Re: [RC] [RC] [RC] Kids, ponies and distance riding... Get a grippeople - Truman Prevatt
And no one said - least of all me - a ranger's policy should be used
to justify or not justify any policy. When this issue raised it head
several cycles back - this is one of the periodic food fights on
Ridecamp - I was visiting my sister. My sister is a clinical
psychologist that works with a couple DA's in Southern IN in child
abuse cases. I explained the issues and asked if there could be
potential issue that could arise. While not a lawyer she knows enough
child protection law to be a reliable source.
Her comments were most states would not want to get involved in minimal
age issues since law enforcement is concerned with enforcing laws after
an incidient has happened. However, she added, if there were a death
or even a serious debilitating injury ( hospital and MD's in most
states have reporting requirements to police in cases of injuries to
children) a local DA has the tools at his disposal (meaning laws) to
make people's life probably including a ride manager and sanctioning
organizations extremely miserable since they would be dealing with
criminal charges. She also told me that in the cases of child death one
of the DA's she works for has the tendecy to grow a giant set of fangs
and go for blood and it the case of a death there would probably be
criminal charges filed. BTW insurance will not cover legal fees
resulting from criminal charges. There is precedent for criminal
convictions in the death of a child when the parents were held
responsible for a child's death be it a child killed when he found a
loaded gun his parents had in the house and or a child was killed when
a four wheeler he wasn't able to handle flipped on him.
While we don't ever want to see any such thing happen in the AERC, we
could be eaisly be dealing with fire if it did. Or more precisely the
BOD of the AERC could be dealing with fire since they are the officiers
of the corporation. The good news comes right down to the fact that
there are very few very young riders entering endurance rides out
there. And my personal opinion is it's the AERC problem - not mine so
I'm not going to loose any sleep over it.
Where the rubber hits the road - we won't know the implications untill
an incident happens. By then it would be too late. But again - no skin
off my nose.
Merry Christmas
Truman
Sisu West Ranch wrote:
"... I was in discussion with the forest service min age was
brought up by the head ranger who I was dealing with. He had
implemented a min age requirement for all organized permited events and
wanted to implement a 12 year old min age on the endurance ride..."
I don't think that the individual
prejudices of Park Rangers should be used as gospel in developing the
policies of the AERC. Rangers have bunches of power. Some use it to
further their own agendas. I have seen it many times. Heidi got into
real trouble because she fought a Ranger's policy.
-- “Why has government been instituted at all
“Why has government been instituted at all?
Because the
passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice,
without
constraint.” Alexander Hamilton
