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Re: [RC] [RC] [RC] Kids, ponies and distance riding... Get a grip people - heidi*Hello again Heidi. SERA has instituited an age minimum of 8, I think. I just don't see how it is going to adversely affect a child under that age if they have to wait until age 8, or 9 or 10 to ride. They can do many other things with horses that are fun, with their parents and a preparation for the day they can do their first AERC ride. It;s just too silly to presume anyones life is going to be ruined because they could not endurance ride before age 8..... I already shared one example of a 7-year-old whose life was remarkably altered by his being able to compete in endurance. I don't find it at all "silly" that his life was turned around by the sport. He rode at the time that it was right for him to ride. And now that I work with special needs kids, some of whom have similar problems, I appreciate even more what the sport did for that particular young man. I'm sorry that he would not have had such an opportunity to improve his life under the rules of SERA--and I'm darn sure glad that we had no such rules in the NW when he needed the sport to change his life. And no, Karen, I do not believe for a minute that simply riding around with his parents at home would have sufficed. It was the goal of doing what his older brother did the year before that changed this boy and GAVE him a life. I cannot support a rule change that would remove such possibilities from children who are already "ruled" out of too many things already. We have already seen the positive benefits that competing at a young age has provided to some kids. Why we would even consider destroying that opportunity because some nebulous harm "might" happen to some other child is incomprehensible to me. I'm all for stepping in when abusive situations appear--but let's do it on a case-by-case basis, and not remove an avenue for other kids. Heidi =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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