Ponies/little children on your yard?

PolarSkye

PolarSkye

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 July 2010
Messages
9,562
Visit site
Following on from EllenJay's "Old Fogey" post . . .

. . . do you have little ponies/little children on your yard? If so, how little? And how does YO/YM manage their safety?

Just curious really.

Because our yard is also a RS, we have about 8 small ponies - which means we get a fair few very young riders (and some of them are owners) aged 5 and up (with their accompanying parents/families).

YM/YO has many years of experience managing young children/keeping them safe on the yard and has put several measures in place:

- All visitors/non owners must report to office first - which is situated at entrance to entire yard well away from horses and ponies

- Pony yard is separate and distinct from main yard (where the biggest horses 16hh to 17.3hh are kept) and the barn (where the smaller horses/large ponies live)

- Toddlers/babies must be carried while on (pony) yard (not permitted on main yard) - but are actively discouraged from being there at all (in the nicest possible way)

- No children under 10 allowed on main yard

- Horses on main yard are tacked up/groomed in their boxes (which are huge) or in the dedicated wash down area (in cross ties)

- All children handling ponies and horses must wear a hat - whether they are grooming, tacking up, leading or riding. Period.

- All children under 7 (owners or not) must be accompanied by a competent adult while on the yard

- No strollers/pushchairs/buggies on the yard/past the office

- Anyone (adult or child - including staff) turning out or bringing in ANY equine must wear a hat

In addition, YM/YO runs a horse and pony care programme for the children so that they learn how to handle the ponies and horses safely . . . it does help make them much more savvy about things like not walking up behind the horses and ponies, not leading them too close to each other (or tieing them up too close to each other), tacking up/leading/mounting/dismounting safely, etc.

Are there little ones on your yard? Are they well-behaved? How are they managed/kept safe?

P
 
Good thread. My horses/ponies are at at home but it never ceases to amaze me how blase' people are at shows and even at Pony Club where the safety of younger children is often at risk.
 
horsemadmum1 said:
Good thread. My horses/ponies are at at home but it never ceases to amaze me how blase' people are at shows and even at Pony Club where the safety of younger children is often at risk.
Click to expand...

Totally agree . . . it's the non-horsey PC parents who wind me up the most. Just b/c little darling is in PC, they assume they (the parents) know everything when in fact they sometimes know dangerously little and don't take simple precautions to keep their children (and the ponies and horses for that matter) safe.

We have a mix of non-horsey parents at our yard - those who know nothing and readily admit that they aren't horsey, and those who think that just b/c junior rides that the whole family are now experts.

Several times in the past (not on current yard) I have had to remove schooling whips from small children (very often little boys, not sure why that is) b/c said child was wandering around the yard waving it around quite vigorously . . . my own horse is whip shy - the worst he's likely to do is move away rapidly but he could move rapidly INTO someone else and knock them over, or he COULD kick out in self defence (although I've never seen him do that). Parents are often quite taken aback when I do this, but I'd rather all were safe.

P
 
On our yard the kiddies with the ponies are fine. It is the non-horsey siblings that get dragged along that are a nightmare. I've had to tell children to stop kicking footballs at the wall of the barn, stop waving sticks at the horses, stop riding their bikes in the yard and once had to fetch parents of children who were throwing stones at the horses in the fields 'to make them gallop around'. These kids were obviously bored out of their skulls. If parents have absolutely no option but to bring non-horsey kids to the yard, they should at least engage them in some sort of productive activity that they will find interesting enough to fill a couple of hours without resorting to terrorising the horses.
 
Flicker said:
If parents have absolutely no option but to bring non-horsey kids to the yard, they should at least engage them in some sort of productive activity that they will find interesting enough to fill a couple of hours without resorting to terrorising the horses.
Click to expand...

Agree. Even the most non-horsey kid can fill a haynet, wash out feed bowls, fetch and carry, etc. How about sending them out with a wheelbarrow to do some poo picking :eek:

Or . . . equip them with a handheld games console, some earphones and park em in the car.

