It is one thing to sit on a horse now and ride around, but when you are little you aren't as strong and balanced as you are now. And how do you teach a young rider with little muscle development how to use their aids? Do they even understand? Do they even want to know? Is it just all fun and games?
I am not saying that kids should be banned from riding... that would not be fare at all. What I want to know is where do we draw the line to protect the welfare of the pony/horse? Will we be able to draw the line at all?
When a rider goes around leaning on the horse's mouth people will start getting worried. But what if we see a kid riding like that? Do we just turn a blind eye? Will we go to the parent and show our concern? I would hope so. The pony/horse is after all the one that has to cart the kid around. If we don't look after him, how can we ask him to look after our child?
