Horses and having children on yards....thoughts?

Farma

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Just wondered what peoples thoughts were on liveries taking their children/ babies down to do their horses with them? I seem to have encountered very odd attitudes and I am not sure if I am in cloud cuckoo world!
 

Red-1

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I think it very much depends on the yard. When I was young we had a very people orientated yard where I was on livery. All kids, me included, ran riot, encouraged on by the adults. Babies in prams, babies sat on horses, and one baby hung on a hook in the tack room (I kid you not!).

Dogs too, everyone came and hooftered their dog out of the car to join in the melee.

I would say that the yard was not best for the horses though, and although it was great fun as a kid I would not livery my horse there now.

My more 'serious' horses I have had at home, I would not feel comfortable with kids around unless they were well behaved enough not to shriek and they had their hands held to stop them running around.
 

9tails

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Depends what those liveries do with their kids. If the kids are well behaved, aren't running around, aren't screeching at the top of their lungs and aren't throwing things around, I don't have a problem. But I seem to find that they do all those things while the parent is off elsewhere.
 

BallyJ

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I've experienced it from being a livery on a yard where children were, and work on a yard where liveries brought children with them.

Neither were enjoyable for me, other liveries or the children's parents! Everyone was busy saying ooo watch that, move them, etc etc and jobs took atleast double what they normally would!

I also don't take my dogs to the yard when other people are there as again it takes me twice as long :)
 

Antw23uk

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We had kids on the last yard I was on. The owner was a family friend of the YO's and they used to race up and down the yard (indoor spacious barn stables) on small kid tractors and god knows what else. I dislike children and dont see the point in them. The only use they had was to de sensitise the horse to stupid kid things but an accident waiting to happen.

God i hate kids!! Ergghhhhhh

If you have a horse WHY OH WHY would you want to get up the duff and produce a brat!!!! Horses are sooo much better.
 

ihatework

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To be honest I generally go to the yard for down time - therefore if I’m having to run the ferel child gauntlett it can be quite irritating. I’m not a baby person but like well behaved kids in small doses, so for me it would depend entirely on the parent and child! And if I could exploit the child for labour all the better!!
 

JJS

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I have no issue with well-behaved children at the yard, but we have one particular livery who lets hers run riot. Most of the time, that's not a problem, as me and a friend are in a separate block to everybody else. However, recently, I had Mary and May tied up outside. Her little dogs were running around their feet already without being called back but both girls were being good about it. Then the two children came shrieking along behind them, arms waving, right into their path. I saw May looking panicked, stepped up behind to make sure they didn't get themselves kicked (no time to untie her), and got double barelled in the back as she lashed out in fear. At five months old, I could hardly blame May (she's never tried to kick before or since), and I don't think it was a negative reflection on her - she was just being a horse, and doesn't yet have the life experience to override those instincts when they kick in. I didn't even get an apology!
 

gothdolly

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Children left unsupervised whilst their parent rides or sorts out their own horse are a nightmare. Children who are coming to the yard to ride or care for their own pony are generally a delight!
 

KittenInTheTree

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Doesn't bother me at all - babies aren't mobile enough to cause too much trouble and toddlers/older children are essentially free desensitising devices on legs as far as I'm concerned! Plus if they're large enough you can borrow them to help sweep up and/or lug buckets of water around. Handy little creatures really :D Husband and I do make sure to padlock both our dogs into one or other of our stables whilst at the yard though, because we prefer them to regard yard time as nap time as opposed to a walk. On the rare occasion that all three stables are in use at once for the horses, the dogs are locked in our tack room instead. They don't bark, and we keep them on lead when not shut away, so it's not as if they cause any bother.

As an aside, several of the children on our yard already ride better than any of the adults do (me included!), and are very dedicated to looking after their ponies, so it's clearly an important part of their life too. Of course there is the occasional disinterested sibling that gets dragged along, but they generally just seem to sit in the tea room with their assorted electronic gadgets.
 

