Children helping with stable management

[User95273]

my kids (5 and 7) have been riding for the past couple of months. We are looking to join a pony club nearby.But the local one is very active on Facebook, saying how kids, even if can’t pick up a shovel, should clean out their stables, learn how hard it is to keep horses. Earn their time in the saddle. That there are too many who just arrive, ride and go back home “like some diva”. etc

These are reposts, but it makes me feel not so great about reaching out to the yard. Because they seem very harsh. What do you think? I’ve never ridden frequently, only as tourist on holiday when I was little. I’ve been around stables with grandma to feed horses treats. So my knowledge of the area is very little.

I’m actually somewhat glad kids are not asked to do this (safety+ don’t want to discourage them now that they’ve found something they like, especially my son). They do some grooming and stable managent during Pony camps. But we are the people who just turn up, ride and go home. Her posts don’t make me feel very welcome or understanding. Or even kind. Not sure what she’s going to be like with my kids.

What do you think? Is it bad that kids just turn up, ride and go home?

thanks x

You can have lessons and in that case you do just turn up and ride. Then there is pony club which is different. There the children learn how to look after the ponies as well. I think this is better but you have the choice. In your shoes I would give it a go. In my experience children who are keen enjoy the whole experience. It isn’t put across as all work no play, they have lots of fun learning and doing the jobs together.

Hmm, it probably hasn't been phrased too well (one thing you will learn the longer you are in the horsey world is that horse people don't always relate very well to people or have very good any customer service skills! Most riding school owners take the attitude that they are offering their customers the most enormous and generous privilege allowing them to ride at all, even if they're charging £££ for it), but I'm afraid I sort of agree with the yard owner. Of course I don't think little kids should be doing hard manual labour but it does drive me a bit mad to see kids at my yard walking up to their lesson, someone has got the pony all ready for them, groomed and tacked up (the kid has no understanding or interest in how they got that way and expects to be plonked on without having to lift a finger) then afterwards they just hand the pony back over to a waiting groom literally just as they would hand back their hat or another piece of equipment and walk off (often already whinging for a drink or a snack or that they're too hot/cold), with no acknowledgment that the horse is a living creature with needs too, not even a pat for them or check that they're put back into and comfortable in the stable, loosen the girth if the saddle is staying on (or untack if not), make sure they have fresh water etc. All of these things any child that is big enough to ride can do perfectly safely so I don't really get your safety comment?

I don't blame the kids of course, they don't know any better if they haven't been taught and if the parents are non horsey then it can't be helped but I do think someone ought to teach these kids proper horsemanship principles, i.e. you always, always look after your horse before yourself - it's not about 'earning' your fun or being discouraged, it's the old fashioned principle that if you don't care for your horse properly there won't be a horse there to have fun with one day. I don't think it's ever too young to start teaching kids these things, yes they're slow at first and you have to help them (which is why so many schools do just get the yard staff or teachers to do everything unless you insist on being allowed to do it yourself as the customer, there isn't the time or effort spare between lessons to show the kids properly what to do) but it's so important IMO, I'd almost rather they had less time riding and before and after every lesson they did the basics for their ponies themselves at least some of the time so they at least know how...

If you're keen for your kids to join this PC then I'd give it a go, the owner may be much nicer in person than online (aren't many people!) and so long as you have the right attitude i.e. you are keen for your kids to learn and do the care side too even if it's icky and boring and not as much fun as just riding, I'm sure it will be fine. At a typical PC meeting they do 1 hours ride and 1 hours unmounted session which might be a stable management lesson or a game/fun activity or helping with some basic tasks around the yard, for these they'll likely do age appropriate and fun things as a group like grooming, learning points of the pony and colours, how to clean or check over tack and all that sort of thing rather than have them sweeping the yard or mucking out or scrubbing buckets. 5-7 year olds aren't exactly useful or quick helpers in any 'real' jobs anyway, it's more the principle that everyone helps out within their capability. It's the people who have the attitude that they or their kids are too good to shovel shit and don't want to do anything even remotely dirty or cold or in the rain that does put the backs of horsey people up - fair enough if that's you and you can afford to pay someone to do all that for you but most kids who stick at riding don't tend to mind a bit of mud and poo and wet/cold anyway! And a lot of riding schools run on a complete shoe-string (hard to believe when they charge so much but I promise the owner and grooms are not pocketing big wages, horses just are very expensive to keep alongside insurance and other overheads), so they do more or less rely on unofficial help from their riders and parents to keep the place going...

