child riding out alone, what age?

[Ibblebibble]

I know this has been done before but i can't find it!
At what age would you consider letting a child ride out alone? Sharer of daughters pony asked today, well her dad did, and i said no, too young, she is just 13. They were fine about it but it got me thinking , question is bound to be asked again and it's not something i had thought about as daughter has never wanted to ride alone (slightly older 13)

 

[FlyingCircus]

I started riding out alone at around 13 years old.
Had a pretty reliable pony though that wasn't likely to dump me and tank off home :')

 

[L&M]

Depends on the horse - I let my 10 yr old ride out his 13.2hh on his own for over a year until he outgrew it, but was a bomproof hack and totally trustworthy, and we have access to off road hacking straight from our yard so no traffic to contend with.

Now he is 12 yrs he has a 15hh that is mostly sensible, but can throw in the occasional buck and be spooky, so he only rides it accompanied atm. I may let him hack out on his own after a summer of getting more used to it, but will suck it and see....

 

[dunkley]

I was about 12, we just didn't think twice about it in those days! I had had four years of having to ride the beach every day, as my 12.2 had a habit of taking out car headlights if they got close enough Once I got a completely traffic proof pony, there was no stopping me Daughter was hacking out round the farm tracks and headlands by 9 - a couple of years older before she went 'off piste' I always insisted she had ID tags on her, pony, and a mobile phone ............... far more than I ever had, which was 2p for a phone call!!!!!!

 

[Dizzy socks]

I was about 12, and went for miles in just a head collar.

 

[rowan666]

It depends totally on riders ability. If your sharer can handle the pony and her parents are happy to let her then 13 would certainly be old enough IMO. I was hacking on my own off road from 9 just down the lane so not far but by 11 would be off all over the place by myself and with other kids on the yard my age but i was a much better rider then than i am now! Lol

 

[brucethegypsycob]

It's not the rider, nor the riders age and not even the pony that would worry me. It's the other road users, cars, bikes, ect that would worry me. It's relatively safe quiet lanes around here but every once in a blue moon you get a motorbike, or a big truck that's got lost on his sat nav ........

 

[honetpot]

A child is not legally responsible until they are fourteen so if they caused an accident their parents would be liable. I would not let my daughters walk the dogs on their own until they were fourteen and then the dog was attacked an bitten when on the lead, my daughter was shaken and shocked and felt responsible. Just because the pony is safe and the child is a capable rider doesn't mean they would cope with say a flasher, an abusive walker or a rude car driver and we also live in a I'll sue you society now.

 

[mulledwhine]

Depends on the riding and surroundings , I would not let my daughter ride around the farm until she was at least 12, on the roads around here, not until she was at 14/15

 

[Ibblebibble]

It's not the rider, nor the riders age and not even the pony that would worry me. It's the other road users, cars, bikes, ect that would worry me. It's relatively safe quiet lanes around here but every once in a blue moon you get a motorbike, or a big truck that's got lost on his sat nav ........

A child is not legally responsible until they are fourteen so if they caused an accident their parents would be liable. I would not let my daughters walk the dogs on their own until they were fourteen and then the dog was attacked an bitten when on the lead, my daughter was shaken and shocked and felt responsible. Just because the pony is safe and the child is a capable rider doesn't mean they would cope with say a flasher, an abusive walker or a rude car driver and we also live in a I'll sue you society now.

these are the things that concern me, i was leading treks out on the road when i was 16 but that was over 25 years ago and things are certainly not the same on the roads now, people are not the same now!!

 

[MagicMelon]

I think like others have said, it depends on the pony and the hacking you have. If you have good, safe hacking on your doorstep with no risk of traffic etc. then might be ok. Perhaps the dad could go out on foot with her before letting her go totally on her own? I used to hack out for hours on my own at age 10 on the road, but that was 20 years ago and times have changed a lot since then. I'd never let my son hack out at that age (who is only 2 but when he is 10!). Maybe you could ask your local farmer if she could hack round the fields surrounding the yard, then her dad could vaguely keep an eye on her and its more secure/safe in a field.

 

[twiggy2]

11yrs off road and 13yrs out all over the place for my daughter she is now 17yrs

 

[Goldenstar]

We where out alone at six /seven riding around the village but it was different then .

 

[kassieg]

i had a horse at 13 & was riding out on my own way before that. I would probably say like 11 but my pony was an angel by that point i rode out with my friends before that even like 9 or 10 !!

