This is where I’m at. I keep my horses at home, and it’s either new fencing or truck and trailer. New fencing it is. But I’m having a blast with an awesome instructor that comes once a week to my crappy little grass area and budget friendly priced horse.
I keep saying I’d like to get a really nice horse and show one day, but then I price it out and the fun doesn’t equal the $$. And my current horse is really nice even if he doesn’t fit the hunter mold.
It’s nearly impossible to be a barn rat at a modern professional barn. No one has the time (or wants to take it) to show a kid how to do anything, or let them try. My daughter would LOVE to be a barn rat and has offered to help with various tasks (dumping feed, grooming school horses, setting jumps) and is basically told to stay out of the way. I’m careful to only let her ask at seemingly appropriate times, and even then the answer is usually no. I think it’s a combination of professionals (including grooms) not feeling like they have the time, and the culture of not wanting a full board kid to be seen doing the grunt work.
I get it from a business prospective and respect the barn’s unwritten rules, but on the other hand when the professionals then complain that kids don’t know anything it drives me nuts. I put my foot down and make my kid do her own grooming and tack cleaning (out of the way of the grooms work area), but if she didn’t have a horsey mom she wouldn’t know how to do that either.
Kids can’t “want it” completely, but there isn’t much of an avenue for them to learn enough to be useful in a way that would help a trainer give them a chance as they get older.
FWIW the vets and farriers tend to be kinder to a curious kid- she sits and watches quietly and they usually take a min to explain to her what they are doing or let her take a closer look.
And the worry, rational or not, that a minor will get stepped on, kicked, hit or worse by a horse, potentially resulting in permanent injury. I would imagine that the weight of that on your conscience, even if you did everything you could to prevent it from happening, would be immense. So in saying yes, you are potentially opening yourself up to a lot of responsibility … and as a person without kids, I wouldn’t feel comfortable taking on that responsibility for someone else’s kid.
Your daughter is lucky to have you.
And I know what you mean about vets and farriers – and at the barn where I ride, the chiros, saddle fitters, and especially the dentist, have also been exceptional about sharing their knowledge.
I get “don’t send the kid into a mob of horses with a feed bucket cause she may get squashed” but really? If the kid can ride the big, dumb animal I think it is pretty reasonable for a kid to groom a civilized horse or two.
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