Kizzy and Ettie

[SaddlePsych'D]

I think you’d find Callie Coles children would be doing what they do even if instagram wasn’t invented. No I don’t follow her, I don’t really so insta.
Some people live wild lives, we don’t all live risk free nowadays.

Horse riding is risky enough though, isn't it? Part of parenting is doing age appropriate activities to manage a bit of risk. As pointed out earlier on thread, part of the problem is having very young children do things that when they are older will be considerably less risky. There are loads of ways for children to enjoy ponies and riding without being repeatedly put at an excessive level of risk, for SM or otherwise.

The vast majority of the Coles' rides out look fantastic. But then they're repeatedly pelting this young child, who cannot yet control their head and neck enough to resist the force on landing, over enormous obstacles. It won't be that much longer and then I'm sure he'll be physically able to do it.

I'm not advocating for not letting children do anything and to avoid all risk, but there is a point at which parents' 'wild lives' do need to give way a bit to managing some level of risk.

 

[Clodagh]

Horse riding is risky enough though, isn't it? Part of parenting is doing age appropriate activities to manage a bit of risk. As pointed out earlier on thread, part of the problem is having very young children do things that when they are older will be considerably less risky. There are loads of ways for children to enjoy ponies and riding without being repeatedly put at an excessive level of risk, for SM or otherwise.

The vast majority of the Coles' rides out look fantastic. But then they're repeatedly pelting this young child, who cannot yet control their head and neck enough to resist the force on landing, over enormous obstacles. It won't be that much longer and then I'm sure he'll be physically able to do it.

I'm not advocating for not letting children do anything and to avoid all risk, but there is a point at which parents' 'wild lives' do need to give way a bit to managing some level of risk.

I see your point completely. But if you like galloping and jumping it would seem odd to you to that your child should be walking.
My boys both hunted from a very young age. Not jumping country but they had good ponies and jumped small jumps and huge ditches.
At home they charged about shooting things with (plastic) bows and arrows. I think if it had been super safe and sensible they would have been bored.

 

[criso]

Looks like someone else trying to monetise their children but having difficulty finding someone interested.

Jacob Rees-Mogg’s reality show snubbed by UK broadcasters ends up on US channel

The five-part show, Meet the Rees-Moggs, was billed as the Brit version of Keeping up with the Kardashians but struggled to find a home on UK TV, with all the major broadcasters turning it down

www.mirror.co.uk

 

[Ample Prosecco]

I’m not risk averse. And you may think families would send their young kids over huge hedges anyway but I think the stuff you see online is beyond normal, even in fairly adventurous families. It’s not just galloping and jumping, it’s galloping and jumping over enormous obstacles or on enormous horses with children who are not physically ready or in control. If you read Clare Balding’s wonderful book, her horsey adventures sound very exiting with lots of falls and mishaps. And she and her brother both became jockeys, so hardly risk averse. But they were messing about on shetlands. Then small ponies, then bigger ones. And they were clearly capable (more or less) of doing what they were doing.

Sone of the monetised kids accounts just seem to be getting more and more extreme for likes and shares with children who aren’t playing/having fun but are performing carefully choreographed roles.

 

[suebou]

I don't see how. My avatar is of me jumping a BE Novice fence. It is about 8 ft wide, 3ft 7 high, and has a 7ft drop on it. The horse is a very long and capable 17 hands.

BE Novice is 1m 10 with show jumps up to 1m 15 and brush xc fence at 1m 20.

Sorry, it was a bit of a joke, she wasn’t a novice in the broadest sense of the term, her family were both horsey and privileged and she’d grown up with horses. It was just that the very first event she did was Novice BE. Definitely not trying to underplay Novice! It was more about her naivety….

 

[vickyb]

Novice level eventing was never aimed at novice riders! Well not the sort of people we would think of as novice.

I think it's lovely that shows, clubs and coaches are encouraging riders to start realistically and offer cross poles and smaller classes to suit everyone. And with what we now know about concussion, I'm very glad that people take falling off a moving high up object a little more seriously than they did in my day (like when I fell off in a stubble field half way round a sponsored ride when I was about 12, threw up most of the rest of the way, and at the finish, and got taken home and put to bed to sleep it off by my rather unsympathetic mother who was p1ssed off about having to do my pony for me).

