More horse work!!!

This year a new addition to the family is a big horse and two little ones. The two little ones are for the kids and it is my responsibility and mostly pleasure to take them riding in the afternoons when we have time.

Here are things I have noticed when young children get a pony they can call theirs, it is mainly epic princess mode. "I have a PONY, I get to ride it, it is my pony so you have to let me do the interesting things like leading him. However not any of the uncomfortable or annoying things, like carrying things." I have decided that children who have ponies need to prove their responsibleness by doing extra jobs at home. Sadly they are too young to be given the less pleasant horse jobs, or even the interesting but time consuming jobs like putting on or removing rugs.

Also I had no idea how much easier horse safety is to manage with older children. 7-10 yr old kids have a greater ability to think abstractly about how much it will hurt if that horse kicks them. They also have more ability to listen and comprehend when you explain horse safety. ALSO they have the observational skills to notice the horse they are running up behind.

My 4 and 5 yr olds are HOPELESS. I explain to them  not to do something, or I ask them what they need to do and they say "Don't run behind a horse" and then 10 seconds later there they go, dashing about behind horses. Or I say "Stop waving the whip around near the horses" and the complain that they didn't get a long turn at playing with the whip. I am thinking of using actual physical explanations on them. Like suddenly yelling BOO!!! at the kids to scare them and then ask them if they enjoyed that and if not why would they do that to horses.

So far injuries have included a little girl getting trodden twice while she was showing her horse leading prowess. The funny thing was she had a little sulk attack and pout because she wanted to lead HER pony by herself without me holding onto the other end of the lead. She got trodden on, dropped the lead and sat down under the pony screaming. Happily I was holding the lead and took over. He is a gorgeous pony and probably would not have done anything, however better not to test it. To be fair, it really does hurt when a horse steps on you, however none of the kids argue anymore when I insist on them putting on proper shoes to go to the horses.

I suspect that less children or more adults would make this all easier.