Hacking out with a child (aged 8) who is not yours!

No, I wouldn't do it. A teenager, fine, but a child that age? Hacking is dull and hellish enough as it is without making it even more of a chore by taking a child with you!
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I too would be worried about the possible consequences.
 
I would ask the YO (=parent) first, maybe ask if the girl has hacked out with other liveries before you. If he/she is okay with it and the girl seems sensible and like a rider you would be comfortable out hacking with, then I "vote" yes for you and her going out hacking together. Maybe if you want to say something about that you could do it once to see if your horses are compatible, as in that she and her pony can do the sort of hacking that you want to do with Bob. Then if you, by some reason, didn't quite like the experience, you could always blame it on Bob "needing" a different sort of hacking than her pony.


Whenever my nephews and niece are here for a visit, dog walks equal 3 dogs and 3 children, since we live a little bit rural, most roads around my home have no pavements and all the roads around our summer home is without pavements (= cars, lorries and sometimes buses passing us in less than an arm's length distance). I'm not saying I don't worry, I certainly feel that they are my responsibility (just as my dogs) but after all, according to the statistics they are much more likely to have an accident in our home or garden, than out on our dog walks.

According to the same statistics, the YO daughter is much more likely to have an accident around you and Bob at the yard or in her own home, than together with you out hacking. Accidents can and does happen anywhere, that is why they're called accidents, it is just that at home or at the yard we feel relaxed, safe and we forget about the risks but in reality, that is where the majority of all accidents happen.

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I think its such a shame we live in a world where people won't take a child out hacking for fear of what will happen if something goes wrong.

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Haven't we always lived in such a world??? When has it been OK to take responsibility for someone else's child, allow it to come to harm and not be held responsible?
 
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I think its such a shame we live in a world where people won't take a child out hacking for fear of what will happen if something goes wrong.

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Haven't we always lived in such a world??? When has it been OK to take responsibility for someone else's child, allow it to come to harm and not be held responsible?

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Allow it to come to harm? If you act irresponsible, then I could understand that you could say that the irresponsible person allowed the child to come to harm but otherwise accidents can sadly happen, no matter how careful you are. That is sort of why we call them accidents and honestly if I act responsible and do my best and yet an accident happens, I don't expect to be held responsible.
 
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I think its such a shame we live in a world where people won't take a child out hacking for fear of what will happen if something goes wrong.

[/ QUOTE ]

Haven't we always lived in such a world??? When has it been OK to take responsibility for someone else's child, allow it to come to harm and not be held responsible?

[/ QUOTE ]

Allow it to come to harm? If you act irresponsible, then I could understand that you could say that the irresponsible person allowed the child to come to harm but otherwise accidents can sadly happen, no matter how careful you are. That is sort of why we call them accidents and honestly if I act responsible and do my best and yet an accident happens, I don't expect to be held responsible.

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Sorry, but that's naive in the extreme in the current climate regards litigation.
If the YO has the daughter covered by her insurance, and something dreadful happens, the first thing the YOs Insurance Company is going to want to do is offload fault to someone else. And if the child was out with another person, an adult, who is not on their policy, the company is going to insist on trying to prove that party negligent, and therefore deny liability.
The YO herself may not even have any say in it.
These are what we used to call accidents. Now we call them Compensation Opportunities.
I also think it's a shame. But that doesn't make it go away.
 
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I think its such a shame we live in a world where people won't take a child out hacking for fear of what will happen if something goes wrong.

[/ QUOTE ]

Haven't we always lived in such a world??? When has it been OK to take responsibility for someone else's child, allow it to come to harm and not be held responsible?

[/ QUOTE ]

Allow it to come to harm? If you act irresponsible, then I could understand that you could say that the irresponsible person allowed the child to come to harm but otherwise accidents can sadly happen, no matter how careful you are. That is sort of why we call them accidents and honestly if I act responsible and do my best and yet an accident happens, I don't expect to be held responsible.

