Kids on ponies, grr!

HeatherAnn

HeatherAnn

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I put up an ad on my local horse forum to see if anybody needed a horse exercising and a really nice lady got in touch with me, I went to see her horse for the second time yesterday and there was one of my biggest pet peeves in the school.
A young girl was in the school with her pony. The thing that was annoying me was the way that the girl was thumping her heels into the pony's side and yanking the reins. I'm not saying all kids ride like this, because I know the majority don't, but I don't understand how this girl's parents can allow her to treat a living breathing animal like this. Then another girl came into the school on her horse and the pony seemed to be fine following them.
Why do people think it's okay to do, or let a child do this?
Does anybody else have any pet peeves similar to this?
 
Well, at the end of the day kids are kids, ponies can be stubborn things and more importantly SOME parents don't have a clue, so can't even correct when things are not right.
It takes experience or 'the gift' to be able to ride hands and heals independently, so it is quite common to see the two being used against each other at the same time on a child.

Without being mean, I think you should concentrate on your possible ride, and let the child get on with it. If you are a consistent rider with this horse, then maybe over time you could offer to help the child? She may really appreciate it.
 
kids! some are terrible riders (if you can call them that), some are fantastic!

I had one girl, riding past my yard, who repeatedly whacked her little pony with her crop, screaming at the pony. I was so disgusted with her behaviour I had to tell her the error of her ways in no uncertain terms. That poor little pony.
 
Pet peeves:

Kids using whips indiscriminantly.

People walking on the wrong side of their horse whilst leading on a road.

People who turn up to lessons wearing trainers and tracksuit bottoms.

People lead reining their kid on a pony whilst on a horse themselves especially in heavy traffic. There is no way they could control both horses if one spooked.

Fat kids on skinny ponies.
 
scrunchie said:
Pet peeves:

People lead reining their kid on a pony whilst on a horse themselves especially in heavy traffic. There is no way they could control both horses if one spooked.
.
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i do this frequently :) and i also do it with no child on top. You can control them both, quite easily. I have a 18 year old cob who we have owned for over 10 years now, he knows all the rides and hes a saint. I also have a 5 year old 12.2hh NF pony whos 100% in traffic. before we backed the pony, i lead him from my cob for miles to 'bombproof' him. No problems. I put him on the lead rein with a capable rider so i DO have control of him. I trust both of them and hes so small i can just pull him up.
 
i can understand how uncomfortable it must be to watch but personally would just let them get on with it, they may be having lessons and practising what they've learnt? but what does annoy me is when i was at my old yard, also a riding school but not a 'normal' riding school, they teach 'ride with your mind' the kids aren't taught to steer, ponies basically did what they want when they wanted, we were allowed in the school when lessons were going on as they were mainly private or semi private, but there you'd be, happily schooling, and BAM a horse was attached to you, and the kids couldn't steer so they just followed you around :@ frustrating!!
 
People lead reining their kid on a pony whilst on a horse themselves especially in heavy traffic. There is no way they could control both horses if one spooked
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well I do it too ... just come back from having my nervous grandaughter ( she starts off a session nervous as she lives too far away to ride regularily now despite first having sat on Taz when she was 18 months old ;)) on the lead rein.

Both horses reliable in traffic and dont nap and very rarely "spook" at anything. I think the last time one of them "spooked" it was just a jump to the ride when a rottie suddenly hit a wooden gate 3 feet away form us and I jumped more than the horses did :D :D :D :D

I can see a point about in heavy traffic but only from the point of view of holding cars up by riding two abreast if they would normally pass if it were only one horse or single file.

and

You gotta know your horses ..... there are plenty around I would not ride and lead with ;)


as to others comments


The children that ride my horses learn to ride quietly !!!

no child is allowed a crop

I agree its so sad that some pones have had to learn to ignore the subtle aids and "need" a kick as a cue to move on :( ... if children (and even adults) were all taught better (or realised the value of walking well before they started to run ;) ) to start with we would not get horses / pones like that :)
 
It would be lovely if all ponies responded to subtle aids, but ponies can be wee monkeys and will happily take the mick out of a small child they know lacks strength in their arms and legs.

