Stupid idiot children!!

Or (being of such a young and impressionable age) they might become resentful towards horse and riders from now on and bear a grudge! Who knows? A clear case of non-existent parenting, I feel sorry for the kids.
 
I have a late cut stallion he bites if he can get away with it they would have had part of their body missing if they had done it to me stupid kids stupid parents not keeping an eye on them. If that had been my kids I would have batter them. Thank god I don't have any
 
I'm curious at some of the replies as to why shouting is seen as more effective than calmly explaining the dangers to young children.


Showing respect to children and taking a couple of minutes to let them work out why their actions were foolish, isn't a soft option or a waste of breath. Its an investment in enabling them to learn how thoughtlessness can have risks they hadn't considered.

The adults that I'm indebited to from my childhood were patient, fair and wise.
The angry, shouty grown ups taught me nothing except that I didn't want to be like them and that respect could only be earned by giving it first.
 
dressedkez said:
'Lost it' - did you cry or swear?
I am not justifying these kids actions at all ,but clearly they do not understand horses and riders - and it was your opportunity to educate.
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^^^^

this is what I would have done....you were the adult here so act like it! poor children. They do not know about horses or animals you could have made the whole episode a more positive one. Why not invite them to give your horses some carrots? I am a SEN Teacher and yes I would have been horrified as well but to make uneducated children cry???? you are as bad as them.
 
It's very hard to represent tone of voice in the written word so I'm not sure we are all on the same page with this discussion.
Speaking in a very assertive, strong way is not wrong in this situation.

When I had a close shave with kids running out in front of the car, I was a little bit in shock myself. I didn't scream and shout as such, but it would have been impossible for me to say anything with a smile as, in my mind, the situation did not warrant that approach.

The kids who wanted to fire the 'gun' at my horse - sorry, but that's a dreadful attitude and I made that clear to them. I did not swear or shout abuse but made it clear that this was a very dangerous and nasty way to behave.

And as for the OP's situation - if one of these children was about 10 there is NO excuse - I find it impossible to believe that they have not heard a single thing about road safety. I don't see how any of us can know that these children were 'uneducated', or even precisely what that means, but my three year old granddaughter knows that running into a road is a big no-no.
 
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horserider said:
I'm curious at some of the replies as to why shouting is seen as more effective than calmly explaining the dangers to young children.


Showing respect to children and taking a couple of minutes to let them work out why their actions were foolish, isn't a soft option or a waste of breath. Its an investment in enabling them to learn how thoughtlessness can have risks they hadn't considered.

The adults that I'm indebited to from my childhood were patient, fair and wise.
The angry, shouty grown ups taught me nothing except that I didn't want to be like them and that respect could only be earned by giving it first.
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I my case it was all happening a bit fast. As they started running towards us, dragging the broom which didn't help, the horses started to react, I'm doing a 1-rein stop and saying nicely something like "slow down, wait a minute" they are ignoring and keep running and screaming and broom-dragging... with the reins in one hand, a horse spinning underneath me, I progressed to a hand up like a policeman, saying sternly "Stop" and then as they kept running, screaming, broom dragging (where's the f ing parents? They were only small!) I ended up yelling "STOP" and frightening them. At which point mother makes a belated appearance. Too young to reason with, too young to realise the dangers. Shouting justified I think.
What is a shame is that the mother didn't even think to try to explain to them that they shouldn't run at the horses, and as a result when she walked off they carried on.
Not that frightened then.
 
Tinypony said:
I'm interested in this. Are you saying that when you pass a local school, children run out to see you and your horse? And they are allowed to stroke him and generally have a chat? This in school hours?
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This happens when they are in playtime, we ride past the playground & its a low mesh fence. The teachers come over as well, it's a village school & if it teaches them to be kind and respectful towards horses then it's fine by me & my horse. They are funny though as one little girl said he should be called Dalmation due to his colouring :D I had pony envy at that age & just a rider waving back to me when I was in the back of a car & those in my grandparents village that would let me pat their horses made my day & still makes me smile & if a few minutes of my time does that to a child then I am happy too.:)
 
Not read all replies but I'd have done the same as OP. I'm out to ride my horse not babysit kids that the parents can't be bothered to look after! When hacking if I see children around and my boy is chilled I invite them over to say hello and advise them on how to approach and deal with him. I would be spitting feathers if they did to me what they did to OP, would you be getting different responses if the horse had lashed out and caught the kids? hmmmmmm think about it.
 