Farma

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Thanks, I do find some replies interesting really. I am just shocked at how many people are not tolerant of children. I have a toddler and obviously try my best to make sure he doesn't upset or frighten any horses but obviously he is a toddler so I cant bind and gag him!

It has never bothered me that people have their kids at yards, never crossed my mind much tbh and I have had numerous competition horses I could have been precious about getting spooked, just a massive surprise to me since I have had mine how people feel about them!
 

ester

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I've not been on a yard with much child activity and would prefer not to be, horse time is my quiet time and children often don't get the quiet memo ;). The adults that did have children on our yard tended to only bring them when there was another adult member of the family to supervise the child while they did the horse.
 

windand rain

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doesnt surprise me that horse people are not happy to have kids around they do tend to be self orientated abd focussed on what they are doing kids are even more unpredictable than the horse. I love kids they are funny and generally eager to help with easy but fun tasks
 

Orangehorse

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It is the danger to the child that would worry me. If that young pony had kicked the child instead of the owner it would have been at head height. Husband's niece ran frightened of a dog behind a horse that kicked out and kicked her in the stomach. She had a ruptured spleen that would have killed her had she not been taken directly to hospital and she lives with the consequences still.

So with close supervision it is OK, keeping a keen eye open for horses, dogs, water, motor vehicles, potential falling objects (is everything that could fall and crush a child securely tied up, like spare gates) plus the 101 hazards that they are so good at finding taken into account.
 

Wheels

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Exactly Ester, it's not about spooking my horse or anything similar it's about horses being my down time from a very busy and stressful job. I don't want to hear shrieking and having to make sure my horse doesn't stand on, knock over or otherwise injure a small child.

Well behaved, quiet children who don't cause bother and don't get in the way are perfectly fine and welcome
 

wiglet

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I agree with Ambers Echo - enthusiast, pony mad kids are lovely to have at the yard - it's the ones that aren't remotely interested in horses and are only there because their parent needs to see to the horse, that are the problem.

Anyway, no kids in my yard - a few of the adults act like spoilt brats though...
 

ester

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I was going to say most of my exposure is to those who are only there because their Mum's are into horses... the kids are generally cold and bored and would rather be anywhere but.
 

Sugar_and_Spice

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I tolerate children in all kinds of situations and I love my family's children, but I don't like unsupervised children on yards. Unfortunately, if they're there, they are generally unsupervised and running around etc. Like others have said, the yard is my down time, I don't expect to have to tolerate children being a nuisance in my down time. Wherever possible I choose child-free yards.

Do most of these parents who let the children get upto goodness knows what assume that other adults will watch over and protect their children? If they got kicked I'd have some sympathy for the child, it's not their fault they have an eejit for a parent. But no way would I stand in the firing line risking a life changing injury, to protect someone else's child.
 

scats

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I grew up as one of a group of yard kids, then grew up on the yard and had kids around. As I got older, my tolerance got less, or perhaps the behaviour of some of the kids put me off. So many kids running riot and adults thinking nothing of it. When we were kids, if we got too rowdy, we were told off!

I'm now on a yard with a couple of well behaved teenagers, but no children aside from a couple of visitors. It's bliss. I'm a teacher and the yard is my down time. I don't have my own children and I don't wish to be around them.
 

teddypops

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Thanks, I do find some replies interesting really. I am just shocked at how many people are not tolerant of children. I have a toddler and obviously try my best to make sure he doesn't upset or frighten any horses but obviously he is a toddler so I cant bind and gag him!

It has never bothered me that people have their kids at yards, never crossed my mind much tbh and I have had numerous competition horses I could have been precious about getting spooked, just a massive surprise to me since I have had mine how people feel about them!

It’s more a case of not being tolerant of kids who are allowed to run wild unsupervised than being intolerant of kids in general
 

Arzada

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I am just shocked at how many people are not tolerant of children. I have a toddler and obviously try my best to make sure he doesn't upset or frighten any horses but obviously he is a toddler so I cant bind and gag him!
I am shocked too that adults have free range children in potentially dangerous places. I like children but it makes me very nervous when the very young ones are unsupervised. They have no concept, because of their ages, of the danger. I can't stop my horse being a horse so if someone's child is inadvertently hurt eg by being to close to and scaring a tied up horse into kicking out are you OK with that?
 