If your wee leggies barely reach below the saddle flaps, naughty pony may feel disinclined to respond to your gentle squeeze and wander off to eat grass - hence why little toot on board often has to give a rather forecful aid to be even noticed - it is called a pony club kick and when performed by littlies is hardly going to hurt a sturdy native pony.

Relax - that pony has probably been through loads of kiddies and reckons a few hours in the school is a small price for the fussing and carrots it probably also gets:)
 
There are 2 kids where I livery who really haul their ponies about. They take them in the school, canter straight away then jump about 3ft, one of the ponies has been lame on and off all this year and she wonders why. Even when tacking up they shout at them and smack them, its disgusting.
 
did you never have or ride a pony that needed a bloody good pony club kick to make it realise that you meant business and that doing it's own thing was not an option?! how do you know that the girl is not normally a very quiet rider but was riding someone else's stubborn pony to try and teach it some manners?;) perhaps pony is a right little git when in a school by itself! unfair to judge the girl when you know nothing of her or the pony, if it turns out to be a regular occurance then perhaps she would be grateful for an adults advice rather than being frowned and tutted at:)
 
I dont like to see kicking/yanking riders either, sadly its not just the kids that do it, just have a look at any local show!
My other pet hate is seeing riders that are obviously too big/heavy for the pony they are riding. I know i had a 13.2 as an adult but she was up to the job, and then i was light enough to ride her.
Something else i hate is seeing the same riders on the same ponies goingh over and over the practice jump then doing several classes and not giving the poor pony a break.
 
Some horses do need a kick and to be pulled by kids to make them do anything, but it's when they do BOTH at the same time!
I once saw a kid boot the pony and yank the poor thing in the teeth at the same time! It clearly was a great annoyance to the pony, rather than painful though.

That said, I know a wonderful little rider at the yard. She has a haflinger mare who is good, but not the easiest. She's wonderful with that horse :)
 
Have witnessed the following which have more than raised my eyebrows:

Hacking to local show, trotting all the way whilst very overweight pony is wearing a heavy turnout rug with neck...pony then entered in every class and rider not seen to dismount for several hours...
Galloping pony with two loose youngsters jostling alongside in field, so close all touching, youngsters squealing and bucking....
Leaving pony tied to fence (no safety knot) in field with two loose prone-to-squabbling youngsters with no human supervision/presence for at least half an hour...
Very overweight pony with overgrown lami type hooves rugged in full turnout with neck overnight during summer and left on in daytime by which time sun shining...
:eek:

Bad combination of lack of knowledge/lack of adult supervision and apparent lack of ability to take instruction from several different knowledgeable adults who have tried to help. And completely making-it-up as you go along rather than learning in some kind of horsey environment ie riding school, pony club, horsey family etc.

Ironically the pony at the show won several classes. Pity there was no judging for responsible care...but maybe I am just an old grump?
 
scrunchie said:
People lead reining their kid on a pony whilst on a horse themselves especially in heavy traffic. There is no way they could control both horses if one spooked.
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Not with a person on the other horse but I ride and lead all the time when I first start taking out my youngsters. There is no way on this green earth that any of my youngsters could push my lead horse into traffic. He knows his job and I trust him implicitly. I have no problem at all controlling two horses and I've been doing this for a lifetime without the slightest hiccup ever arising.

As to kids kicking on their ponies well some ponies are little sods and can make even the loveliest of kid riders look bad!
 
I wasn't riding when I first saw them but then they were doing it all round the school while I was riding, so I couldn't help but see, I should have been more specific, the girl was about 9-10 and was quite tall for the pony. I think it's wrong that she can treat an animal that way.
 
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