For me, I would be likely to shout stop, then explain to them that they could nearly have been badly injured.
A friend of mine nearly ran over a child whilst driving a few years ago, she actually drove him home and had a chat with the parents. It frightened the living daylights out of her, yet the parents didn't really care.
I had a child come flying out at me yesterday, on her scooter shouting horsey, glad to say mother was hot on her heels stopping her.
 
I've liveried on two yards next to schools.

One was a primary school where up to 10 footballs used to fly onto the yard every play time. Picking out the back feet of a filly is not the best time for her to be hit on the backside by a ball, but the way I looked at it, was, a)- always work with your horse in a such a way that you are protected against sudden reactions, and b), these challenges help to bomb proof a young horse.
The kids would even yell to the vet (on emergency calls) to toss the balls back. Never once did those vets show any impatience to the children or fail to return the balls.

Another yard was next to a comprehensive where the lads thought spooking horses and riders was great fun. The only way to get one over them was to have an unflappable horse and appear oblivious to their attempts.
Riders who shouted and got upset or rude gave them great satisfaction.

My youngster on her first solo hack had a football kicked at her. It bounced up on her belly and ricocheted off each of her 4 legs. The mare was bright enough to know that the boys were stupid and worthy of her contempt, so she stepped over the ball and walked on with as much dignity as she could muster.

The boys looked on shocked at what they'd done and I smiled and said, it's ok. They then apologised profusely. No shouting needed from me.

We also had an opened can of coke tossed from the top of a bus by the school which exploded in front of my horse. Fortunately, he's a wise horse who saw it as an opportunity to drink the coke.

Its a good job the mounted police and their horses aren't so excitable as some of the posters on here.
 
Well count yourself lucky that you have such quiet horses Horserider, which enables you to stay calm and not react. If any of those things in your article happened to my horse I'd probably end up on the floor, seriously injured and with a crazy horse running about loose. Sometimes children just need to be told off.

The reference to the Mounted Police is not really relevant. Those horses are trained for years to cope with scary situations. The average horse is not going to react as well as yours do.
 
Darremi said:
Well count yourself lucky that you have such quiet horses Horserider, which enables you to stay calm and not react. If any of those things in your article happened to my horse I'd probably end up on the floor, seriously injured and with a crazy horse running about loose. Sometimes children just need to be told off.

The reference to the Mounted Police is not really relevant. Those horses are trained for years to cope with scary situations. The average horse is not going to react as well as yours do.
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I do count myself lucky, however, everything I do both with my past and present horses has been to produce sane and useful animals.

I'd agree that not every horse has the temperament to hold it together in every situation and in that respect, I have been lucky with my choices.

I would disagree with your statement about training mounted horses taking years, though. A trainer I once knew used to help train them.
 
horserider said:
I do count myself lucky, however, everything I do both with my past and present horses has been to produce sane and useful animals.

I'd agree that not every horse has the temperament to hold it together in every situation and in that respect, I have been lucky with my choices.

I would disagree with your statement about training mounted horses taking years, though. A trainer I once knew used to help train them.
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There is nothing insane or useless about my horse, and there is certainly nothing defective about the way that I train him. He is not a happy hacker, he is a somewhat highly strung WB eventer. Having a football kicked at him, or a drinks can thrown at him is not something I can really prepare him for. I think you will find that there is a fair number of horses that would not cope in the situations you describe.
 
I'm all for bombproofing and using it as a 'scenario' for training them to be quiet....but, really, there's always that small percentage chance with even the safest horse that one day, it might might just react so why bother risking it. It only has to be an ill timed bee sting causing it to kick out or jump at the moment the kid has ran up to it or similar, doesn't even have to be a reaction from the kid.

If sensible people want to fuss BC, then I let them with a very close eye, near his shoulder, with me still in between them so should anything happen, it will be me getting the end of it.

In this society, I'd rather not be sued for someones kid getting injured in any general circumstance, let alone from their own ignorance. If you get injured from your own horse, then fair enough, it's our own risk....but not everyone is horsey or as insane as horse folk ;)
 
PingPongPony said:
The children were not physically harmed, they were just shocked and scared, which will not have a long term physical or psychological negative effect on them, but they will remember this lesson for life, and if it means that they won't put themselves or others in danger again, then that's a very good lesson which may save their lives.
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I disagree with this. I was screamed at by a parent of a child I went to school with (for something I hadn't done but I don't think that is relevant here) when I was about 10 years old. I still remember it, I still remember how scared I was and I genuinely think it probably has had an effect on me now. I currently volunteer in a school and I'm paranoid that when parents come to talk to a teacher it is to complain about me.

