DIY livery with a toddler how...

[Bens_Mum]

Been on full for quite a while but apart from cost I go up everyday and end up doing half the jobs fetching in etc so seems silly and actually sad as it sounds enjoy doing the jobs and having it as I like it.

My toddler is 2 1/2 in nursery all week so not a problem Monday to Friday but weekends will be. She is fine for mucking out etc and likes to help but how do you turn out and bring in?

The place I'm looking at has no help onsite at all. My cob isn't fantastic to lead sometimes although I'm working on it. Its individual turn out.

Was thinking could I leave in the car watching a DVD for the five minutes it takes or how do others manage to do it safely? Car is insight of the field. Over summer they live out and next year I think both she and cob will make this a much easier prospect so its can it be made to work for two months?

 

[Shay]

It is safer to leave them in the car than take them with you. Nothing is entirely without risk of course!

 

[Slightly Foxed]

She should be OK in the car for five mins, good old technology!

 

[booandellie]

This reminded me of one of the ladies who keeps her horse at our yard! she has 3 kids but the youngest is about the same age as yours and she leaves him in the car right next to the gate. It is a teeny tiny yard on a private road so she can see him at all times. Anyway while she was mucking out everytime i looked over he seemed to be calling 'HELP!' so i went and fetched her only to find it was actually 'hello!!'. I think if you are no more than a few yards away it's fine but i wouldn't leave them while i went to the field- anything can and does happen in the blink of an eye with toddlers! Could someone else turn out/ bring in for you at weekend in return for favour during the week?

 

[Bens_Mum]

I think it's quite possible someone would and it's on a farm in a carpark and literally 30 meters if that. It's a small place with only a few liveries. Child can't get out of the car seat so hopefully the DVD would be a solution. Probably over thinking it all had a lot of grief about her being in a back carrier when she was small so a bit nervous.

I know kids on yards seriously offend some people I was one of them so I'm well aware of that. Was thinking if I made up nets etc on Friday is literally mucking out which we often do now so should be fine. Just need to work out what can be done for holiday cover.

Thanks all.

 

[smellsofhorse]

Yes leave in car.
A snack and something to occupy them.
Like a DVD or colouring.
You could lock the car and park it in sight of the field, you shouldn't have any issues.

 

[Llewellyn]

Defo strap in car seat, safest place. Nothing should be able to happen in a car seat that a child can't cope with for a couple of minutes. Personally I wouldn't have the DVD player but I'm a mean mother! 😂 Obviously don't let them eat anything but I think that's pretty standard 'car rules'.

Also have you tried a backpack now your toddlers bigger I don't use one as he is heavier than dark matter now but previous children I used it up until 3/4 and my little one is still in a sling at a year (although sometimes in backpack instead)

(Feel free to ignore parenting differences 😂 I don't allow the kids to snack or eat unattended or in the car or as a distraction but I know loads do and don't judge them for it.)

 

[Bens_Mum]

The DVD player was to save my life on a long trip it's a 'special' treat so it might keep the peace. Mine has such a set of lungs if she kicks off I wouldn't wish that on anyone even through closed car doors 😂

 

[pippixox]

I have a 4 month old who goes in a sling to bi and to, unless he is fast asleep in his car seat- as field in a 10 minute walk. In the cold and ice it is safer to leave them in the car. Mine are very well behaved to lead though so if he is awake I often carry him as he enjoys it.
( there is another lady with kids who will keep an ear open sometimes)

Choking is rare but I would rather leave kids with toys than food just encase. My friends 4yo always played on his iPad while she did chores. My other friends kids happily do a short walk to the field

 

[Bens_Mum]

Glad others have made it work it would not only save me a small fortune but also be nice to spend the time with my horse I think one on one rather than lots of people handling would maybe speed up the leading issue. She's lovely on the way out but stressy coming in this may change at a smaller yard anyway.

My monster loves walking up I just don't want the silly horse to squash her. We used to always poo pick and muck out in the sling life was easier before she could protest!

 

[GirlFriday]

*If* you choose to do this...

Sounds silly... but do check that your car alarm won't go off based on her motion when locked in... [experience talking]

Also: most standard car seat straps where escapable before that age if child is flexible/bored/imaginative. Have a look at the extra clips (BeSafe etc) available.

 

[ycbm]

Take my hat off to you mums who juggle family and horses. Naive question, maybe, could the child be locked into the stable while you fetch the horse, if the car option causes tantrums or is too far out of sight?

 

[ycbm]

*If* you choose to do this...

Sounds silly... but do check that your car alarm won't go off based on her motion when locked in... [experience talking]

Also: most standard car seat straps where escapable before that age if child is flexible/bored/imaginative. Have a look at the extra clips (BeSafe etc) available.

Not silly at all. My husband did this to me outside the Coop. It was SO embarrassing! The doors wouldn't open, the alarm was screaming, and I just had to sit there trying not to breath until he came back.