Surely it's up to the stable to manage this? Ours asks us to turn up early to tack up before a lesson. When dd's lesson has finished she is told by the instructor where the horse needs to go, whether it needs a rug or whatever. I'm not horsey and would have no idea about those sorts of expectations unless we were told about them. How could I possibly have a clue how a riding school is run?

One thing I've often wondered as well is, do stables actually want gangs of kids roaming around 'helping'? My daughter would love to do this actually. But I get the impression they don't want them all hanging about, because while some are probably helpful, others seem to be a hinserance.

Well yes, like I said you can't blame the kids if the school allows/encourages the attitude of just hand over the pony to the nearest person like a piece of kit and non horsey parents wouldn't necessarily think to question it. Although I would say it's hardly rocket science to think the pony might at least like a pat and to be made comfortable after a ride, and you can always ask someone if you don't know exactly what to do. It's not people not knowing, it's people who think because they've paid for a lesson they don't have to give even a moment's consideration to the horse that annoys me. But maybe we just have a higher percentage of bratty kids (and parents) around

But my point really was I think it's a sign of a good school if they allow/teach/encourage the kids to do as much as possible themselves, as OP seemed to be worried this was too harsh. To me it's a sign of they have the right attitude to both kids and ponies. Your school sounds good in that regard!

Don't want to answer to all stables, but most riding schools welcome official 'helpers' from the age of 11-13ish which is when they start to be capable of spending all day on the yard without Mum/Dad there and being useful at least some of the time. IME a mixture goes on of actually helping and doing useful jobs some of the time, sort of working but mainly messing around or daydreaming or patting the ponies a bit of the time, and then just fully larking about at least some of the time, but that's fair enough given they're effectively unpaid volunteers (they usually get a free ride or a discount on lessons in exchange for helping but no pay as such). There is plenty a capable pre-teen can usefully do that takes a lot of the burden off the paid yard staff, at my yard they groom and tack up before lessons, help bring the ponies out and get the younger/beginners kids on and sort out their stirrups etc., act as leaders for the lead-rein lessons and then at the end of the day wash any sweaty horses off, pick out feet, clean and check over the tack, and tidy the yard up/go round the schools and paths with the poop scoop and brush. So not hard hard work but quite useful nonetheless. And it's a great rite of passage for horsey kids and a really good way for them to gain experience. Definitely worth asking your stable if they do this?

Younger kids I'd say are less able to help, most (good) yards I'd say would want them as part of their official lessons to learn the very basics of tacking up/untacking, maybe basic grooming and checking the horse over in a stable, and want them to do this before/after their lessons, but probably to clear off after that and to be supervised by a parent if they're hanging around the yard in between times...

I definitely agree it's a good sign if the school encourage the kids to do some horse care.

I absolutely recognise what you say about horse people sometimes not being very good with people too. The owner of the stable my DD goes to ticks that box but she is at least clear in her expectations which I really appreciate. I'd feel absolutely baffled if she was posting on social media to slag off her customers and yet not telling the customers what she expects from them.

I actually find our stable owner terrifying but I might pull up my big girl pants and ask if my DD can help out as it sounds like that could be welcome.

Where I ride there is a very definite difference in expectation between the 'people who have lessons' and the 'people who are in pony club/loaners'.

People who have lessons:- only definite expectation is that you show up on time for your lesson with all the right gear, and at the end of the lesson, run up the stirrups, loosen the girth, tidy up the reins and depending on the horse, pop them back in their stall.

If you're pony club/jump club, your time on the yard is usually expected to be a mix of duties (e.g. filling haynets, poo picking, cleaning tack, tacking up) and then you ride. There might be post ride jobs too like rugging up and putting them into the field.

My yard owner does moan privately that on the clubs, parents try and only drop off for the ride, and don't see the value of the other stuff. I think it's perceived by some as child labor/exploitation, whereas the owner feels that it's not actually any easier supervising kids doing this type of job than actually doing the job themselves, but it does start the kids on the way to horse ownership/loaning skills.

I’m not a horse rider but my daughter just started an animal therapy course where she spends time with rescued ponies and I’m considering how to continue this in future after the course. The programme works with children with a variety of physical or mental health issues and the care for another living thing is meant to increase self esteem, etc. So while the overall structure is about benefitting the humans, part of the time is spent looking after the ponies themselves - mucking out, etc as it’s important for mutual respect. I’d think this would be equally important for children being taught that animals are part of their entertainment for the week and would love to see this encouraged. I know my daughter’s friends who ride definitely have responsibilities as well that grow as they get older.

In my son’s taekwando, as soon as you hit a certain belt you are expected to help the children at a lower level. So his class is 6-7 but he is expected to be there for 545 to spar with a younger child to help them. This has given him so much confidence and it’s lovely to see.