Kudos to the private school allowing the boy to ride his horse to school! When I was a senior (1985) I rode my horse to school as well. my half sister lived across the street so I "parked" my horse there all day. It was a very nice alternative to the school bus! My Dad even made me a "raincoat" out of a tarp for the rainy days so the horse and I were always dry! After that, I was dubbed Pony Person for the rest of the year!
We took our Appaloosa, Appy, to our son's Pre-K class for all the kids to ride on. They had a blast and for one, at least, Bode was the cool kid!!! LOL!!! Of course we had to plan it in advance and get permission slips, but we, parents included had a great time!!!!
I don't think you should be able to leave your horse at school who knows what types of terrible things teenagers could do to it! If you ride your horse to school and leave the poor horse there all day you oviosly don't care about the horse, you just want attention. I don't think it was bad for the boy to bring his horse to school for spirit week, but the kid who leaves his horse at school really should look after his horse better. Horses are not cars they're living creatures.
When our kids were in grades 4 &6 my husband and I rode the kids to school. It created a great stir for all the students who saw us through the windows and we even left a little present of fertilizer for the grounds attendant. It was really fun and both of my kids really had a good time
Oh, that's just maddening, although not surprising. The Philly school's response was pretty neat,though!
Emma, I had the same thought about other students feeding the horse who-knows-what or otherwise putting him at risk, but the corral is next to the headmaster's house (remember, it's a private school!) and not actually in a place where students would be able to get to him easily. Also, he's not just tying the horse up to a hitching post all day. The horse is turned out just like he would be at home, but instead of being left alone in his corral at home all day, he's groomed and ridden twice a day. Check out the photos in the article. It actually looks like a pretty nice arrangement for the horse and the student.
I think I would rather have the second day suspension then the two hour community service. The punishments seem really harsh. Noticed most of the students seemed to ignore them, too bad the other students didn't get pumped by their actions, and that there was not more than could be expended involved in the first place.
Honestly, aren't there more important things for school advisors to be worried about nowadays? I can see how a lawsuit could arise from this; however, the safety of the other students wasn't compromised. In my opinion, a fair warning would have been good enough. I also think that with gas prices soaring, we should be able to ride anywhere.