Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

> And we don't say "it's the horse owner's right to decide when his horse is old
> enough."  Why are we less concerned about protecting children than we are about
> protecting our horses?

I don't think that we are less concerned about protecting children than our horses. 
The first question to ask is, "Why does the AERC impose an age restriction on horses 
and is the same thinking applicable to children?"  The biggest reason for an age 
restriction on horses is that they are not physically mature enough to withstand the 
rigors of Distance Riding at speed ("at speed" being a minimum of 5mph).  Competing 
at speed results in substantially more concussion to a horse's entire body than slow 
trail riding and this concussion, combined with carrying the additional weight of a 
rider and tack, damages a young horse's still-growing body.  Secondarily, there is a 
distinct advantage to a rider to compete on a talented horse so that without an age 
restriction, an otherwise caring owner might choose to compete a young horse thinking 
that since it wasn't against the rules, it couldn't really be a bad thing.  Even over 
long distances, concussion, for a well-schooled rider, is not an issue.  Neither are 
children required to carry any additional weight.  The parts of the rider's body that 
are stressed a great deal are the various muscle groups.  Compare that to mogul 
bashing on skis.  In that sport, there are tremendous G's inflicted on bones, joints 
and tendons, sharply and repetitively.  Riding a horse, even 50, 75 or 100 miles 
produces no stresses even remotely equivalent to a day of mogul runs.  As to benefits 
to the parents of child riders, there aren't any, unless you count bragging rights :)

Another consideration is the horse's inability to say no.  It could balk to protest 
moving if it didn't want to, but with horses at rides, one usually sees the opposite 
problem... and the younger the horse, the more likely that it will want to run.  With 
young children, on the other hand, "No" is a household word.  Then there's the 
whining.  It takes a great deal of stamina to put up with a negative, whining kid. 
Ask anyone who's had to drive across the country with one in the back seat!  So if 
you have a child whom YOU want to do Distance Riding, and the child doesn't want 
to... it won't.

So the reasons for having a rule against competing young horses are not applicable to 
kids.  Are there other reasons to impose age restrictions on children? If so, that is 
where the focus of any discussion should be.


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

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!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=