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The other issue that needs to be considered is when one takes a 
youngster for a walk around the trails or around the ranch they are not 
impacting 150 other people. Not only does the ability of a rider to 
safely handle self and mount impact the safety of the rider it impacts 
the safety of the other riders, staff, and volunteers at an endurance 
ride. At some point the ride manager can be held accountable for any 
problems that arise at their endurance ride. If it is serious enough - 
the AERC could also be impacted. It might be civil (liability ) or it 
could in some circumstances fall under criminal statues of some states.

In the case of a serious emergency I would much rather be in to position 
of arguing that the imposed age limit is sufficient than defending the 
fact that under the current AERC rules a parent could tie a 3 month old 
kid to the saddle and pony him for 100 miles. Under the current AERC 
rule as soon as they exit the womb - they are eligible to do an AERC 
ride. Is that what we really want? What Joe points out is a need to 
bring some reason to the issue.

Truman



Joe Long wrote:

> Very true.
>
> I wish people would keep in perspective what we're really talking about here.
> No one, NO ONE, is trying to keep youngsters from riding endurance rides.  We
> are talking about having a reasonable MINIMUM age to provide some degree of
> assurance that very young, VERY SMALL children won't be subjected to the hazards
> of a ride, that they are unable to handle (no matter how precocious or "mature
> for their age" they are).
>
> Serious emergencies can happen at any time on a horse, no matter how skilled the
> rider or how well-trained and "settled" the horse.  The risk of this is much
> greater on endurance rides than in riding in an arena or a ride in a park, or
> even around the ranch.
>
> And no one has made any case, not a bit, that any child will be harmed in any
> way by having to wait and grow a year or two before starting endurance.  It
> isn't the kids fighting a minimum age rule, it's parents.
>
>  


--

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm 
not sure about the former."  - Albert Einstein


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