@Snufkinhastherightidea
Well people always claim they worked hard for stuff and aren’t wealthy but then their explanations are peppered with things like...given a horse... grandad sold a car....given money for birthdays and Christmas.... worked to pay for it (not having to just work, you know, to pay the bills). You do know that loads of kids fall in love with an animal and just actually can’t have them don’t you.
Anyway none of this is the point of the thread. The point of the thread is that both horse riders and parents of children have responsibilities. But somehow became full of people laughing and insulting people who have no experience of horses and don’t know what a bridle path is.
None of which make me a 'posh wanker' with my own estate does it?
I'm lucky I was given a horse. Never had my own, and probably still wouldn't if I hadn't been, that wouldn't change the experience I have though. I wanted to train and work with horses, like some people want to work and train at other jobs.
I was lucky I went to school with the daughter of the local riding stables to be able to be around horses and learn to ride - but the point is I didn't learn to ride because I had rich parents, I learned to ride because I worked at the stables - which I enjoyed as much as the riding - and got the rides in payment.
Working pupil places are very popular, they enable you to work in return for your training, they're also cheap labour for the stables. The point being that I didn't have rich parents to fund the training (which would have been a lot easier and shorter!)
The whole point being that you don't have to have rich parents/family to be around horses, work with them etc. The BHS and other organisations have done a fair amount of work in trying to make equestrian pursuits open to everyone and not just the elite, I'm a product of that, and some good luck.
I agree with you on the insulting people who don't know about horses or bridleways - but I also think that if you're entering a place that you aren't familiar with, it's your responsibility to make sure you know the expectations, and in all honesty, when you can see something weighs half a ton, and has metal feet, and you know you know nothing about it, why do you need telling to not run at it, or telling you need to tell your child not to run at it? You don't need any experience with horses to see the potential danger.
But also, you insulted people and have refused to believe myself and another poster about how we came to be with horses, that you don't have to be privileged and rich to have one or have experience of them, and that's likely because of your preconceived notions about horse owners.