Mums - do you worry about your kids riding?

Ravenwood

Ravenwood

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Just read the shocking news about the little girl being killed at XC.

Does it make you worry about your kids riding their ponies? Sometimes I think life is dangerous enough without us adding to the risk by encouraging them to ride.

Do you make your children wear their hats and back protectors at all times? My daughter often jumps on her pony bareback when bringing her in from the field - no hat or protector and just a halter and lead rope - I now feel really guilty at letting her do this when an accident could so easily have occured.

My daughter hates her back protector and says its really uncomfortable - can anyone recommend a nice one.

Lots of rambling questions here - thinking out loud really, just can't possibly imagine what those parents are going through.
 
Yes and I hate her driving and doing her job [police] Yes she is grown up but nothing changes. Life is dangerous, dangers are everywhere, I think you have to weigh things up but this is a rare VERY SAD event.It can happen at any time anywhere, I bet the child had a great life. It is so sad but this was indoors and was as safe as it could be [I believe]
STILL TRAGIC
 
Im not a mum yet but i worry when hubby rides or young people i know.

Back protectors being uncomfy seems to be the typical excuse not to wear one, however i do find the ones with slates that go horizontally are more comfortable, however thats only cause of my bust lol. I think its more that kids think it makes them look uncool.

Hey we take risks everytime we go in a car etc. This is why i stick to my plodding cobs lol, it seems too much effort for them to play up
 
however hard it is sometimes I think you have to hold back what you are thinking sometimes and just let them be kids and enjoy themselves. I'm sure lots of us can remember good times riding bareback etc, it should be part of learning to ride and growing up. Being too protective is understandable but leads to frightened children who don't learn to think for themselves or deal with things when they go wrong.
Todays accident is tragic but very unusual and I for one didn't even want my daughter to know it had happened.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Just read the shocking news about the little girl being killed at XC.

Does it make you worry about your kids riding their ponies? Sometimes I think life is dangerous enough without us adding to the risk by encouraging them to ride.

Do you make your children wear their hats and back protectors at all times? My daughter often jumps on her pony bareback when bringing her in from the field - no hat or protector and just a halter and lead rope - I now feel really guilty at letting her do this when an accident could so easily have occured.

My daughter hates her back protector and says its really uncomfortable - can anyone recommend a nice one.

Lots of rambling questions here - thinking out loud really, just can't possibly imagine what those parents are going through.

[/ QUOTE ]
I can't imagine what the parents are going through either, its tragic, very very sad.

My youngest child rides, she's 15 now and has ridden since she was about 6. I did always insist she wears her hat, even for bringing in from the field. She wears it as a matter of course now. She has a Racesafe body protector, the one with the vertical panels and laces at the side and it is very comfortable as someone else mentioned, so she puts it on without question.

As to her safety in riding I do insist she wears hi-viz stuff when out hacking and she's getting good instruction regularly.
 
Yes of course I do. They're both very sensible, even cautious, but both my daughters have now had broken wrists as a result of riding, one caused by the pony stopping dead to put head down and eat - child slid down neck and landed badly, the other one because the pony charged off without warning whilst I was still tightening the girth strap and as she became unbalanced, he finished the job and bronked her off. The simple fact is that riding is a dangerous sport. You can do all sorts of things to minimise the risks but you can't cover all of them however hard you try.

However, I have encouraged them every inch of the way with their riding, it's one of the few things children are still allowed to do that forces them to think about risk/danger and how they can avoid it/minimise it. In this area at least, sending your kids to school on their bikes is tantamount to child abuse, they couldn't really walk it as most of the 3 miles is without pavements on busy HGV routes. Things that I got up to 30 years ago when I was their age (12 and 13) simply do not happen today, and I'm sure my childhood was more controlled than my parents childhood was.

It's an absolute tragedy that this girl was killed doing XC, and I can't even begin to think how that must feel for her parents, I truly hope I am never in their position. I hope that they can draw some comfort in time from the fact that she was presumably having a lovely time up to the point where it went wrong and she fell.
 
It is tricky isn't it. You want them to be children and to have fun along the way but you also want them to be safe.

My 11 year old daughter has been riding since she was 6 months old. By the time she was a little over 1 year old, she was catching her pony Cloud on her own and riding in small paddocks on her own. She always always wore a hat from the moment she left the house to walk up the garden to the yard. She almost always wore a body protector when riding at this age too.

Somewhere down the line it changed though. She started to catch Cloud without wearing a hat and then didn't ride in a body protector anymore. I think it was when she moved over here that when she went out to the fields to catch Cloud and she never had a hat on, she was able to mount bareback without aid, so she did and started riding Cloud down the field to the corrals where she tacks up. She did however still ride out with one on.

I guess when she was about 10 years old and this was through the winter, she started to ride without a hat and wore a fur trappers hat instead. Not many of you will be able to imagine the winter temperatures we get in Canada so you will no doubt have trouble understanding why I allowed this. I do experience these temperatures which is why I did ... but only when riding Cloud. She usually wears a hat when riding Cloud in the summer when the ground is hard and she always wears one when riding off our property. She always, always wears a hat when riding ANY of our other horses. That is one rule I have stuck fast on.
 
No hat and body protecter should mean no riding for kids full stop, when you reach adulthood thats different, then it's your own decision, anyone that doesn't at least wear a hat is an idiot, yes body protecters are slightly bulky whatever but I always wear mine.
 
