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Re: [RC] 20 MT and Little Big Man - Sisu West Ranch".....Kids will ride when kids are ready...."Disclaimer: I do not have statistical evidence to support my parenting decisions, however, I also suspect that those in favor of "protecting" children do not have statistical evidence either. When I was raising my two boys, I used the same methods that my parents did. I allowed them to do activities unsupervised or supervised when I felt they were emotionally ready and had the mental and physical skills to do them. For certain activities where they wanted freedom years before they were ready, I set up a test that when they passed, they could do the activity. Example: In our town it was common for children to ride bikes to the old swimming hole, and jump off of the highway bridge. There was no life guard. The rule was that they could do this when they had passed the Intermediate swimming class at the local school. The result has been that both of them have grown up to be responsible adults who had many privileges years before a society imposed age test would have allowed them. In fact, if some of the privileges I gave my boys were to be known by many county child protection people, I probably would have ended up in deep trouble with the courts, even though time has proven that my decisions were right for my children. My second point is that organizations should test all of their rules, regulations and procedures in relation to the stated aims and goals of the organization. Protecting the health of horses is one aim of the AERC. There are many worthy causes that are not aims of the AERC (curing cancer, spreading democracy, properly raising children etc.) We should keep the distinction in mind at all times and deviate only in extreme cases where it is obvious to all that we must act. Ed Ed & Wendy Hauser 2994 Mittower Road Victor, MT 59875 (406) 642-9640 ranch@xxxxxxxxxxx =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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