What age for a child to ride a horse on the road?

[bollox11]

My ex partner has been taking my son out on a pony on the road since they were 12 months old. They wear a hat but I'm very concerned as I feel this is an unnecessarily dangerous activity. Sadly, they don't do as I ask. My son is now 2 and a half years old and it's still happening. The lanes are narrow with no pavement. What are your views on this please?

Maybe ask MN to move this over to the Tack Room OP, you'll get more advice there.

There's no legal minimum age for a child to ride on the roads, and in theory providing the pony is sensible, suitable clothing is worn, a suitable saddle is used (for real tinies it would usually be a cub saddle with handle) an adult is leading the pony and preferably another walks alongside holding the child on, there should only be minimal risk. I do understand your concerns though - 12 months is very little and at that age the child probably isn't getting that much benefit from riding. Could you ask for some reassurance in the form of a picture of him riding so you can see that he is wearing high vis etc, or even if you have that kind of relationship, can you go with him and ex on a ride so you can see the pony is calm and the roads quiet etc? Or would ex be responsive to a suggestion that rides are kept to bridlepaths or an enclosed arena while he's still so little?

Of course horse riding for anyone at any age always carries a certain amount of risk, and if your ex is a rider I can only imagine they will want your DS to continue riding so realistically risks will continue to be taken or even increased as he starts to ride more independently, I guess you need to try and build trust with your ex that everything will be appropriately managed, as I don't think legally you have the right to stop it if s/he has parental responsibility?

Are they on the lead rein, with an adult on the ground? If so it’s probably ok but if not I would be concerned.

Is the adult walking next to them or leading from another horse? As long as they are on the inside, and on a quiet pony I don't see a problem with this to be honest but depends on the road/pony/adult in charge etc

My daughter used to go along a road to get to the bridle path. I walked alongside. She was about 12.