What Would Happen If…

Kids do stupid things, especially if the children in question are daredevils with numerous horses at their disposal.

When we were kids, my barn friends and I did numerous stupid things. We were convinced of the invincibility of youth, drunk on our own bravado, and on the rare occasion that one of us was hurt, we took the accident in stride.

On rainy days, we used to drag our tack boxes into the middle of the barn aisle way to create makeshift obstacles, then jump our horses bareback with only a halter and lead rope for control.

That was STUPID.

If we were feeling particularly adventurous, we would ride double, bareback and bridle-less, all over the farm, sometimes racing one another from one end of the field to another.

Also STUPID.

We rode without helmets whenever we thought we could get away with it, jumped impossibly high fences in our instructor’s absence and had mounted water balloon fights.

All STUPID.

Of course, we engaged in all this stupid behavior when we were alone at the barn. Had our trainers been present, they would have stopped the activity immediately and sentenced us to uncountable hours of scrubbing lesson tack or mucking stalls.

The thing is, kids do stupid things all the time, but riding instructors and other horse business owners must keep their stupidity in check. I have frequently been in the midst of a lesson and thought, ” I wonder what would happen if…”

Invariably, the subject of that sentence is an activity that would create a dangerous situation for my student, and I therefore do not entertain it beyond a private, silent musing.

There are many ways in which riders can get hurt, and equestrian professionals do not need to exacerbate those risks by creating dangerous circumstances. I realize that my definition of dangerous is different from yours, and from everyone else’s, but riding instructors must use their best judgment.

And common sense.

Before you ask a student or client to do something, before you send them off on an activity or exercise, ask yourself one very important question:

“Is this student likely to get hurt if he engages in this activity?”

If the answer is yes, scrap the idea and move on to something safer.

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About the Author: Laura Jane Thompson is the Chief Equestrian Officer of Riding Instructor University and the Feature writer for the horses section at Suite101. She believes that any horse business can succeed provided its owner practices smart strategy.