Parenting....and horses.

There are many of us who understand the joys of growing up with horses. There is no doubt that they have a lot to teach us. But when you constantly see pictures of young children riding without helmets or appropriate footwear, it begs the question - do these parents really value their children's lives? The tack is usually old, ill-fitting, incorrectly put on, and completely unsuitable. The horse is often stuck in a small backyard, with dreadful fencing and rubbish everywhere. The horse generally looks unhealthy, with wormy belly and bad feet. These are probably the same people who constantly advertise for a super quiet, kid safe, beginner's pony under 10yo for $500 or less, preferably with gear. Or better yet, they want a free lease (with all gear) so that they can ruin someone else's horse, then blame it for any problems and give it back busted.

In this example, there is no concept of safety, or education about horses. Yet when experienced people try to guide them in the right direction, they suddenly know "everything" and will go out of their way to tell them - rudely. It's sad, because ultimately it is the horse who suffers the most with these type of parents. These parents are sucked in to unscrupulous horse dealers offering nice cheap horses which are absolutely bombproof, fit and healthy, and because they don't bother to educate themselves before buying, they think it's the best horse ever, because it might be a pretty colour. It may even have nuts and therefore they can make money out of their new purchase. But when it all goes wrong, who cops the blame? Yep - the horse. Not the poorly educated idiots who went in blind and believed all the sunshine and rainbows crap they were fed by a horse trader! You don't try brain surgery if you aren't educated, so why should horses be any different? Nobody will mind if you don't know, unless you choose not to learn!

Then at the other end of the spectrum we have the child with the $10,000 horse, all the spiffy, shiny, sparkly, trendy gear, the matching rug and boot sets and big flash float or truck. And a big fat scowl on their face because they only came second. They've had the fancy lessons, the horse is "boarded" at a stable (and therefore looked after by someone who does know what they are doing) but there is no bond there. There is no real understanding of horses, just a big show of how much more money you have than everyone else. This is Mummy and Daddy buying a blue ribbon to fulfil their own needs, not the child's.

And then there's the competitions.......nasty, snickering parents setting a wonderful (not) example to their children about sportsmanship. Bitch and moan and carry on because your $10,000 horse was beaten by the cheap pony clubber down the road. Turn your nose up and snob all the friendly parents who help each other's kids out and congratulate them if they win this time. Don't get me wrong, they are just as competitive as you, but they get that sometimes it's not your day (especially with horses!) and "well done" should always be appropriately applied to the kid who won. They'll get 'em next time..... :-D It is not worth the ridiculous comments such as "if you don't win, you will NEVER ride again" or "we will sell the horse if it doesn't win." If you have to threaten your child to get them to a show, then you're in the wrong sport!

I've only scraped the surface on horses and parenting....so comment on what irks you!!