When we had a yard - we didn't have children or people with loads of kids. They used to treat it as some sort of playground and let their children run wild everywhere. If you had a toddler would you let them play by a pond all by themselves? Or would you let your child kick and punch our poor dog?
I allow children - but no one under 16 is allowed on the yard without an adult - I am a livery yard not a Creche. No one under 16 is allowed to ride in the school or the fields without an adult. And no one has complained or ignored these rules. They are for the horse, childrens safety.
No children allowed, and even teenagers discouraged. We had some children visit today but that was very much a one off.
Seems mean, I know, but it does result in a very peaceful existence. The only exception appears to be my son, as long as he poo picks and mucks out we'll continue to allow him to come
we have a rule that advises adults not to allow children (non-riders/liveries) onto the yard unless suitable supervision is available & preferably not at busy times of the day i.e. @ 8:30am on a winters day when everyone is riding or tyeing up horses or if the adult is riding someone needs to supervise the child(ren). i
f the child(ren) have a pony under 12's should be supervised & its advised that children under 14/16 depending on child be adequately supervised e.g. not hacking out on their own & aware of personal safety (wearing Hi-Fiz - u wouldnt believe that some parents take the children out without thinking about putting any on!!)
My yard is small (six liveries, two of YO's horses) and generally doesn't have children on the yard. The type of person who is attracted by the yard isn't really the "has children" type. One livery has a 3yo child who she brings up maybe once a week, and although YO isn't overly pleased that this is a regular occurance she is allowing it to continue as my friend knows to keep her girl in her sights and under control at all times. I ride said friend's horse for her as she doesn't ride whenever she has her child with her, hence she doesn't ride very much! The others don't have children, or have grown-up (20+) children.
Generally children with ponies don't come to the yard either, YO's rules are strict and she doesn't like children under about 14yo with ponies on the yard. We have a 15/16yo girl though. Any children who do visit the yard for lessons are always very grown-up, but then you have to be to have lessons with YO or she'll have no patience whatsoever!
I much prefer not having children running around the place, things run smoothly and problems are sorted in a mature way. I remember when I first brought my pony to the yard, I was about 14 and felt it was a great honour to be thought of as grown-up enough to be allowed to join in with the yard!
I dont think there is anything in stone, but at work the YO doesnt like kids being down there. The youngest livery is about 14, and I think thats pretty much the limit.
Lots of kids at my current yard though. Its pretty old fashioned and slack there. I think as long as the kids arent noisy or a pain the YO doesnt mind who comes
my current YO has a 2 & 6 year old and the liveries including my two are 12, 13, and two 15 yr olds. i dont take my youngest 3 to the yard unless i really have to and then i sit in the car and wait for the kids to do there horses. its to much like hard work to supervise the littluns around the horses as they have usually disappeared in the blink of an eye! even YO tries to avoid bringing hers onto the yard!
old yard was full of little kids 10 to 12 year olds ,was more like a playground than a livery yard!
Lots of kids all over the place some even riding trikes round the yard. Drives me mad. In our arena yesterday were 5 kids riding ponies (all under 14) one 17 yr old who is worse than the lot of them, a lass riding a horse rugged up and in a headcollar and one girl with a dog.
I almost lost my rag but remembered we are leaving
Sorry if post make s no semse been in pub all night! sorry for rant. Think yards should have a kids policy as I think there will be an accidebnt soon and YO will be hel responsible as parents seem to drop kids off for the day and leave.
Troubl is, other than that it is a nice yard really.
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Lots of kids all over the place some even riding trikes round the yard. Drives me mad. In our arena yesterday were 5 kids riding ponies (all under 14) one 17 yr old who is worse than the lot of them, a lass riding a horse rugged up and in a headcollar and one girl with a dog.
We now won't take any liveries with kids, we asked our last lot to leave as I saw lawsuits on legs
A working farm is no place for kids, and these also threw stones (only a 3 year old child) at our terriers, which then made the terrier nip the kiddy every time he saw him.
We decided it was far too much hassle and as the kids got bigger they started getting into the tractors. Admittedly the parents did nothing to control them, as thought it was good for them to learn.....
Quote ' think I saw an unaccompanied 5 year old today
'
!!!!!
