Daughter 'teaching' child to ride for payment

B

billylula

Well-Known Member
Joined
29 November 2011
Messages
541
Visit site
Is this ever a good idea? Daughter is 14 and very kind and pretty accomplished. Child is sweet and lives locally. Mother has asked if daughter will give child basic lessons on our very quiet pony in return for payment. Daughter would love to do it as is a typical teenager and really wants the money. I know the mother well and she's a good friend.

I expect there will be all sorts of insurance issues though. Its probably not a good idea is it?
 
Probably lots of issues these days with insurance and liability etc
But I use to teach kids at 14, just the bare basics up to simple walk and trot routines with lots of poles and games to keep them interested was mainly tiny tots with helpers or 7-11year olds up to 1st show standard, also use to stable management and horse care lessons.
worst part was this was for a riding school I was unqualified and likely not insured given what I now know about the yard but coming from a non horsey family and having no one to turn to I didn't know any better. I got a job in local riding school having been on one 1/2hr happy hack and becoming obsessed!
 
billylula said:
Is this ever a good idea? Daughter is 14 and very kind and pretty accomplished. Child is sweet and lives locally. Mother has asked if daughter will give child basic lessons on our very quiet pony in return for payment. Daughter would love to do it as is a typical teenager and really wants the money. I know the mother well and she's a good friend.

I expect there will be all sorts of insurance issues though. Its probably not a good idea is it?
Click to expand...

The main legal problem here is teaching the child using YOUR animal. That means you are doing it for monetary gain, ie. hiring out the pony and you have to have a licence to do that. Teaching on the child's own pony is OK, I've done that but either the child's mother needs to sign a disclaimer, or you will need insurance.
 
Don't do it. It's all fine if it goes well, but if there's an accident the fact that you're accepting money makes it difficult.

As a late teenager to early twenties I taught at a RS, under a BHS qualified instructor. When I had a mother of one of the kids I taught ask me for private lessons and paid coaching at comps, my boss told me I would be daft to do it - she said the insurance ramifications aren't worth it. If something goes wrong that parent is going to sue you for all you're worth - if they end up with a paralysed child, whether you are friends or not won't matter, they will need all the financial help they can to support that child (That's assuming they aren't also directing all their anger and grief at you as an outlet!)

I ended up teaching and coaching the kid involved - but I did it for nothing, and under parental supervision. It was experience, fun, and I could put it on my CV, but no money would have made it worth it if it had gone wrong.

And that was on their own pony - I'm sure there's even more risk of getting sued if it's your pony as well, as any fall can be blamed on your assessment of the pony as suitable for the child... it is a litigation culture unfortunately.
 
My daughter has been teaching people (children and adults alike) to ride since she was around 14 years old, and still does now at 17 yrs old. BUT we are a fully operational horse farm and have comprehensive insurance cover for anyone riding here and my daughter has always had insurance to teach/train here. She only teaches on a 1 to 1 basis with people she knows (using either their horse or one of ours) and has made herself a nice bit of pocket money over the years. Her passion is the same as mine however; training young or inexperienced horses and tbh she makes significantly more money doing that than teaching people. You'd definitely need to check out how your insurance would work though, and that of the girl she might teach.
 
If you use your pony for hire or reward then you technically require a LA Riding School Licence. Insurance and child protection etc will come into this. I personally do not think it a sound idea.
 
God, this brings back awful memories. A good 5 years ago, my daughter done exactly the same thing, and started to teach a friend of a friends daughter to ride, she had had a few lessons at a riding school. My daughter's pony was a dope on a rope. One day when out on a hack, and I was walking next to her as well, my daughter riding another horse in front, the pony decided to trot and catch up with the horse, for some reason the girl screamed and the pony went up into canter, then in a flash she fell out the side door and the pony took off into the distance. Parents had to be called, child taken to A&E in an ambulance, I felt terrible although it was just one of those things that can happen. Parents not happy. I was worried in sick in case it turned nasty, turned out it was just a bruised hip. But, moral of that story was that I would never ever become involved in teaching again. Its all ok until something happens and then the **** hits the fan.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top