Horses & Children Under 5

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pansy

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For those of you with children under the age of 5
Do they go to the yard with you & do they go with you when your horse is turned out ?
If you take them to the yard are they happy there ?
Sorry a lot of questions - I have always tried to make trips to the yard short when I have the children with me - justwas wondered what everyone else does
 
I try and get the horses done while he is at nursery, but that's only 2 and a half hours a day five days a week so really not enough time to feed four (one old lady takes half an hour to eat!) and exercise two so I do take him with me quite a lot.

I'm very lucky that I am on a private yard, only four horses there and it's all enclosed. The owner lives onsite and my three year old can play wherever he likes (he loves her tennis court!) and he can't escape! The owner is always happy to spend time with him and she has a garage full of toys from when her son was wee so he goes off exploring with her quite a lot, which is a godsend as I can get loads done! So grateful to her.

The stables itself are enclosed in a massive barn with a sand school too, so if the weather is terrible and I want to stop him from going out I can close the metal doors over. He also has a bag of toys in the tack room, so when it's cold he sits in there and plays, with the heater on and plenty of snacks and drinks which I keep there for him.

He doesn't usually come to the field with me if I'm catching more than one at a time, as the field is across a busy B road, but if I'm just catching his pony and one other he comes over and leads his own pony back himself (obviously with me walking beside them, and it's not a wide road to cross!) she is good as gold and never sets a foot wrong with him, she knows where her stable is and goes straight in :)

He loves helping though, has his own mini wheelbarrow, fork, buckets etc for helping, his job is making up the feeds and feeding (takes aaaaages but at least he is occupied so not moaning lol) and there is an old mini tractor abandoned at the side of the sand school so he busies himself playing on that.

He can always groom her whenever he likes as well.

I'm waffling on loads, I do love taking him up with me, so much better than him being stuck in the house! The only problem I have is I obviously can't hack out if I have him with me so am limited to the school, but I am very lucky it's all so enclosed and not busy with lots of people and horses!
 
Our children grew up living on our livery yard so they were always around and about doing things. Mine all enjoyed pootling about with the horses as they all had ponies of their own at that age.
 
My 10 month old comes with me twice a day, he is all snugged up in a snow suit and I bought a Little Life back pack carrier for him, so I can pop him on my back and trek up the field and feed, poo pick, pick feet and give his rugs a move about etc. My mate is super lucky with her little one, she will happily stay in her buggy with her toys in the school while she rides but Im not so lucky, mine would go crazy and escape but I get the basics done, feed,checks etc and ride at the weekend when Daddy is home. Looking forward to some extra time with my four legged boy when little man goes to nursery. :)
 
I have two boys of nearly 4 and nearly 2, and I can't manage the two of them at the yard if I am handling big horses. The older boy will do as he is told and would be ok, but the little one would not. I'm lucky enough to have a very good OH who will come to the yard at weekends and watch the boys while I do horse things, so they get the benefit of being out there and playing with the ponies. I can have them there on my own if I am just dealing with the children and the pony, but I know my big horse can kick so wouldn't have him and them on the yard at the same time unless someone is specifically watching the kids and making sure they don't go too close. TBH I would always assume any horse might kick so I would err on the side of caution - I knew of a supposedly safe horse who kicked a small boy some years ago with terrible consequences.

When I was on maternity leave each time, I took them as babies and tried to time riding with their sleeps - it probably worked at least half the time - but you have to be prepared for disappointment sometimes and just chucking the horse back in the field!
 
My little girl is 22 months old now- she's been coming upto the yard since she was a few days old. I keep my horses on a large livery yard with 50+ horses.
When she was smaller she spent a lot of time in the backpack- it was a godsend- and with her contained up there I could lunge, muck out, groom etc. She's much too big for that now though unfortunately, so she 'helps' with the mucking out, waters and hay (she loves mixing feeds) then sits in the car with a drink, snack and little activity- play doh or a book or her ponies whilst I go and bring them in. This usually takes me about 10 mins.
After that she sometimes stays there until I've done or she'll get out and come and groom her pony (little welshy) or 'sweep' the yard, or we'll get him ready for her to ride.
She used to do a bit more with my old boys but they were PTS this summer, and my youngster is obviously too unpredictable to have her toddling about around him.
No riding for me through the week though, not in winter anyway, but this suits at the moment as the youngster (he's 3) is having an easy time.
Sometimes I can time it so she has a nap in the car on an afternoon- but as I mentioned, this is a large yard with lots of people about, and they do peep at her whilst I'm bringing in. The lady opposite me has young children aswell so we sometimes keep an eye on each others.
 
Yep! My oldest who is now 7 has had her own pony for 2 yrs & pretty much spends more time at yard than anywhere else! I regularly bring my 3 YO up, he loves messing around in the hay , splashing in puddles & LOVES helping to hose their legs down, If Dad is working he would also come up if I have a lesson or am riding & sits quietly watching movies on my phone.
 
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