What is it with stubble? I did much the same thing when I was 10, came off backwards at a gallop and knocked myself clean out. After coming too I was told to go and lie down for a bit if I felt sick (I could hardly see!) I was lying in bed for hours and no one came to check on me to see if I was actually still alive!

 

[Ample Prosecco]

Actually I think I have worked out why this annoys me so much - the accounts are set up to give the impression of fun/play. Which I love. Kids having fun with ponies is just the best thing ever. I have a friend like this and they have their ponies at home. Jumping crazy things bareback in pyjamas..... But that is kids being given freedom to mess about, exploring their own limits, having fun.

But the reality behind some of the accounts could not be more different. These kids are performers. They repeat takes. They are placed in danger at an adult's instigation. It's about as far from play/freedom/fun as it gets. I have never seen the account that started the thread off so I am not taking aim at anyone specific (well apart from Jumping with Ivy - where she is clearly not just playing/ having fun and messing about as she is too small to even tack up or get on the horse independently), but on the genre.

 

[SantaVera]

Just taken a look on FB at this page. Noticed a few videos from 2021nothing else came up. Saw that horseage and molliechaff had a video of them on their page. I think it's just the parents after sponsorship and money generally from seeing their children with their ponies. Maybe the kids have gone off riding or don't want to be filmed.

 

[SantaVera]

Actually I think I have worked out why this annoys me so much - the accounts are set up to give the impression of fun/play. Which I love. Kids having fun with ponies is just the best thing ever. I have a friend like this and they have their ponies at home. Jumping crazy things bareback in pyjamas..... But that is kids being given freedom to mess about, exploring their own limits, having fun.

But the reality behind some of the accounts could not be more different. These kids are performers. They repeat takes. They are placed in danger at an adult's instigation. It's about as far from play/freedom/fun as it gets. I have never seen the account that started the thread off so I am not taking aim at anyone specific (well apart from Jumping with Ivy - where she is clearly not just playing/ having fun and messing about as she is too small to even tack up or get on the horse independently), but on the genre.

Well said

 

[SantaVera]

I think the nspcc should be involved after seeing some of the jumping videos featuring small children.

 

[Ample Prosecco]

It is like Shiteventersunited - that started as genuine oops moments. Very funny and down to earth. Then people started setting up 'hilarious fails' deliberately, and it became a very dffierent kind of a page.

 

[Clodagh]

It is like Shiteventersunited - that started as genuine oops moments. Very funny and down to earth. Then people started setting up 'hilarious fails' deliberately, and it became a very dffierent kind of a page.

That was an awful group.

Sfaia, and I don’t know CC personally but my cousin is a friend of hers and comes to stay with me when she goes to stay with her, her photos are genuine things and not set up photo takes.
I’ve never seen the other people discussed on here. Watching other peoples children has never interested me, I was a poor parent to my own.

 

[HopOnTrot]

Tbh most ponies are physically bigger and stronger than small children, my daughter has had a 12.2 since she turned 4 and she always has the biggest pony in PC lessons. Most wouldn’t fling themselves over big jumps on big horses.

When I worked at a RS in the 90s we had a little boy who used to cry when he trotted and he went on to become a jockey! I think most kids have a healthy sense of self preservation.

 

[suestowford]

I am quite relieved on K & E's behalf if they have stopped posting. Perhaps the girls have started to object, perhaps the parents have realised the only way to keep your children safe online, is not to put them there. I don't like to see it, some parents will post anything. There's one person I've come across who promotes her business online a lot and uses her kids to generate interest, she even put up a film of one of them on the loo. That's totally irresponsible IMO.

 

[marmalade76]

What is it with stubble? I did much the same thing when I was 10, came off backwards at a gallop and knocked myself clean out. After coming too I was told to go and lie down for a bit if I felt sick (I could hardly see!) I was lying in bed for hours and no one came to check on me to see if I was actually still alive!

