How much do I let him do?

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dawnpetenathshir

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My son has found some confidence from somewhere in the last 2 weeks and started to canter pony. I'm really pleased as it has taken an awfully long time to get to this stage. Tonight he took pony for a very short walk on his own within shouting distance in case there was a problem. Bless him he went up and down the lane several times on his own and is trotting as well and what a huge smile on his face!!
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Now my dilemma is how far do I let him go on his own? Do I let him hack out with someone else? Am I being over protective?
 
If he is a confident rider and handles pony well,then there is no reason why he should not go out with a responsible adult!I certainly wouldnt let my lad out on his own at that age and that is purely because i have passed kids of that age hacking out without adult supervision and they have no clue when their ponies start spooking and messing about in the middle of the road!!Their automatic reaction seems to be to turn their horses head round toward the object which in turn puts pony out into the middle of the road(they dont seem to be able to see in advance things that pony may not like)!!
 
Sorry meant to say,there is usually 2 of them at that age and they are to busy yapping and looking backwards rather than concentrating on the job in hand!
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If he can handle the pony and has road sense then I'm sure he is fine - he is 14! If you are not happy to let him out on own then yes let him hack out with someone else for a while until the other person thinks he is capable of riding out on own and maybe get him to do road safety test first.

or why dont you get him to plan a short route, take a mobile phone and gradually build up the distance as his confidence grows.
 
If he is not very confident I would not let him go on his own but I am sure he would enjoy going out with an adult. I allowed my daughter to start hacking on her own at 14 but she had been riding and competing for several years, and I trusted the pony. I do agree about 2 14 year olds hacking together, think they tend for forget they are on ponies when they are chatting
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Hiya, I let my daughter hack out with other adults, and would probably let her hack out with an older teenager. She is 13 and quite confident but not overly. My other daughter who rides at the local riding school has been hacking out with about 6 other kids and the instructor since the age of 7, all the kids are very novicey and not on a lead rope. They all come back happy as larry but I do question in my head if they really should be doing that.

I would say if he wants to and there is an adult willing, then let him go. It sounds like Pete is the sort to look after him. Let us know how it goes.
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If he intends going out on the roads get him signed up for a British Horse Society Road Safety Course and exam so that he at least knows what to do on the road.
 
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