|
i have a new baby, ad we also have horses... anyone else? She already seems to like them, im hoping she wants to ride wen shes older. Daddys not so happy about her spending time in the barn, but I think its good for her. I keep her clean and think she will grow up less afraid... ↓
|
|
| Name: atomicsnowflake | Date: Apr 14th, 2007 7:49 PM |
Personally, I don't think that it's a good idea to allow babies and very young children to be in an environment where there are farm/farm type animals.
They can pick up a particularly severe strain of E Coli, along with other nasty infections. Babies are notorious for putting everything into their mouths. No matter how clean you keep the barn and the baby, microorganisms will still be present in the environment.
I should wait until she's older for any barn visits and, when you do allow her to visit, pay particular attention to hand hygiene.
Babies have very immature immune systems and an infection of this type can easily overwhelm their bodies and cause serious illness or even death. ↑ |
| Name: T-rabbit | Date: Apr 15th, 2007 1:47 AM |
| I agree that waiting to visit the barn till she is 12+ months would be good. ↑ |
| Name: Hiddy | Date: Apr 15th, 2007 7:30 AM |
You have to remember that a toddler/baby/child is uneducated with horses and horses are HUGE.
I think its very risky having children around horses too young.
Even riding lessons are VERY risky. You need a teacher that specializes in infants.
My daughter does horse riding and she had a teacher who one day told her to tap the horse...but she forgot to tell her to do it just once and my daughter went ahead and tapped the horse a couple of times and it bolted on her.
My daughter was 4 and she had NO way of knowing that the instructor meant to just do it once.
My daughter is afraid of riding now. Hopefully she will get back into it.....but it is VERY risky. Always be extemely alert. Anything can go wrong ↑ |
| Name: B_the_best_U_can_B | Date: Apr 16th, 2007 8:26 PM |
I have a 2 horse and Irish pure brred and a little shetland.My oldest child is 3andhalf and he loves riding the shetland.I think it is good to get them used to animals young.
Becky ↑ |
| Name: lindalu | Date: Apr 16th, 2007 8:56 PM |
| Beckey I agree, I have always allowed my daughter around farm animals, horses,cows,sheep,pigs ect. Yes the child need to be supervised as you would with any animal but if their hands are washed well after I dont see a problem. Allowing children to have contact at a young age does open them up to diffrent kinds of animals. ↑ |
| Name: Kyra | Date: Apr 17th, 2007 5:35 PM |
I agree also. I have horses and tow young daughters as well as one on the way. My girls were always around my barn and the animals from babies. Of course I was always careful for their safety but it totally paid off cause they are totallly barn and horse safe at 6y/o. I actually teach riding lessons to kids as young as five so I get to see the benifits of my girls early knowledge of horses and safety compared to kids that have not been exposed. I also have this theory that if you protect a baby/child from all of the worlds dirt and gems they are more likely to develope allergies later in life because their bodies haven't made up its own immunity from exposure.
But those are just my thoughts! Every parent and kid are different! ↑ |
| Name: briseis | Date: Apr 26th, 2007 2:32 PM |
| Well, I don't think kids should start riding lessons until they are around 5 years old, and can establish good posture and respect for the animal, for their own safety if nothing else. But if you have horses of your own, there's no harm in the younger kids having a little ride in the horses, provided they are supported by an adult at all times. ↑ |
|
|