So yes, although they are unlikey to do what they did again, it doesn't mean that they will not be affected by it in some way. I'm sure had they had the dangers explained to them calmly they would have learned from their mistake, it could be that they genuinely didn't know what the dangers where.
 
Oh for goodness sake. How many more times can I say this...

I DID NOT SWEAR OR CURSE AT THE CHILDREN

I DID NOT SCREAM

I NOT THREATEN THEM PHYSICALLY OR IN ANY OTHER WAY

I DID NOT EVEN SHOUT

I reacted, sternly and with a raised and told them in no uncertain terms that what they did was silly and dangerous, that running up behind a horse and grabbing its tail is really a stupid thing to do. I told them horses kick! If a horse kicks you could easily be killed!
So yes they were upset, I remember being a child, being reprimanded usually led to tears, they were shocked and upset that someone had actually told them off.

I believe what I did was right, and will react the same way if a child runs up behind my horse again, it puts them and me in danger.
 
Ebenezer_Scrooge said:
This happens when they are in playtime, we ride past the playground & its a low mesh fence. The teachers come over as well, it's a village school & if it teaches them to be kind and respectful towards horses then it's fine by me & my horse. They are funny though as one little girl said he should be called Dalmation due to his colouring :D I had pony envy at that age & just a rider waving back to me when I was in the back of a car & those in my grandparents village that would let me pat their horses made my day & still makes me smile & if a few minutes of my time does that to a child then I am happy too.:)
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That's lovely, I'm pleased to hear that the teachers let them do this and don't worry about "H+S" too much to allow it.
I'm always happy to stop and chat to people, with or without children. Some of the adults are more excited about stroking the Hairy Pony than the kids. :-)
 
Some of the replies on here beggar belief, they really do. Would you have preferred Buds_Mum to stay quiet and let her horse react in a more likely fashion, kicking out at whatever was hurting him, and spinning round and flattening his predator??? Gently gently has it's time and place, but not under these circumstances. Would you advocate speaking quietly to a child running towards a busy main road, calmly explaining the danger ahead, or would you shout STOP in an authorative voice to prevent an accident, then when the danger has passed, explain what the dangers were...get a grip people PLEASE!!!
 
I have done the same as OP.
A 5 yr old boy came up the road behind me, banging his scooter which made ID jump. I ignored him and made ID behave. He then followed behind us getting closer and closer banging the scooter all the time, I turned in the saddle and told him what I thought.
As a teacher I am perfectly capable of telling children off using appropriate language and tone. Child stopped and we continued on our hack, passing 2 teenage girls feeding neighbours' horses over the wall (another pet hate of mine but not my horses, so I ignored them).
After a left turn, we stopped to chat to a dog-walker about 1/3 mile from boy's house and heard a voice calling to us. The badly behaved boy's mother was running along the road in her (rather flimsy) pyjamas and slippers, to tell us that he was 'only a little boy' (so why was he playing on the road unsupervised?) and that the 2 teenagers had found him crying. I explained to mother that he might have not been in a position to cry if the horse had kicked him and that what he did was extremely dangerous, both for himself and for me.
She ranted on a bit, we realised that she had been drinking (7.00pm) and demanded that should I have further reason to remonstrate with her child, I go to speak to her instead. I did wonder how she thought I would get 16.3 ID through her pedestrian only gate to her door. We rode off eventually leaving her ranting away.
Boy has been much more careful around the horses since and we always make sure that we thank him for moving over etc.
Wouldn't it be nice if people read what was actually written in OP instead of making it up as they go along?
 
Goldenstar I do wonder sometimes how many adults have lasted more than a few years so children do brilliantly well considering :p;)

Pearlsasinger thank you!!! :) Sounds as though you had a slightly similar experience. I especially like ''I did wonder how she thought I would get 16.3 ID through her pedestrian only gate to her door'' hehe!!!

Thank you to all the replies, those which have gone off a tangent; they are interesting to read, I didn't realise how many people saw the whole incident occur :rolleyes::D
 
Normally on here I find I am one of the posters who defend children BUT in this instance I really don't blame the OP at all and I think I would have reacted the same way. If any of my children did something so stupid and were reduced to tears then they certainly wouldn't do it again.
My OH (who is not horsey) said he would have told them that 'if they do it again the horse will kick them and there nose will come off, which they will then have to take in a bag to the hospital to be sewn back on' Oh Dear :o
Luckily having my children around the yard the horses are used to go-karts, scooters etc and I even had my son skateboarding close to us when I've taken my youngster out. I did however call a woman a stupid cow the other week as she came out of her drive and through a bucket of water right in front of us. She then stood with her hands on her hips staring at me so I politely said to use a bit of common sense!
 
