Riding with children

The age we work to

Children generally ride from age 6. That is the operator's own line and it comes with its own qualifier: the guide looks at the child standing there on the day, not at a date on a form. A confident child at that age and a frightened older one are not the same booking, and the guide is the one who decides.

Tell us the child's age when you book. It is not paperwork — it is what lets the centre put a suitable horse aside before you arrive rather than find one while you wait.

Somebody walks at the head

A young or nervous rider can have a staff member walk beside the horse with a hand on its head for as long as it helps, and that can mean the whole hour. Nobody is sent up the trail to work it out alone, and no child is talked into carrying on.

The pace is a relaxed walk throughout, with the guide at the front of the group. The faster stretch that experienced adult riders are occasionally offered is at the guide's discretion and forms no part of a child's ride.

What a child pays

The same as everybody else: one fare per rider, at any age. No child fare and no infant fare exists on this ride, and we would rather say so than quietly invent one.

A younger sibling who will not be riding is not something the online form can take. Message us first and we will tell you honestly what is possible, instead of you arriving with a child who cannot be accommodated.

What parents ask before they book

• A helmet? Available to every rider, whatever their age, and given out with everyone else's before the group sets off.
• Shoes? Closed shoes, and this is the rule worth enforcing at breakfast. Trainers are fine; sandals are not.
• Can I ride beside my child? You are in the same group on the same trail at the same walk, which is usually what the question really means.
• How long is a child actually on a horse? About 1 hour, and about 3 hours from leaving the hotel to being back at it.
• Is it safe? No honest operator calls riding risk-free, and we will not be the first. What we can set out is what happens every time: the briefing, the matched horse, the helmet, the guide with the group, and the hand at the head when it is wanted.

Pregnancy, and any serious back or mobility problem, rules the ride out — and that applies to the adults in the party every bit as much as to the children.