WTF? Where did that come from/ stupid parent

When you own a very pretty section D Palomino mare you very quickly learn you will need to get her used to the shrieks and screams of small children who want to stroke the "princess pony".
Luckily for all the kids who have just darted up to us while out hacking or come screaching along on their bikes, my mare, unlike her owner, is very tolerant of small children :p
 
My boy D is a very friendly and inquisitive soul but being only 4yo is a terrible fidget and totally unaware of his own strength (which as a 16.3hh ID is considerable). We can't stop on hacks and the one time we did he knocked the parent backwards into a child who fell over and then spooked when she screamed, very nearly landing on the other child who unbeknownst to me had wandered behind D... so our dealings with the general public are generally short and sweet (and from a distance).

I did have a complete meltdown though when a relative of a woman at my yard bought a pack of children up to "meet the ponies" not that long ago. He was tied up outside his stable while I was in the tack room when the woman's 3 year old daughter toddled over and clung to his back left leg like she was trying to climb a fireman's pole. Think the poor sod grew to 18hh but (thankfully) froze. I managed to stay calm enough to disentangle the child from D and marched her back to her mother who was (rightfully) mortified. I think I suggested locking her in the stable next time.

On another occasion I've caught her son wandering around playing with a very noisy toy DIRECTLY BEHIND a very agitated thoroughbred. I might have gone overboard as I've earned the nickname "the yelling lady" but i'd much rather that than "the girl who had to call the ambulance".
 
You cannot blame the kids who behave so poorly here - it's the parents' fault and the boy who deliberately taunts the horses over his garden wall sounds awful. But like other posters have said, you cannot expect the world to standstill just because you are horse riding.

I think I would have to return to the house after my ride and politely ask the parents to speak to their child. The boy may genuinely not understand that what he is doing is wrong. He could have a clinically recognised behaviour problem or a mental health problem that you wont know about until you ask.

I think that if this visit did not do the trick then if the behaviour is really dangerous like throwing things or similar then you could ask the police to politely speak to his parents as he could eventually cause an accident. It sounds a bit dramatic but if your horse spooked into a car then at least you could say that you did all you can to stop the boy from behaving in that way. Otherwise it is likely that you will be entirely at fault.
 
I used to show horses for other people and had one incident with idiot parents/stupid children.
I was at a very Buzzy Agricultural show leading a section D gelding. This gelding thought he was a stallion and was rather firey at the best of times, he was about 16hh on a small day and about as wide!
He had just come from winning his inhand class in a ring next to the very terrifying cattle which had freaked him out and had also just spotted the carriages. He was a spinning, plunging fire breathing dragon who had grown to about 18hh and I was hanging on for grim death.
The main thoughts going through my mind were "oh god, I've got to ride it later! I'm going to die! Don't let go or someone is going to die!" My mother (very experienced horse woman) was keeping well clear of the flying hooves and trying to clear the way back to the lorry so we could get him calmed down and get his sensible head back on (or take him home) without plowing over the top of someone, every other horse owner in the horse walks were giving us LOTS of room (very sensible of them).

A guy and his 2 daughters ducked under the rope that separated the horse walk from the public, they ran right up in front of us and the guy asked if I'd let the kids have a pony ride on my horse.

He got very short shrift from me and told that unless he wanted to be planning the kids funerals then he would back the hell off and get back to the other side of the rope where he belonged, and no i didn't do pony rides on fire breathing dragons! All whilst wrestling this section D and preying in my head that I could hold him and he wouldn't spin with the children in the way.
I think everyone else in the horse walk who heard it was beyond shocked as people seemed to freeze!

Thankfully it worked, they moved away and we got the horse back in the lorry, calmed down and sensible again. though I think it took a week for my arm to recover from holding him!
I did ride him that afternoon and he was nice and sensible and won his ridden class but the morning he was totaly freaked out.
 
I will never forget being at Chatsworth a good 10 years ago when a 3/4 year old child ran out on the XC course as a horse was approaching a fence. the rider was a 'thruster' type who bellowed 'It's OK, Stand still!' and thundered past, jumping the followiung fence with grace. My heart was in my mouth.

Also ever grateful for my big lad who did similar to OPs horse when a toddler appeared in front of him, beautiful canter half pass!
 
Gallop_Away said:
When you own a very pretty section D Palomino mare you very quickly learn you will need to get her used to the shrieks and screams of small children who want to stroke the "princess pony".
Luckily for all the kids who have just darted up to us while out hacking or come screaching along on their bikes, my mare, unlike her owner, is very tolerant of small children :p
Click to expand...

Yes, we have an anglo like that, thankfully she has learned to love it! Usually we beached in the winter this was a rare summer trip and Frank got his knickers in a knot about the ice cream van- as you can see from the straight trail of hoofprints :rolleyes3: so I took him back to the box and left Cally and my friend to it with a bunch of kids from Birmingham :D

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I was another person who 'suffered' from having a rather gorgeous palomino, there was always the odd plonker who would let their little darling come running up screaming to see the barbie horse. Luckily he was always an utter gentlemen but I think I might have scared a good few children over the years but screaming at them to stop at the top of my voice.
People just don't know how to behave around horses, which is really not their fault. You wouldn't particularly worry about scaring a dog when you passed it with loud noises or movement and people see horses as no different.
 
Some of it is lack of horse knowledge but I also think people don't habitually risk assess anything... How many times do you see parents waiting to cross the road with buggies hanging into the traffic? I see it quite a lot! Or kids running ahead and pushing and shoving each other along pavements next to moving traffic with patents trailing behind? Or people walking dogs on unlocked extension leads next to roads? So many people never seem to think "hmm, what could happen here?"

I'd probably be a dreadful parent because I would, probably quite literally, have my kids on leads at all times! :lol:
 
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