I'd be sooooo cross if I caught kids chucking things at our horses - but as the fields are away from the yard (up a track) and no'one who isn't a) an owner; b) over a certain age and/or c) a member of staff is allowed up that track, it just wouldn't happen.

What does YO say about this?

P
 
Very sensible rules and a good set up!
The yard that I do my regular work at is a riding school and working livery only yard, they specialise in teaching children so children on the yard is an everyday thing however it is managed in a way that keeps safety as a high priority.
Children under 13 are not allowed on the property unaccompanied be they owners or not, everyone under the age of 18 must wear a hat when anywhere on the property,
If you are under the age of 15 you are not allowed to handle any of the large horses or youngsters and even then you have to have years of experience, if that experience was gained on another yard then the YM must see how you handle the small ponies for a month or so first to stop the 'I know what I am doing, I know it all' types who actually have had two riding lessons.

The yard works well and safely, children who learn to ride there are not just presented with a tacked up pony in the school that they ride for there lesson then hand off to someone else as soon as they dismount, all aspects of horse management and safety are taught under experienced adult supervision, parents who bring there children to learn are also taught how to handle and be around horses safely. I wish more riding schools were like this. My 6 year old daughter knows how to be around horses safely and to respect the awesome power that even a tiny pony possesses but she also knows that she still has a great deal to learn. My 3 year old ds although (much to his disgust lol) not allowed to start riding until he is 4 is already learning how to be around horses and knows that if he wan't to go anywhere on the yard other then the viewing seats in the indoor he has to borrow a school hard hat.
When my children are at the other yard (private yard) I work at they both automatically follow the same rules and know they are not allowed in the fields if the horses are out. That yard as I said is a private one who takes a couple of liveries as they have some spare stables and paddocks, they do not take child liveries under any circumstances. The owner has two small children but they (like mine) are rarely on the yard.
 
PolarSkye said:
Agree. Even the most non-horsey kid can fill a haynet, wash out feed bowls, fetch and carry, etc. How about sending them out with a wheelbarrow to do some poo picking :eek:

Or . . . equip them with a handheld games console, some earphones and park em in the car.

I'd be sooooo cross if I caught kids chucking things at our horses - but as the fields are away from the yard (up a track) and no'one who isn't a) an owner; b) over a certain age and/or c) a member of staff is allowed up that track, it just wouldn't happen.

What does YO say about this?

P
Click to expand...


Exactly - it is relatively easy to keep children entertained with technology these days.

To be honest, I think some of the kids would be only too glad to be engaged in something physical like poo-picking a field. Beats hanging around watching sister ride pony.

YM finishes at about 4pm so isn't around in the evenings much. When approached, she is sympathetic but not terribly effective. I think she fears confrontation...
 
As long as the kids are supervised, I dont have a problem. How the hell are they supposed to learn about looking after a pony if they are not allowed near them?
H&S gone mad at times (and the fear of being sued....).
The only rule on the yard is if you ignore basic common sense and safety and your child gets hurt....its YOUR fault for not supervising your child properly (although you must accept accidents can and do occasionally happen).
 
Flicker said:
YM finishes at about 4pm so isn't around in the evenings much. When approached, she is sympathetic but not terribly effective. I think she fears confrontation...
Click to expand...

That's a shame . . . her attention may become sharply focussed, though, when either a kid or a horse/pony gets injured . . . that would certainly force a confrontation!

P
 
joeanne said:
As long as the kids are supervised, I dont have a problem. How the hell are they supposed to learn about looking after a pony if they are not allowed near them?
H&S gone mad at times (and the fear of being sued....).
Click to expand...