TBH I think the YO should take some sort of stand on what the kid policy is, otherwise all will let loose. The kids on our yard bring all their friends up and scream and yell.
It is bliss when they aren't there and YO is lovely but we do need more discipline. They just don't respect the place.
It's a shame. When I was that age I would just be so thankful to be near a horse, nevermind anything else..... *goes off on rant about how it used to be in the good old days... *
I don't know if you remember a livery that had a few horses, and a foal born there. They had a 3 year old kid.
When J arrived he was no fun to be around, and had a very bad temper. I tied him up outside his stable and went to get some brushes. When I came back, the child was attached to his back leg
Could have been dead where he stood!
I agree though, it was bliss yesterday at 8am! Today I was taking Yogi for a walk and the screaming wasn't helping
! That particular child used to drive me MAD!
In your case he (and you!) were very lucky. It jsut seems some parents are either ignorant about the danger or they are just not bothered!!
OP - IMO the best policy is to have children accompanied. I can think of a couple of kids on our yard who ARE pleasant, polite and kind to their ponies. They are also supervised 99% of the time by their parents - despite being over 10.
At our yard theres no setfast rule, but only children with their own ponies are allowed up yard, but yo does turn blind eye to liveries with their own children as long as they are under control and supervised, luckily only a few have kids i am one of those but only have the one and she is 12 and thankfully absolutely pony mad so you dont really know she is there as always with her pony somewhere.
At our yard the kids we have at the moment are fine but there is one particularly unpleasant 'adult' recently arrived who has dragged the whole place down into the gutter. Why do yards not vet people before they arrive. This person has been through loads of local yards and been put off - now we have to put up with them. Feel sorry for the horse though being buted up then jumped until it is lathered in sweat. Sorry, I've been awake all night fretting about this situation - needed to have a rant!
We're a small DIY yard with mainly ponies so we have a few kids around. They are generally very well behaved and well supervised and only come down to ride and see to their ponies. We do have one owner with 3 small children and I find them a bit of a problem. She brings them sometimes when she sees to their pony (they hardly ever ride) and they get bored and mess around. The main issue though is probably my extreme dislike of small children!
I would prefer an adult only yard, but everything else suits me so I put up with it (and them with me!)
No real age restrictions, youngest girl that leases is 9, and she is fine, she is always with someone so no worries. The liveries at the yard either have no kids or their grown up. The YO has a 9 year old son and he's at the yard quite a lot and has been since he was born. Instructor has also got a 4 month old baby, so things may change
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Feel sorry for the horse though being buted up then jumped until it is lathered in sweat. Sorry, I've been awake all night fretting about this situation - needed to have a rant!
I have to admit it's one of the first questions I ask when thinking of moving to a new yard as like to be able to get away from them!
Having said that one previous YO had a 7 year old who used to drive his mini quad round the manege with a little harrow attached and level it for us. He also used to have a mini tipper trailer as well and poo pick the paddocks, he was sooo well trained.
Current yard has a very nice family who come at the weekends though and bring very small son with them and he doesn't interfere with anyone but just think he's a bit of a liability
Gosh, I'm kinda surprised at all the 'NO CHILDREN ALLOWED' yards out there, and how much people seem to like it.
We don't have any official rules about children on the yard. Lots of younger teens have horses and they are great to have around, friendly and polite and fun to chat to. They are responsible with their horses, get on with their chores and don't make a mess or behave inappropriately.
We have loads of helpers on Saturday as well for the riding school. We had about six or seven kids yesterday, all aged between 11 and 15 and I have to say that in the afternoon when all the chorse were finished (in record time, I may add) I came out of the tack room to see all of them sprawled out in the straw barn laughing and playing with one of the dogs and I thought "what a lovely advertisment for the yard, all these kids enjoying themselves outdoors together".
There is one family who bring their very young kids to the barn and sometimes these youngsters can be a bit cheeky but the parents do try to keep them under control and it doesn't do the horses any harm to have a few little ones racing about. No one would think of leaving very young ones unsupervised but over the age of about 11 or so if they are helping or looking after their own ponies, they are welcome.
I would hate to be at a yard the 'banned' children. Children are just as much a part of this world as the rest of us and shouldn't be locked away behind closed doors incase they are 'noisy' or 'messy'.