yard :s
 
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EllieandGeorge

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I think that provided you feel safe on your pony, are a competent rider, know how to behave on the roads and wear reflectives/safety gear and the owner of the pony is happy with you doing so you should be fine.
I started riding out completely alone when I was 12, I always made sure I had a charged up phone, mum/dad checked I was ok setting off and wore reflective gear and body protector. Im now 15 and ride out alone on pretty much any horse, hack to hunt meets alone, meet up with friends out riding and have been doing that since I was about 13.
 

Kallibear

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yeah, I mean even if my parent came with us at least we could still ride them out!!:)

From past experience of trying to let stubborn parents let me do as I wanted, the non confrontational alternative always works best.

If they're happy to walk out with you, jump on the opportunity and make sure you act grateful. Once they've seen you ride and act act sensibly (and have seen the ponies behave) they'll eventually let, or even suggest, you go by yourself. Push your luck or make a fuss and they'll just say no out of principle.
 

pansy

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I must be a bad mom !! Daughter just turned 14 has been hacking out with her friend the same age on their own for a while at least a year & a half - knows where she is going is very competent & has phone with her - contacts me at certain times whilst out & tells me where she is going - the one horse can be a bit lively at times if she thinks she willl have an issue gets off & then carries on - she also goes out on her own at times but doesn't go too far x
 

YorksG

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I think you are going to have to proove to your parents that you are responsible enough to ride out on your own, and that does mean agreeing to them going with you for a while. There are some ideas you can suggest to them for when they are happy about you going without them. Agree to always tell them the route and the time it is likely to take you, whether you will be jumping or not on the hack. Agree (even make some) to wear ID labels on you and horse and always carry a phone with charge and credit (you will have to make sure that you are responsible enough not to have used all the credit talking to friends :p ). If you offer all that, while accepting parental presence with a good grace, then I would guess that your parents will let you go alone before too long :)
 

orionstar

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I was hacking out with friends at this age, and maybe if your parents see how competent you are they'll let you go on your own, or you could have a parent like the one I see on saturday morning driving through the middle of the village behind his daughter with his hazards on for two mile (she's 15 by the way)!
 

Honey08

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I let my stepson start hacking out alone at that age. Our lanes are very quiet though, which is a big factor. Had we been on busier roads I probably wouldn't have let him at that point. He also had a very sensible pony that was totally trustworthy. I also had him do the pc riding and road safety course and the exam (he took the BHS one but failed - I was more bothered that he had done the course).

Could you suggest doing a course/test to show you are serious about riding properly and safely on the road?
 

madmav

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Olden times....I was 13, hacking down the Finchley Road (it is a mega busy road, many lanes of traffic in London) with friends to get to Hampstead Heath. We did it, there and back. Several times. We once even hacked over to Highgate to look for Rod Stewart (really showing my age now). Also got chased all over Kenwood by wardens as we definitely weren't meant to be there.
Not condoning any of the above, and I wouldn't do it all now. But it was fun. My parent (just the one) had no idea what I was up to.
This isn't helping, is it? Times have changed. I am now a parent and would go ballistic if I knew a child of mine was doing the same. But I survived. Sometimes it's just better not to know and hope for the best..
 

Littlelegs

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Have you asked your parents what they are specifically concerned about? Such as would they be equally reluctant to let you & your friend go that route on bikes, or is it that they don't trust the ponies or something? Daughters just turned 8 so my rule for the pony is the same as being unsupervised at any other time. It's only either within my earshot, or with trusted older mid teens when I know exactly where they are & not on roads. I was all over the place from very young, & I've known other kids your age or younger safely hack alone. But, I'm not your parent, they might well have a good reason, or just need a bit of time to realise how responsible you are.
 

Highlands

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Why not ask parents to take the car to a place where you can meet them. My form are year 9. Many of them walk to and from school in a not a very nice area.

Why not ask parents to shadow you/ be close by until the light changes. Review and see then
 

xloopylozzax

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I obviously had parents who didn't particularly care. I was hacking out on my own from 8/9yr old. Started just around the village but I was soon going further afield (busy main roads etc)

It's never been an issue, I was in control, very aware of what was going on around me and on good ponies. More so than some of the middle aged women I see round here sometimes :rolleyes:
 

xloopylozzax

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ETA- this was just before mobile phones, so it was a case of telling them where I was going and being able to recite our telephone number and address haha
 

Dippy Zippy

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I was hacking out on my own and in company from 9 off road. Then i was allowed to hack out on the roads at 10 with my friend (who was the same age) but i always had to have a mobile on me and tell my parents where i was going and at what time we would be leaving and expect to return.

I think if you let your parents go with you a few times at first, so they can see how competent you are, they are more likely to let you start hacking out on your own. :)
 

Madoldbat

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Another member of the bad mothers club here. The child has been hacking out on her own for years and is only just 14 now. :eek:

The rules are
1 always have mobile phone
2 always tell someone responsible where she's going and if applicable what time she expects to be back (tho the timings of the rides she goes on are well known)
3 always wear hi viz
4 an emergency number is attached to the saddle of her horse on the d ring and on her hi viz using those little plastic key identifiers although you could get a dog tag etched
5 she rings halfway round if going on a new route

Lots of great advice from other posters
To further your cause I would suggest
1 do NOT say "well everybody else does it". Your parents will instantly shut down
2 as someone else has said, ask parents what it is that worries them and what you could do between you to address their concerns
3 perhaps suggest a 10 minute hack to start with, extending slowly
4 the riding and road safety test is a good idea
5 never ever give them cause to worry ie don't say one thing then do another


You probably don't want to say this but accidents can happen anywhere not just hacking alone.....
 

Littlelegs

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Tbf to ops parents though, circumstances dictate what we feel is safe. Last summer I let my then 7yr old ride a 30min off road route with a 15yr old. The difference is I'd spent 7yrs previous riding with her so I have full knowledge of her capabilities, I know her pony, & I know the other girl & pony well. And I could see them for most of the route. Although I teach daughter while we hack for improvement, I can't remember the last time I had to help from a control pov. I know full well when her pony gets a bit full of it, without me saying do x,y,z the pony will prance rather than daughter using the energy positively, but I also know she's still in control without needing any input. Basically I am fully aware of her abilities & limitations, so I can make a satisfactory decision. Ops hasn't been riding with parents though, its been with the owner, so I can understand why they might be cautious if they aren't 100% sure of their child's safety.
 

R_H

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I had been riding my first pony 3 years before we bought her - So my parents knew they could trust her not to do anything silly! I was in year 9 when we bought her. It became impractical for me to ride out on with adults only because I was at school all day and they rode in the morning - therefore Mum/Dad started to walk or cycle with me, then would start/finish with me or meet me at a certain place and gradually it became less of an issue.
As long as I had my phone and told them where I was going everything was fine!
Bulled up their trust so they know that you aren't going to putting themselves at risk!
 
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