I don't have a problem either, in principle . . . but on a yard like ours where you have non-horsey people too (b/c we also operate as a RS) we need to be careful about who is doing the supervising - hence the rules. Kids are actively encouraged to tack up/groom/untack the ponies they ride and those who are part of the care and management scheme (most of them) also muck out, poo pick, feed, water, sweep yard, etc - but under the supervision of yard staff only until they are old enough/savvy enough to do so on their own.

Like others have mentioned, it's often not the kids who ride who are the problem - it's their sometimes rather clueless parents and siblings, which is why they are not allowed in certain areas of the yard.

We get people who think it's great fun to go round patting all the pretty horsies when they really have no business doing so.

As an example, we have a couple of horses (well one's a large pony 14.2hh) who are VERY grumpy - they are stabled at the far end of the barn so that there's no foot traffic directly past either of them (and the aisle is really wide so it's possible to walk past out of reach) but it just isn't worth risking injury by letting people who don't know these two beasties wander wherever they like. One of them bit a member of staff so severely he broke her collarbone (at a previous yard). Out of his box he's perfectly fine and only certain people handle him IN his box - but certainly not worth risking the safety of the general public by letting them go/do whatever/wherever.

P
 
Hi what an interesting thread I have really enjoyed reading all of the suggestions. I have two small children and have to work hard at keeping them safe on the yard. I have a zero tolerance policy with them if they do anything silly round the ponies and I am always telling them that no horse/pony is completley reliable.

I often find that if I can engage them in an activity like poo picking or sweeping it means that I am not always on their case all the time about safety which makes the whole thing more positive.

I also agree that some parents seem to show little to no common sense when it comes to safety. I have seen children sitting hatless on their ponies whilst they are tied to a lorry/trailer at a show or PC rally, the parents seem to look on smugly as if to say "look at my bombproof pony"
​
...all I can say is that there is no such thing dont take anything forgranted.
 
I work on a racing yard where the family have 3 young children 4,2 and 1 i think.
It scares the life out of me sometimes leading a dancing fit strong TB onto a yard with a pushchair stood in the middle and 2 children (sometimes 3 with the nannies son) running round.
 
I keep my horse at a busy yard with over 40 liveries and a RC with children and adults of all abilities coming to have lessons, we have quite a few rules to keep the kids and horses (both livery and RC) safe.

Children that are on the RC yard either for a lesson or on "saddle club" MUST have a hat on at all times when around horses

They cannot venture onto the livery yards unless accompanied by an adult.

Everyone MUST wear a hat when turning out or bringing in and children cant go up the track without an adult

Children (under 16) cant use the indoor school or jumping paddock without an adults supervision

All visitors to the yard MUST report to the office first and liveries have the right to confront anyone on the yard.

All in all everyone is kept as safe as possible
 
BEST RULES EVER ON THE YARD I AM ON

We have a sign up, no under 16s allowed unless accompanied by an adult and children are NOT to play on yard or in the fields.

There is a little girl 10-11 maybe, whose mum has a horse on yard and she has a tiny 10hh pony. She is VERY keen to learn everything correctly and will ask advice and chatter away to anyone who is there, she always offers to help you carry stuff, clean stuff and always has a polo handy for the Horses.
 
Brambridge04 said:
BEST RULES EVER ON THE YARD I AM ON

We have a sign up, no under 16s allowed unless accompanied by an adult and children are NOT to play on yard or in the fields.

There is a little girl 10-11 maybe, whose mum has a horse on yard and she has a tiny 10hh pony. She is VERY keen to learn everything correctly and will ask advice and chatter away to anyone who is there, she always offers to help you carry stuff, clean stuff and always has a polo handy for the Horses.
Click to expand...

Oh bless her - she sounds delightful! Actually brought a tear to my eye. Love your yard rules too.

At our previous yard we had a few young teens/preteens - all had their own horses and/or ponies, all had knowledgeable, horsey parents so they were safe/savvy on the yard (and polite, which always helps!).

On our current yard there aren't any kids I don't like - but there are some very pushy mothers I can't stand (but that's a whole 'nother thread).

P
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top