Buds_mum said:
Goldenstar I do wonder sometimes how many adults have lasted more than a few years so children do brilliantly well considering :p;)

Pearlsasinger thank you!!! :) Sounds as though you had a slightly similar experience. I especially like ''I did wonder how she thought I would get 16.3 ID through her pedestrian only gate to her door'' hehe!!!

Thank you to all the replies, those which have gone off a tangent; they are interesting to read, I didn't realise how many people saw the whole incident occur :rolleyes::D
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We can only go from what you have told us, considering that the title to your post was 'stupid idiot children' and then you proceeded to say, and I quote 'I'm afraid I absolutely lost it! Swung him round and really went through them. Yes they both started crying, bl**dy well pleased they did. Then I think people may have got the wrong end of the stick. If you had phrased it differently (like your later post) ie, I turned my horse and gave them a stern talking too' - maybe you would have got a different reaction from some posters. A little tongue-in-cheek but I hope you see where I'm coming from.
 
doriangrey said:
We can only go from what you have told us, considering that the title to your post was 'stupid idiot children' and then you proceeded to say, and I quote 'I'm afraid I absolutely lost it! Swung him round and really went through them. Yes they both started crying, bl**dy well pleased they did. Then I think people may have got the wrong end of the stick. If you had phrased it differently (like your later post) ie, I turned my horse and gave them a stern talking too' - maybe you would have got a different reaction from some posters. A little tongue-in-cheek but I hope you see where I'm coming from.
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Yes but it is the written, nobody takes into account tone, expression and as people on here dont know me as a person then who is to say 'lost it' for one person is a different thing for someone else

It just comes across at times that people are incredibly quick to see the worst in people and believe/fabricate something more extreme than it is possibly put across.

I did repeat often in later posts that I neither swore or screamed yet people decided this did indeed happen. oh well, it has been food for thought, its nice to see others opinions and experiences
 
Darremi said:
Well count yourself lucky that you have such quiet horses Horserider, which enables you to stay calm and not react. If any of those things in your article happened to my horse I'd probably end up on the floor, seriously injured and with a crazy horse running about loose. Sometimes children just need to be told off.

The reference to the Mounted Police is not really relevant. Those horses are trained for years to cope with scary situations. The average horse is not going to react as well as yours do.
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^Yes quite, and quite apart from the training they are bred to do the job. My YO used to breed horses that were all bar one (didn't make the height), sold to the police, and quite frankly the damn things are near on bombproof the day they drop out of the womb - when you are paying £4500 per unbacked 3yo you can afford to pick the best.

Yes you can train a horse to be close to bombproof even if that is not their natural inclination, but when you don't have them from a youngster it is a much harder job.
 
And this is why we have brats running around pulling on unknown horses tails. Bad parenting. I'm shocked at some of the replies on this thread. I'd have also eaten them ;)
 
If I was shouted at for no reason as a child then yes, I did resent the adult as it seemed unfair.
If I was shouted at for doing something wrong and stupid I may have been cross and upset but held no grudge as I knew it was my fault.
If I was sat down and calmly talked to, I can't actually remember it, so either it didn't happen or it left my brain.
I don't see the problem, in a dangerous situation, giving a few sharp words to make children stop and think. It's for their own good. If you saw a child about to run in front of a car, would you calmly explain why they should not do that or would you shout at them? Fear and adrenaline also affects you in those situations, so I don't think anyone can really say how OP should have acted unless in that situation. If a kid did that to me I have a feeling my horse may have kicked out. I had one child come running up shouting "horsey!" once and my mare did such a dramatic spook and scrabble it stopped kid in its tracks, luckily.
Telling a child off for something wrong will not leave them scared for life or resentful
 
All well and good if they realised they were doing something wrong - and why would they do it if they knew it was wrong anyway? Nobody here knows what kind of effect this will have on these children, it's all supposition anyway but people will react to what they read on a forum. I expect the OP was horrified that these unsupervised kids could have been seriously hurt and she would have to live with it despite it not being her fault (I'm supposing here)! I don't know how I would have reacted, but it's not the fault either of unsupervised, young children.
 
I remember vividly as a child, probably about 8 or 9 being talked into a game by my 'friend' :rolleyes:

The game was to throw stones over passing cars.... well one car stopped and gave me such a bo11ocking! They said they were going to call the police and I spent a good few days permanently terrified that the police were going to turn up and cart me off to jail at any moment!

I never played that game again!! :o
 
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