I'm not a mum (but i am a dad
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) and yes I do worry about my daughters safety.
She had quite a nasty fall jumping last summer which resulted in a week in hospital.
Since then I have a real problem watching her jump. I certainly haven't encouraged her to get back in to jumping, it was her choice. I will support her 100% in her choice but that doesn't stop my guts knotting up every time I watch her or teach her.
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Bee has broken arms 3 times. She has learnt when she can and cannot take risks. She goes round huge XC on Willough and also hunts her. She will hopefully do the same this year.

Both my children also ski, son is very good and skis often on serious off piste (he is 14) I try to minimise risks here too, when doing real scary stuff (talking previously unskied couloirs etc) he goes with a guide. At xmas guide, OH and Rich were at the top of a quarry planning SAFEST route down when the snow rich was standing on gave way. Apparently he shot backwards down the quarry bouncing over all the exposed rocks on his back, he was wearing a helmet.

When he eventually stopped he was shaken but somehow unhurt.

I know he will never question why he wears a helmet again.

Life is all about taking risks, yes our kids could sit in front of TV all day but IMO we would be compromising their health and safety further with this lifestyle.

To 'grow' in life you need to take on challenges, asses the risk and conqueor your fears. That is how you become a 'real' person.

Tragic as this little girls death was, the rest of us must learn from what happened.
BTW she was very competitive and was riding over portable XC jumps at very high speed in the indoor school, having already won the first class.
 
I do worry about my son and the pony, but to be fair I am just as concerned if he is playing rugby or any other sport. He has received far more injuries at school during organised sport than when involved in horses (worst with the pony so far is having his foot stomped on when showing in hand)
 
Hello,

My Dad still wigs out about me riding (I'm in my late 20s) and would never watch me in lessons as a kid, he blames Gone With The Wind.
But I just tell him that I get in a car and drive it every day (and he always put me in the front seat of the car when I was a child!) and statistically that is much more dangerous.
 
I worry about my daughters riding, but life is for living, and I would much rather see them outside having fun, freshair and exercise, than sitting safely infront of the tv.
I always insist they wear their hats and body protectors - having had a riding accident as a child and suffering internal injuries, I am well aware of the dangers.
Accidents can happen whatever you are doing.
 
my mum always worries about me riding (I'm 21) she's only just come round to the fact my somewhat nutty mare isn't going to cause me serious damage everytime I ride and can just about watch me jump her! (after a year and 3months!!)

Although I came off friday resulting in concussion and mild whiplash! As at the time I got back on and finished jumping went to work that night etc (although I have never felt so rough in my life!) she wasn't concerned, not sure I should now tell her what the docs have said!
 
My mum isn't horsey, I'm not sure she realises what I do with horses. Dad however supports me every step of the way. He takes me for weekly lessons, takes me to all the competetions I could want to go to and never complains.

On several occasions people have asked him if he worries when I ride, beaucse my mare is a bit on the sharp side. He said he trusts my judgement to not get on something that I know is outside of my ability. I don't think he worries too much, he does comment that I am the one with common sense between my sister and I, and I am also the braver one, so a combination of both means I have som self preservation!!
 
I think it's terrible we all worry about things so much and think what if - I am a lot worse for worrying now than I was kid, i would always catch my pony, leap on and ride back to the stable bareback. I would also vault on from behind him. Would do it now too mind as I trust my horses but sadly i don't seem to have the spring i used to!!! I have ridden without a hat (when i have forgotten to take it to the yard with me) but again, i have faith in my horse and think have fallen off him once whilst out hacking (have had him 13 years) so have taken the risk.

I only wear a back protector to compete cross country and I remember when i was much younger at my first x-countrys you didn't have to wear back protectors at all (I am only 29 so it wasn't that long ago!). I do think it's important to wear them for x-country but note the poor girl involved in this accident was indeed wearing one and was obviously a competent rider. I think sadly it's just the way of the world and accidents happen as mentioned in rugby, football, gymnastics, motor sports etc, there are accidents all the time. We can't live in fear of what may happen or we'd never do anything. Most people have probably lost someone they know through cancer or other illnesses. A friend of mine died aged 13 so my advice would be yes, sure take the precautions you feel appropriate but life's for living and noone knows how long they have so we may as well all make the most of it while we can!
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after reading that tragic news I now remember why I was so pleased daughter went on to showing minis in hand!! However there are also dangers around any animal, be it dog, horse, tiny pony.

I have to admit that around the yard she just gets on with it but at shows I make her wear a hat for in hand etc.......

I just dont know i think it is rare, and the poor girl at MK was so young but clearly an able rider and pony, its just down to freak circumstances sometimes, nothing like that can be pre-empted and avoided.

I wonder with media how it is and the WWW if we just hear about more of these things now?

I have to confess to seriously thinking about giving up jumping myself today!! which is my passion, but after reading that it seems so tragic and such a waste of life....then you can also argue that a car drive could do the same.....

Where do you stop? Would you be happy not doing it?

Kids - agree on hats and bodies, crazy not to, what price a back or a skull???

When we were growing up??? No course we didnt, lucky if we had a hat on at all!
 
My wife was known as an absolute nutter when she was a kid. Would tackle anything on anything, half the time bareback and without a hat.

Does she fret whan our kids ride their schoolmasters in hats and back protectors? Of course she does, it's part of being a parent.

You have to let them live and take some risks, it's what being a kid is all about, and they'll be better for it.
 
Yes I do worry , more so if they hack out , they ALWAYS wear hats and body protectors , I would rather them be fit and enjoying the outdoors to slobbing in front of the tv , its very sad about the little girl and my heart goes out to anyone who has gone through anything like this
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