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Sorry, but that's naive in the extreme in the current climate regards litigation.
If the YO has the daughter covered by her insurance, and something dreadful happens, the first thing the YOs Insurance Company is going to want to do is offload fault to someone else. And if the child was out with another person, an adult, who is not on their policy, the company is going to insist on trying to prove that party negligent, and therefore deny liability.
The YO herself may not even have any say in it.
These are what we used to call accidents. Now we call them Compensation Opportunities.
I also think it's a shame. But that doesn't make it go away.

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I don't think that it is easy to say 'accidents happen' with someone else's child and walk away (and I don't mean legally, I mean morally). Suppose my horse spooked, the child's pony reacted, threw her off and, bad luck, she was badly injured. The fact that this was someone else's CHILD would make all this my responsibility, in a way that isn't true with an adult who chose to hack with me knowing that riding is a dangerous sport.
 
I absolutely wouldnt. Variety of reasons,

1. if she fell off, and you reacted differently from the way her parents would want
2. never EVER be alone with a young child, so many potential child abuse problems there, you never want to do that
3. if you fell off, how would she cope.

tbh the biggest one for me would be if she told her parents you abused her (i know you obv wouldnt, but kids do it sometimes) you'd have NO proof.

xxx
 
No, please don't do it!
As a senior teacher I am frequently responsible for taking large groups of other people's children out and about BUT, my employers and my union both cover me with insurance in case anything goes wrong or in case of any allegation of wrong doing being made.
I'm afraid that if the child were to have an accident, especially a serious one, the parents would be looking for some-one to blame (it's just human nature), and that some-one would not be themselves for allowing her to go out with you, or their daughter, for, for example, not following your instructions. It doesn't matter how nice the family seem , or how well you know them.
As an adult if you do accompany a child you have to be 'in charge' and that can leave you in a very vulnerable position.

ETA It seems that those who have posted that they do/did accompany children out hacking have in the main done this as part of their job. In that case they would be covered by their employer's insurance, and nowadays would have been CRB checked. A very different case from yours!
 
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ETA It seems that those who have posted that they do/did accompany children out hacking have in the main done this as part of their job. In that case they would be covered by their employer's insurance, and nowadays would have been CRB checked. A very different case from yours!

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LOL - not wishing to detract from your reply, which was very interesting and useful, but I nearly said in my OP - I am enhanced CRB checked as I am a CRB countersignatory
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But obviously there is still the insurance thing which is a major consideration...
 
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No, I wouldn't do it. A teenager, fine, but a child that age? Hacking is dull and hellish enough as it is without making it even more of a chore by taking a child with you!
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I too would be worried about the possible consequences.

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LMAO SC, I actually did LOL when I read this
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Wow, well I had no idea this question would have so many replies when I remembered to come back to it - many thanks to all for your opinions and thoughts
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I think on balance I really would rather not take the risk - there are others (including the YO herself) who the child can hack with, so I am not depriving her.

And TBH, being a cynic as usual, I also think the novelty of riding with me will soon wear off when I am not the newest on the yard any more
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I hack out sometimes with a 9 year old girl on a reasonably safe pony. My horses can be pretty stupid, bucky and a wimp, and her pony will quite happily lead past the scary tractor/etc!
 
Wow - what a minefield....

Never really thought of it like this before. Where I kept my 3 horses (one after the other over about a 5r yr period) I would hack out with anyone if I fancied it. YO's daughter when I was there first, was about 6 or 7 and I'd hack out with her, her father would happily let her out on her own, so in a way, I'd join her! Seriously, he was fine for her to go and school around Stilemans on her own so I'd go with her!!! I'd also go hunting with her through the season, as I was one of the only ones that did go hunting from the yard, so she'd come in my lorry and I'd take her there and back. Her dad always knew where she was and who she was with.

What happens if you 'met' out hacking, would you be responsible for a minor?

I've seriously had more issues riding with older people who were perhaps more frail than any kid.

Bx
 
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