Livery and unaccompanied under16s

[Eqs]

Hi all, can I ask how common it is to find a yard that will allow under16s to be unaccompanied on the livery yard? There’s one near us where kids (10+) can be dropped off and left for the day but no others locally (as far as I know) seem to allow this…and it got me wondering…

We have a couple of 15yr olds at our DIY yard that get dropped off to do their horses

Horses can be dangerous things and I’m not sure it would be appropriate to leave children as young as ten unaccompanied:/

They are very hard to come by… in insurance terms it’s a nightmare and it can put off a lot of would be adult clients.

I wouldn't want to go anywhere near a yard that allowed ten year olds to be there unaccompanied.

If, heaven forbid, something happened it would be an absolute nightmare in terms of legalities, responsibilities and insurance.

A yard near me has pony days where 10 year old are unaccompanied but they are doing a structured activity and supervised by the YO and her team

The set up explained by @Plirtle sounds reasonable, as long as there is someone around supervising and a lot of ground rules/ organisation I think it would be nice for the children. Freely doing the horses 10 is too young. Whether the yards offer it or not depends on their set up/ staff/ tolerance levels/ insurance/ other people there like full livery horses and clients who would want staff looking after horses more. Each yard tends to be quite individual in what they offer.

Presumably the one for 10 year olds is a business that does some sort of pony day or arranged activity where there is a designated adult In charge? Can't imagine age 10 they are allowed free rein unsupervised on a commercial livery yard with no one responsible?!

@Plirtle that's very different to what OP described though.

Being dropped off to something like Pony Club aged ten would be normal - being dropped off to care for your own horse completely unsupervised on a livery yard is a whole different ball game.

At my livery yard children under 13 must be accompanied by an adult, unless on a supervised pony morning or similar.

At the BHS approved livery yard I'm on no unaccompanied children under 16. I think anything under 12 yrs old is too young to do horses by themselves. I wouldn't touch a yard that allowed 10yr old unsupervised, with a bargepole.

I wouldn’t livery at a yard where kids are allowed unsupervised.

No under 16s as liveries on the small livery yard I'm at, whether accompanied or not. And you need a reference to apply - it makes for a very low-drama and flexible yard.

Unsupervised kids would be a massive red flag that a yard isn't taking insurance, health and safety, and safeguarding seriously.

Unless it is a riding school or pony club with suitable staff on duty then children should be accompanied.

We occasionally have 14/15yr olds who might be doing the horse with their less horsey parent sat in the car or while the horsey parent does the other horse but not completely unaccompanied.

If you're anywhere near North London/Herts I know several

I don't allow any unsupervised under-18's on my yard. To be honest, some parents have been so lax, I'll probably never allow liveries with children to come to the yard at all. We're a working farm too, with big trucks doing deliveries from external companies, so its just no worth the risk.

My Yard is grown ups only, no children allowed. We are all over 40. It's safe, no drama and the welfare of the horses and keeping the herd happy comes first. It works for us.