I am not sure what was really so hurtful to some. If you value your children you surely do not want them handling a horse that is too fresh. Yes, fresh or not a horse should have manners but the fact is--with a child on the other end of the lead it is so much safer to have the horse not so fresh. I can take out any one of my horses, even when they are jacked up on a strong grain ration and when they have had little exercise and they will behave and remember their manners--some of themight bounce alongside me and have trouble keeping their feet on the ground but they won't be bucking and kicking at me. There is no way I would let a child--any child, experienced or otherwise--handle the horse when it is feeling that good. It would be foolish for me to do so. It's bad for the child and bad for the horse. It is far easier to teach a young horse to be well mannered and well behaved if thr horse isn't too fresh--and from what I have read that is all anyone is saying. It would be too bad if someone's child were to be hurt just because the horse was fresher than he should have been when the child tried to take him out for a walk.
When I was a little kid my mom would let me ride any one of her horses, but you can bet that I didn't get to have first ride if the horse had been in the barn for a week and was getting its full grain ration. She wasn't that foolish! Not sure why it is rude or hurtful to pass on that information.
