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>I still have not seen any concrete
evidence that horseback riding - THAT far and THAT long over a long period of
time - doesn't hurt the growing bones. I can't imagine that it wouldn't -
especially since we're being told, quite firmly, how damaging too much too soon
does to our horses.
Our young horses would be subjected to direct, concussive
forces. Riders do not undergo ANY kind of similar concussive
forces--the motion of riding, if done in a relaxed fashion (and I've yet to see
children riding long distance doing otherwise), is a passive sort of repetitive
motion that never loads the joints, bones, or soft tissue supportive structures
(ligaments, tendons) the way that direct concussive forces do.
>Any pediatric or orthopedic professionals out there that can give an
opinion (not vet, totally different animal there).
Bone is bone, and concussion is concussion. If we made these kids get
out and RUN, you could compare. (BTW, why is it that you compare young
riders to young horses in one paragraph, and then say "totally different animal"
in the next paragraph, and try to suggest that vets wouldn't have any way of
comparing the two? Actually, the tissues discussed here are more similar
from species to species than is the sort of activity being compared.)
>So far, all we've heard is hearsay and personal experience.
Neither is very scientific.
No, this isn't exactly a double-blind scientific
study. But so far, we've heard personally from folks who rode hard at a
young age, and from people who've been closely associated with now-grown-up
riders who rode hard at a young age, and the only now-adult who has complained
of damage from riding was doing something other than distance riding. The
many hours I put in riding for cattle between the ages of 5 and 8 didn't hurt me
a bit, but it sure taught me a lot.
Heidi
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