>>>> I DREAD when my girls are in school and their little friends start coming >>>> over, >>>> wanting to ride the ponies. . . .Or they want to have birthday parties >>>> with pony >>>> rides.... It's so ridiculous here with the lawsuits.
On the other hand, there ARE the "inherent risk" laws that protect owners - the owners just have to be very careful. Those laws are actually more clearly stated to protect horse owners than they were when we first got our horses 20 years ago. We have at least 4-5 of those signs posted. We have a sign that says riders are required to use helmets. But, mostly we are very careful to pick the spots where we allow kids to ride, and I'm careful where which horses we use, and we stop any human-"horseplay" or rough riding before it starts - we have a zero-tolerance policy for goof-off riding. And I'm VERY careful that such events are well-supervised - at least one supervising adult to each mounted kid, at least until I know the kids well. I'm still SLIGHTLY nervous when new kids ride here, but not enough to stop doing it. Emily had friends over to ride many, many times, and we have some wonderful memories of those occasions. I certainly hope to live to see grandkids have the same joyful experiences... Karen Thomas, NC
