Ridecamp: Re: [RC] there is no way that young and small a body can ride astride a horse that many hours without damage

> Maybe we should do a search on the outcome of letting our
> children eat junk food and play nintendo non-stop. My guess
> is there are more health issues from the inactive kids than
> the ones that horseback ride for extended periods. I'm
> personally jealous of any kids who love this sport and have
> the opportunity to learn and enjoy it at such a young age!
>
> heidi sowards (my .02 for what it's worth!)

Gee, that topic just came up at school, where I work part-time with the
occupational therapist.  The kindergarten teacher was asking for pencil
grippies because she has more kids than ever before who can't figure out how
to hold a crayon or a pencil.  I suggested that it might be due to the fact
that kids are no longer given a crayon and a roll of butcher paper to create
their own entertainment, but rather are propped in front of a TV screen.
The occupational therapist with whom I work stated that she actually has
seen and has read data on orthopedic problems in kids' thumbs due to overuse
of Nintendo.  One of the biggest OT problems we see is lack of gross motor
coordination in young kids, and many of the little kids are overweight.
Given the trends that the professionals are seeing in our youngsters, seeing
a small child on an endurance ride seems far more appropriate to me than
what has become the norm for activity (or lack thereof) in our youngsters.
All things are relative....

Heidi


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