My situation:
- Horse is boarded at full care barn 5 minutes down the road from my house (barn has a lesson program - great for finding kids eager for a little extra cash! PLUS a playground is 2 minutes walk through the woods from the barn)
- 1 human child (2 yo)
- Significant family support in the area and several high schools / colleges to recruit babysitters from
So just from my situation, you can see that I’m in a lucky position of support + full horse care.
0 - 6 months:
Horse care: Baby came to barn with me either in stroller or carrier if I was doing quick (~30 min) horse care visits
Riding: Occasionally I could magically line up nap time to fit a QUICK ride in as baby napped in carseat (transferred to stroller), usually baby stayed home with DH or my mom so I could do a ‘proper’ ride
6 months - mobile (crawling / walking):
Horse care: Baby came with me and I’d plop in a safe spot for quick horse care visits
Riding: Baby always stayed home with DH / babysitter or I’d find a kid to ‘mother’s helper’ at the barn while I rode
1 yr - present -
Horse care: DS loves to come to the barn to “help” with chores. He “helps” muck out, fill waters, make up hot mashes, “lead” the horses around (i.e. holds the tail end of the lead rope as I walk the horse) but has about 45 min attention span before he’s bored; Visits longer then that require a sitter / leaving him at home
Riding: He’s too mobile but no sense of danger with the horses so requires adult (kid) supervision. He either stays home with DH or I line up a teen sitter in advance
My kid never accepted play pens or confined spaces (he’d just wail) but one of the BM’s has a kid who did so that was her go-to tool until the kid could walk (at which point they escape). Another friend who has her own barn has a 4 year old and he’s now old enough to safely entertain himself while she does the barn work / rides - she has clear rules (you need to be in shouting range, you need to check in if I call you, no handling or touching the horses without me there, always assume the electric fence is on)
The hardest age is 18 months - 3/3.5 as they are very mobile but without the ability to look out for themselves yet.
12-14 yr olds that are horse savvy enough to keep your little one safe are the secret sauce to making it work in my mind or a very flexible spouse / family member who is always happy to watch the child!
The other secret ingredient: giving yourself a lot of grace that this is a demanding time in your life and sometimes the horses are going to bear the brunt end of that reality
ETA: regarding weather, this never really factored into decisions to bring vs leave my kid at home. The barn is plenty sheltered from the worst elements. In the cold he gets layered up, in the heat he is kept in the barn and out of the sun. I’m in New England so we do get extremes on both ends but we’re an outdoorsy family so he has plenty of gear to be ‘weather appropriate’ in almost all conditions.