 

[Lolo]

Going out alone with my sister when I was 10/11 or so, and she was 8/9. We went on prescribed hacks that my mum told us to so she knew exactly where we were meant to be and how long we should be gone for. At about that age I started riding and leading too, but that was only for short stints on my own and was supervised fairly carefully at first and it had been trialled by my mum! We didn't have the best behaved ponies by a long shot but they were surprisingly good out hacking- bucking and leaping was fairly normal but only if we razzed them up and did lots of cantering!

We normally went out with mum on her bike though, it was much more fun.

 

[conniegirl]

I was 9 and my sister 8 but that was 20 years ago!

 

[shannonandtay]

My daughter is 14 and no I don't let her hack out alone, the area we live in has it's fair share of strange people around, the roads can be busy and when she was out the other week with a couple of others and one of those an adult a driver threatened to get out and punch them all in the head as he couldn't get past in his car.

 

[GinaGeo]

I was hacking off road with friends when I was 8. Hacking alone when I was 12 on mum's not too predictable 14hander... There were unsavoury characters about, we were told which paths to avoid, were armed with sticks and told to kick on if in doubt. We had a ball. Didn't hack out on the road alone until I was about 15, when we moved away from the fabulous hacking.

 

[risky business]

I was 12/13 I'm only 21 now so not years and years ago.

 

[Ibblebibble]

her dad currently walks out with her now, at age 14 i would probably consider letting her and my daughter ride out together if they wanted but would still be a nail biting nervous wreck and have them fitted with GPS trackers lol! it's road hacking where we are and although 99% of the drivers are very good there is always 1 idiot who gets too close.

 

[STRIKER]

Just for safety of the child and pony in this day and age i wouldnt allow it, too many crazy drivers on the road, unless you keep your horse where there is off road hacking then you could say they were only allowed to go on a certain route that took no longer than 30mins for example.

I was lucky i grew up on a farm so never had to meet traffic when out hacking and the boundary fence was as far as i could go. Bring back the old days.

 

[minesadouble]

I was 8 the first time I hacked out alone but the roads were so much quieter then. My eldest daughter was 11 or 12 when she first went out alone but was very traffic aware and had a good (but not 'bombproof') pony. Depends very much on the maturity of the child and how capable a rider they are.
We have liveries and many of the adults who hack out are far less competent than my daughter was at 11. (My daughter and myself had both ridden since about the age of 2).

 

[Fides]

What does the insurance say?

 

[kandm]

I was 10/11 and looked like a Christmas tree with all my high vis. I'm only 20 now so wasn't long ago.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I started riding out alone when I was 13; pony was 5 - but he was a very sensible and mature 5. We coped! I'm still here to tell the tale.

But this was a long time ago: forty years ago to be precise. Much less traffic in those glorious halcyon days - and cyclists (when you did encounter them) were probably Bert or Harry going up to bring the cows home, not the stoopid hoons of today.

We did have a local haulage depot just down the road though (still have!); plus quarry lorries, huge great things, which went past practically every five mins. But the drivers were all aware of horses on their route and all the local kids and their ponies were actually very safe with the big lorries around coz the drivers were all really nice guys and you felt they were actually looking out for you on the route.

We still have buses; and tractors!

 

[PorkChop]

When my eldest daughter was eleven, her and my younger daughter were allowed to hack out by themselves, always with a mobile phone. My eldest was then allowed to hack by her own from the age of twelve. There are so many variables, but we are lucky in that we don't have to ride on roads, also depends on your child and how sensible they are.

 

[Lolita]

I've been riding out alone since I was 11. However I didn't start going on the roads alone until 16.

 

[rara007]

Our roads are bad (three horses killed on our routes in the last 5 years) and ponies have spirit and I don't have the option of company- I was about 16 or 17.
I rode around the fields alone at 10 and if we had off-road hacking more than those 30 acres would probably have been allowed alone on my 11.3.

 

[Zero00000]

I was 15 before I was allowed out on my own, BUT, we did had weirdos about in the woods, have very busy roads, and they were not short hacks, and to be honest, up until then, I always had people to ride with, with school etc.

 

[khalswitz]

14 for me - am 22 so not too many years ago. Our hacking was off road, on sensible horses, and Yo always knew where we were going and when we were due back.

To be riding in traffic, not unaccompanied til 16/17.