Something very similar happened to me. The only concussion I saw a doctor for was when I bumped my head in a swimming pool (and I was sick), the rest was as you describe or I didn't even bother telling anyone I'd hurt myself (what would be the point?) Now we know what we know about concussion it is a bit worrying and no wonder my memory is rubbish!

 

[marmalade76]

It is like Shiteventersunited - that started as genuine oops moments. Very funny and down to earth. Then people started setting up 'hilarious fails' deliberately, and it became a very dffierent kind of a page.

Or people doing things they had no business doing.

 

[Roxylola]

The little boy clinging on for grim d34th to incredibly good ponies I can well believe is not staged, and I don't doubt he'd be doing that whether or not the videos were available. I don't love what he's doing and he looks incredibly vulnerable and insecure. However assuming he continues riding he'll probably be an incredibly sticky rider when he's older and likely be able to charge a whack for riding things nobody else wants to - I doubt it will ever look pretty though. And that's coming from someone who's effective and sticky but not pretty.
Ivy is a prime example of just because you can doesn't mean you should - while it shows the stallion has a very nice attitude the idea of a child falling from a horse that size is horrifying.
There is a non horsey lady who comes up on Facebook from time to time with "things my 4 year old said..." She reenacts the conversations and occasionally shows snippets of the child saying the exact thing - this is how it should be done, it's comical and fun and her kids are kept safe

 

[dancingkris]

I have an acquaintance with two young children and ponies who is getting so much stuff from companies as an influencer. It worries me, one of the kids is special needs, too.
.

I think I know who this is and her posts make me cringe. If it's the same person I'm thinking we knew her from pony club and even then it was all about how things would look for instagram. Some of the personal stuff she posts about herself just screams attention seeker but I suppose that's what you could say about all "influencers"....I hate all that kind of stuff.

 

[KateG1]

As someone mentioned, yes it’s the way Callie Coles’ son is subjected to whiplash that makes me wince. That cannot be good for him

 

[Crazy_cat_lady]

Just seen the ones of CC little boy, he's getting pinged out the saddle the jumps are too big, his little legs don't even come past the saddle to help him stick on/absorb some of the impact

 

[suebou]

I don't see how. My avatar is of me jumping a BE Novice fence. It is about 8 ft wide, 3ft 7 high, and has a 7ft drop on it. The horse is a very long and capable 17 hands.

BE Novice is 1m 10 with show jumps up to 1m 15 and brush xc fence at 1m 20.

Sorry, it was a bit of a joke, she wasn’t a novice in the broadest sense of the term, her family were both horsey and privileged and she’d grown up with horses. It was just that the very first event she did was Novice BE. Definitely not trying to underplay Novice! It was more about her naivety….

 

[SilverLinings]

Although several posters have already stated what a serious issue it is, for the absence of doubt it should be made very clear to anyone who might read this thread and fancy turning their child into an influencer that whiplash in young children can be extremely dangerous and leave them permanently disabled or dead. There is a reason that shaking babies and young children can kill them, and anyone with poor head control should not undertake activities with a likelihood of inducing whiplash. Brainstem injuries are likely to be severe and difficult or impossible to fully recover from.

I am not against small children riding, but they should not be jumping until they can control their head and trunk sufficiently to prevent whiplash or other injuries. There can also be issues with hips resulting from small children riding very wide ponies or big horses regularly for longer rides. And we are lucky in this country that there are plenty of ponies available so why would you put your small child on a large horse and significantly increase the risk of a serious injury if they fall? If you fall from a height, the height matters.

There are plenty of fun and exciting things (still involving an element of risk but within sensible limits) that children can do with ponies, from racing each other to playing games or exploring. And when they have good head and trunk control they can move on to jumping and enjoy that too.

Adults can do what they want regarding dare devil antics, but enabling and encouraging a child to do something with known significant medical risks is irresponsible and cruel. And doing it for money is truly beyond the pale and shows low moral standing.

 

[Cloball]

I don't think CCs oldest ride much anymore lost his confidence.

 

[silv]

Why on earth would anyone pay to look at videos of other people’s children who they don’t know

100% with you there, beggars belief.