Re: [RC] Kids, ponies and distance riding... Get a grip people - Suzi Maiorisi
I don't know about you, but when I was a kid with a horse my sister
and I were pretty much entertained for entire weekends (aside from trips home to
sleep) out riding horses for hours and hours - it was part of LIFE and FUN
and, well, when we got older we took our boyfriends out to the pasture, but they
usually ended up having to scoop the stalls or haul hay for us and lost interest
quickly! It was understood that as soon as we got out of school (horses
lived 30 minutes away in a 10 acre pasture) we were off to take care of the
horses and get in a ride if we could then home for dinner and homework. To
get to the riding arena where we ran barrels and poles on Friday nights we rode
(no trailer in those days unless mom decided to rent one if it was cold) the 7-8
miles to the arena, rode in our events and then rode them home after that - part
of that 'trail' was crossing Interstate 20 outside Shreveport, LA...dangerous,
yes, but (crossing my fingers as I type) we never had an accident, nobody ever
came off their horse and we did it for years.
Our Saturday rides were from as soon as we could get mom to take us to the
pasture, she'd drop us off after we saddled up and pick us up just before
sundown. There were no state parks or ranches to ride on, we did all our
travels on the road and usually didn't leave a 'flight plan' with anyone other
than the time we'd get picked up...guess we were pretty lucky. Personally,
I think we were just lucky to have horses in our lives...I still have Andy's (my
old 1/2 arab) picture now saved to my screen saver...happy times.
Subject: Re: [RC] Kids, ponies and
distance riding... Get a grip people
> Third, if you have children that CHOOSE to go through the
insanity of > riding a horse for hours and hours and hours, as a parent
you have to > decide on the safety parameters given that your children
have chosen to > do one of the most dangerous sports known. It's sort of
like a kid > deciding to take up skydiving. How (assuming that the
equipment is > available, in their size and safe) could you force a
child to take that > up? But if you agree to allow them, you have to
accept that you are > permitting a level of risk in their life. It's
your kid. It's your > responsibility. No one else's.
Y'know, one
thing that no one has mentioned here is that kids need outlets in life
other than hanging out in the street, doing drugs, getting pregnant,
etc. I sub at our alternative school from time to time, and one of
the things that I've noticed is that NOT ONE of the kids there has had the
opportunity to have an outlet such as horseback riding.
Sure, there are
risks--but for some kids, having a goal and a positive outlet makes all the
difference in the world. Too many things are already off limits to
them--I sure hope we can continue to provide a good, clean, healthy sport
for those who ARE precocious and need such an
outlet.
