This makes me cringe

I taught my boys from the age of four on my 15.3 hh WB mare. I don't think there is anything wrong with it. I didn't want to buy a pony and have to part with it when they out grew it or lost interest. I always made sure they wore a helmet and BP though. I think the pair in the photograph look fab, apart from the lack of helmet.
 
Got no problem really with no hat, though fail to see how she can give leg aids the horse understands, unless he's trained that way. We don't know the facts do we ?
 
Having been beaten in a barrel race (I was, oh, 27 or so at the time) by a small child who's father was hanging over the side yelling 'Cheyenne, don't you DARE hang onto that saddlehorn!' as she zoomed past, I don't find it surprising :p :p :p oh and everyone laughed at me for wearing a hat. Different strokes and all that.
And as someone who falls off horses with alarming regularity, it's bloody hard to fall out of a Western saddle. It's actually hard to get off the things!!
 
Big Ben said:
Nope the pic is of a little girl called Harley, posted by her mum (I presume ) on a facebook page called Horse Debate Central. It is a discussion group, which is why I had no issue sharing again for more discussion.
Click to expand...

Well she's a cute little girl too :smile3: and if the mother is taking her to shows where helmets aren't a mandatory part of the show attire then it's up to them to make these choices.
 
I think everyone should wear a helmet but that's just my opinion. As to the horse being to big lets be honest that horse must be very well behaved because I am sure the child isn't doing very much with her legs and seat on something that size other than sitting there and pointing him in the right direction.
 
Never wore a hat as a kid but then that was soon after WWII when anyone wearing protective gear would have been laughed at. One of the things I was expert at back then was tree climbing, which is a lot further off the ground than four feet! I suppose these days the kids wear helmets, safety harness, and someone strong on the end of a safety rope! But then I haven't seen a child tree climbing for decades. Do they still do it?

I agree with the poster who said it is up to the mother. The best girl I've had working with the ponies for years refused to wear a hat, but she did put one on her 4yo. Then I had a discussion with my insurers when the insurance came up for renewal. They said they would not pay out if the rider was not wearing a hat, so I put my foot down. The girl, plus child, promptly left! Some people just won't wear hats, including HRM The Queen! We really have become a lot of wimps!
 
The issue of children riding horses rather than ponies is a debate I often have with my OH. He never rode ponies as a child, only horses, I however rode a variety of ponies and then graduated to horses. The issue of always wearing a hat is something we agree on!
 
I think it is a cultural thing. I rode ponies - and horses - bareback and hatless everywhere from an early age, and I love to see American children riding as they do. Had our son taken to riding I would have bought him a horse, not a pony. As it was he learned on a 14.2 and only gave up because he preferred shooting and tennis.

I fractured my skull while wearing a helmet, and it gave me severe neck injuries as well because the brim jolted my head backwards, so I've never been obsessional about wearing them. I worry more about wearing improper footwear as a friend was badly injured having been dragged. NB That's a lovely picture!!
 
A couple of months ago when my daughter's pony was being an a*se and she wanted to ride out, I let her ride my 15.3 hunter on a hack. She rode up the road, round the field and back again with another one of the liveries and me running alongside, she loved it and it was just what she needed to lift her spirits. I even ran on ahead and let her trot to me so I could video it (she is just coming up for 6).
At no time did I worry for her safety or think I was being daft. The other liveries mum was out with us too.
As far as hats are concerned, she wears one for riding but occasionally when I am turning them out I let her jump on to walk to the gate...I have hold of either pony or horse and we are only walking...we all did it as kids and are here to tell the tale!!
 
Yes, it's a matter of luck as well as skill, because even great riders can have serious accidents even when not doing anything particularly "dangerous". Wearing a hat while riding simply lessens (significantly) a person's chances of being seriously injured.

What I am not sure about with regard to parents deciding for children is whether letting a child ride without wearing a hat is more like letting them climb trees or like saying they can ride in the car without wearing a seatbelt. Of course, the latter is illegal for good reason, but both are deliberately exposing them to greater risk of injury. Is the natural dividing line between responsible and reckless parenting that of legality? I think it has to be a bit more stringent than that!

Incidentally, we don't generally consider people who don't wear a seatbelt to be "wimps". Why is that? What makes avoiding one type of risk wimpish and another not?

I played/experimented with electricity and hazardous chemicals when I was still a child and am here to tell the tale... so it must be alright, no?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top