Frankie Baby 82 asked:
Am I overreacting to this? My ex-husbands’ family has a ranch with several horses, one of which is not broke yet. The uncle is apparently letting my children sit on this horse for short periods of time to “get her used to kids” and also letting them ride another horse in the arena while he works with the female. My worst fear is that this green horse would buck my children off, or spook the other horse while they were riding, and they would be injured, killed or paralyzed. I know the adults are right there but there is always the “what if” factor. I have insisted that they not sit on the female, and only ride when there are no other animals in the arena, and wear helmets, but my requests have fallen on deaf ears. My ex and his mother think I am a nutcase, even though I have ridden both English and Western my whole life, and as far as I know neither of them have had experience with horses until his mother re-married about 2 years ago.
Also, my girls know they should wear helmets, (they are 3 and 5), and they tell their daddy, “If Superman (Chistopher Reeve) can get hurt on a horse then so can we, and Mommy wants us to be safe.” But he still doesn’t require any safety measures.
STACI