Peregrine Falcon

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I'll take enthusiastic, pony-mad kids over mardy, miserable, middle aged, gossipy, grumpy adults anyday.....

Nice way of looking at it. I'm lucky that it's just myself and a couple of friends on our rented premises. My children have been around ponies since birth. The eldest rides and is very useful!! The youngest isn't keen on riding but likes helping. Both have been taught how to approach and behave around them.

I can see how it would irritate others wanting quiet time around their horses though. I do like my down time without kids!! :)
 

ILuvCowparsely

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Just wondered what peoples thoughts were on liveries taking their children/ babies down to do their horses with them? I seem to have encountered very odd attitudes and I am not sure if I am in cloud cuckoo world!

Luckily non of my liveries have babies, have done in the past, as for children the same thing most of my livery owners either don't have kids or they have flown the nest.
 

ILuvCowparsely

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I'll take enthusiastic, pony-mad kids over mardy, miserable, middle aged, gossipy, grumpy adults anyday.....

I am the opposite, give me a grumpy adult any day over children. I am not maternal in anyway shape or form so my patience with screaming kids on the yard is very short. That said a livery has 2 twin girls who shares their pony who come up twice a week, she is in charge of them and they are kept under control well and are nice 10 year old girls. It is the noisy screaming defiant ones I cannot take.

One of my pet grieves is when a livery uses the yard as a baby sitter for their child while they go off and do other things leaving kid on it's own even though rules says children to be supervised.
 
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Rowreach

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Thanks, I do find some replies interesting really. I am just shocked at how many people are not tolerant of children. I have a toddler and obviously try my best to make sure he doesn't upset or frighten any horses but obviously he is a toddler so I cant bind and gag him!

It has never bothered me that people have their kids at yards, never crossed my mind much tbh and I have had numerous competition horses I could have been precious about getting spooked, just a massive surprise to me since I have had mine how people feel about them!

But how can you then keep your toddler safe?

I had two children when I was running a livery yard. When they were tiny it was easy to trap them in a pushchair and park them somewhere safe, but when they started toddling I had to get someone else to look after them while I was on the yard.

Having small children around horses is plain dangerous. I'm not surprised therefore that so many people are "intolerant"!
 

Lammy

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There a two types, small children who know that horses need quiet and calm behaviour and others who are not taught that the yard is not a play area.
My little cousin is very well behaved on a rare visit to the yard and fully understands that if she's loud and/or disobeys my instruction of where to walk (ie, not behind pony)and what to do then she won't get to have a ride.

It's also really not a place for babies, at least not for an extended period of time. A liveries baby was recently bumped out of a pushchair and she was supposedly parked in a "safe" spot. Ambulance called and baby fine,luckily, livery has since sold her horse as was finding it too hard to do both.

Horse mad kids/teens are fine, we have several of these and they are so nice! Plus they tend to know the best hacks... :)
 

pinkypug1

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I have 2 young kids 6&3 and I could count on one hand how many times they have been to the livery yard with me. It's my down time and I wouldn't get peace to ride with them. Also I don't want to annoy other people, they are very well behaved but having been around horsey people for 30 years I know how intolerant they can be �� They do come with me quite a bit to my other lot of horses who are on my own land but they Mooch about the field while I groom/feed so don't cause any bother to anyone but me!

As a mother I do love kids but a busy livery yard is not the place for them!!
 

JDH01

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Finding this really interesting as childless by choice, been on same yard 18 yrs when it has gone from no children to loads as yard owners now have a child. I don't see other people's children as my responsibility and I have to say given kids whizzing by has improved my horses tolerance of such things and they are less spooky. The kids seem to know I am interested in their riding but not anything else. For the record I have event horses and hunters and am on full livery. Dogs have always been welcome on yard and horses are dog and hound proof as totally used to their running around. I still would be no where else with my horses and believe the variety keeps us sane.
 
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