 

[texas]

Cbeebies Iplayer for me. Download a few longer programs at home to put on at the yard. Park near the yard, leave child in car seat ( after feeding ponies carrrots) with window ajar so can hear them.

 

[tallyho!]

I popped mine in a back carrier at that age. Easier about 3/4 then they come up the field and it's really fun.

I had several horses at the time and I got terrible abuse off fellow idiotic, new-age, chavvy liveries about the dangers.... I was polite about my responses. The YO thankfully was a proper old school huntmistress and supported me.

My motto is as below... get on with it. Be sure they're safe, be sure you're safe and get on with life. If you can't then give up.

 

[Orangehorse]

I don't like leaving children in cars, too many scarey stories, but I suppose it is balancing the risks.

 

[Bens_Mum]

She climbs out the back Carrier little cherub we had to abandon that. It's literally to put out she can muck out and do jobs so five mins max.

Leaving in the stable would cause hysteria it has been suggested before and possibly tantruming in poo 🙈

 

[Moomin1]

My 2yr old sits in my car watching Peppa Pig whilst I turn out.

 

[Bertolie]

My daughter has a little boy who's 18 months old. She does horses in morning so turns out and used to have her little boy in a back carrier. However one of the horses can be a bit bargy to lead (though working on this) so she felt it was unsafe to take the little one while turning out. Paddock is 5 mins each way so she leaves him in the car with a book to occupy him. There are others on the yard who will keep an ear out for him but for my daughter it was a case of choosing the safest option.

 

[tankgirl1]

OP can you not coerce your little one to climb into a large haynet and hang it up? No chance of trouble then!

Joking of course, I would go with a well strapped in car seat and Cbeebies or similar

 

[tankgirl1]

My son is now 11yo and is a godsend on winter bring in duty! It's not his favourite but he will quite happily haul bottles of water from the car to the stable whilst I muck out, sometimes he finds emptying the barrow fun, and his current 'best job' is to run down and open the gate to let the ponies out the field - I get to stand up the top of the lane and just guide them into the stable... Might not sound like much but took me twice as long when he was at Scout Camp!

Actually I lied, his favourite job ever is to open and lay a new bag of bedding haha!

 

[MileAMinute]

I've discovered an excellent trick for tablets/phones in the car. If you have an Apple product, you can use guided access to turn the touchscreen off (so they can't go on anything else). It's in the accessibility settings

 

[Moomin1]

I've discovered an excellent trick for tablets/phones in the car. If you have an Apple product, you can use guided access to turn the touchscreen off (so they can't go on anything else). It's in the accessibility settings

There's an app you can download on Android products too which does the same. Though I just balance my phone upright on the dashboard out of reach anyway so she can see it but not touch. I just ask her what she wants to watch, turn it on and can easily do all my chores ie muck out, turn put, hay, have a natter etc before she gets fed up of waiting. I just give her a wave every time I pass the car and let my gee gee say hello through the window, and she's happy as anything.

 

[MagicMelon]

It depends on the yard layout and where the field is - when my son was younger I would usually either park him in the car (if I could see him) or if not then I'd have him out in a buggy and park him somewhere safe where I could keep an eye on him. I used to have one horse who could be a handful sometimes to lead and was bolshy so I would never have trusted him near a buggy, I would park my son in the tack room and leave the door open Or if she's helpful you could give her a safe job to do while you're busy or give her some toys to play with in the tack room or an empty stable?

 

[nicelittle]

I used to shut my two in a (clean) stable for a few minutes whilst bring in/out etc. I used to leave one in a car seat for that time, but he convinced someone on the yard to let him out and I had a hell of a job finding him! Stable was safer!

 

[lrw0250]

My daughter has just turned 4 and we have had her pony on DIY livery for 18 months so just about the age yours is now. I am lucky in that I share yard duties with the other livery in our field and we are both pretty flexible about covering for each other which is a godsend. On mornings where the weather has been bad and I have to check and feed hay in the field my wee one stays in the car with a Disney CD on - car gets tucked away out of sight behind the hay shed which is as close to our field as I can get it although not in my line of sight from the field. In the summer she normally comes to the field with me for checks or goes and plays in the outdoor school which is next to my field with a variety of toys we keep for such occasions - football/Frisbee/hula hoop!

Our two live out as much as possible and only really come in if its particularly bad weather so for the most part if I am bringing in or turning out in those conditions I will leave her at home with Daddy anyway or take her to granny and grandads house! If she is with me when I need to move them then she knows to stay out of the way of the horses and again goes to play in the school or will stay down in the stables washing out feed buckets for me with strict instructions not to wander off. If I am only dealing with her pony and not the other liveries horse too it is much easier and I get her more involved with grooming, leading etc.

 

[mums the groom]

used to lock my toddler in my tack room with drink snack and Portable DVD for the 5 mins putting out even now at the age of nine if she cant find me or is bored she'll go sit in the tack room and wait for me.... if only I could get her to clean the tack while she's in there