Fortunately the kid actually had stickability. Another parent snatched their kid off. All of the screaming didn't help and the other ponies were saintly.
These pony rides bother me a little. Not from a horse use point of view in most cases - these ponies seemed happy, if a little bored, and are well fed with good coats, but from a safety point of view. We have small children, sans helmets, sitting up there in a noisy environment. None of these kids have their feet in the stirrups and many of them...I think all but one...are wearing sandals. Obviously, they dont' have helmets. This accident was caused when a perfectly well trained, perfectly quiet animal was startled by a horse fly...maybe they needed to spray them more often, but that wasn't really the ride operators' fault.
The carousel contraption has always looked to me like something a horse or a kid could easily get caught in. I think that pony rides should be given with a leader in a small arena-like area, with helmets provided and possibly sidewalkers - perhaps the parents should be encouraged to walk next to their kids as nobody reacts faster to a kid in trouble than his/her mother. The problem is that it would cost more because of the extra manpower needed, although no doubt they could hire teenagers at minimum wage to do it.
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