Just now, Geoff914 said:

See my post above about the blanket exclusion clause if something is not specifically listed. I something is not listed as being permitted or is not listed as a not covered hazardous activity then it is not covered. In my policy pony trekking is not listed but mountain biking is listed. Seems a bit strange it is not specifically covered or specifically excluded. Not exactly a rare past time.

I take your point.

But, there’s always a but, if I read the policy word for word and pony riding isn’t mentioned, do I then take the insurance anyway and be left in the position of guessing whether I can ride a pony or not?

Of course, it’s not just pony riding, I effectively have to guess whether ANY activity may or may not be covered. The point being that I personally would guess that pony riding would be covered as it just doesn’t seem that extreme in the slightest. So the worth of insurance is for whatever is specifically mentioned as being covered. And that often isn’t much because insurance companies prefer to detail benefits, and exclusions, and then add a blanket exemption clause. Very rarely do they detail specific activities being included as part of a general policy.

So Mr consumer, guess whether you are covered or not.

I’m not a fan of insurance tbh, I prefer to self insure when I can. Other wise I am paying for the risks others run. Need to have the dosh to back that up of course

14 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

Best not to ride horses unless you are proficient or at least know the risks.

Horses are for instance the most dangerous animals in Australia. https://www.kidsnews.com.au/animals/horses-involved-in-most-animalrelated-fatalities-in-australia/news-story/c09d2ede9f791ef0876a35df8f689c8a

The woman in question is from UK where the most dangerous animal is........... a cow. But horses are also as dangerous as they are in Australia.

Sadly the takeaway from this is don't do anything on holiday that you wouldn't consider at home but if you must take precautions and read the small print.

Are you allowed to cross the road????

15 minutes ago, wensiensheng said:

I take your point.

But, there’s always a but, if I read the policy word for word and pony riding isn’t mentioned, do I then take the insurance anyway and be left in the position of guessing whether I can ride a pony or not?

There was a note that if something was not specifically listed as allowed or excluded on the hazardous list you could apply to have it covered. But then you would need to know before travelling that you "might" be doing something then make sure you are covered. Seems odd that horse riding/pony trekking is not mentioned as it is quite a common activity. Example "Mountain Biking (recreational including general cross country and off road cycling)" is covered. But why is horse riding/pony trekking not listed at and under the exclusion cause is not covered but mountain biking is allowed. I would say that is far more risky.

16 hours ago, milesinnz said:

would you call riding a pony on a beach an extreme sport ? I wonder if the insurance policy lists what are to be deemed extreme sports.. maybe crossing a road on foot in Thailand is also an extreme sport - would seem more dangerous than riding a pony on a beach ?

The horseback riding on Thailand beaches is neither safe nor done in a supervised and responsible manner. There are repeated warnings to not do it. Doesn't anyone look at the travel insurance policy wordings, or the websites that offer the coverage? I believe that they knew that they were not insured for the activity. The website they refer to has a very clear and specific advisory in large bold font;

Common exclusions:

• Sports or activities that aren’t stated on your policy.

  The policy would have had a wording similar to this;

  EXCLUSIONS

  Your participation in or practice of any:

• Sport or activity except for those listed as covered in Standard Sports and Activities.

• Adventure sport or activity except for those listed as covered in Adventure Sports and Activities if the lead traveller chose to add this cover to your policy. .

Horse back riding. most likely was covered subject to common sense requirements;

1. you must be accompanied by a suitably qualified or experienced instructor or guide.

2. you must be adequately supervised and taking part in an organised activity, event, session or excursion.

3. you must not be taking part in a league or competition.

4. You must be using purpose/built or natural facilities approved by a local or national regulatory authority for use for the sport or activity concerned.

5. you are suitably qualified or can demonstrate that you have relevant and appropriate experience.

What's unreasonable in the above?

Don't expect a third party to assume liability for your intentional stupidity.

16 hours ago, norsurin said:

My travel incurance telling in the policy wery clear what they dont cover. Is it really so hard to read before u travel?

Most people don't, which is why she is warning people to do it.

12 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

The horseback riding on Thailand beaches is neither safe nor done in a supervised and responsible manner. There are repeated warnings to not do it. Doesn't anyone look at the travel insurance policy wordings, or the websites that offer the coverage? I believe that they knew that they were not insured for the activity. The website they refer to has a very clear and specific advisory in large bold font;

Common exclusions:

• Sports or activities that aren’t stated on your policy.

  The policy would have had a wording similar to this;

  EXCLUSIONS

  Your participation in or practice of any:

• Sport or activity except for those listed as covered in Standard Sports and Activities.

• Adventure sport or activity except for those listed as covered in Adventure Sports and Activities if the lead traveller chose to add this cover to your policy. .

Horse back riding. most likely was covered subject to common sense requirements;

1. you must be accompanied by a suitably qualified or experienced instructor or guide.

2. you must be adequately supervised and taking part in an organised activity, event, session or excursion.

3. you must not be taking part in a league or competition.

4. You must be using purpose/built or natural facilities approved by a local or national regulatory authority for use for the sport or activity concerned.

5. you are suitably qualified or can demonstrate that you have relevant and appropriate experience.

What's unreasonable in the above?

Don't expect a third party to assume liability for your intentional stupidity.

Well, the only pony riding on a beach that my 7 year old daughter did was on a beach in hua hin, being led by a woman walking beside the horses head. The pony itself looked very resigned to its fate and hardly looked like it could raise its head let alone a trot.

So I don’t think you can speak in total generalities. That said, I haven’t seen any other examples of pony riding on a Thai beach so maybe others use highly strung stallions itching to set off at a gallop.

I can only speak for what I have seen and what I saw was not extreme at all and paled in terms of risk comparison to riding a motorbike.

I must also admit that I have never seen any warnings about pony riding on Thai beaches. Jet ski, yes. Motorbikes, yes. Pony riding, no. Then again, I haven’t particularly been reading embassy websites looking for it.

I guess I should count myself lucky for avoiding the extreme activity of pony riding without even trying to do so.

21 hours ago, Inuendo said:

And another BRIT who does not read the insurance policy.

They just didn't expect a "pony ride on the beach" to be classified as an extreme sport, what it didn't say is "injuries arising from pony rides on the beach are not covered" I have never indulged in the extreme sport of pony riding but watching pony rides on the beach in Hau Hin they seems as far from extreme as I can imagine. Getting to the beach is often way more dangerous.

21 hours ago, Inuendo said:

Every Brit should be checked at the airport here in Thailand if their insurance is complete.

Complete for what ? Should they be asked if they are going to go for a pony ride along the beach ? How would you even know unless the opportunity presents? and what if you change your mind and think, you know what, I might like hike to this waterfall and you slip on some rocks and hurt yourself badly, is that classified as an extreme sport ?

21 hours ago, Inuendo said:

Now again the society is asked for support, AGAIN.

It's purely voluntary to contribute to the gofund me their husbands employer has set up, they are paying for it themselves, they are going public to issue a warning to others to be more diligent and using their experience to highlight assumptions about insurance. To out myself, I don't bother with travel insurance at all but do have access to $100K cash in an account and can sell down a bunch of shares if I need more. There's a reason Warren Buffet makes money, he takes the insurance premiums people pay his companies and invests on the stock market, he's not getting rich paying out.

21 hours ago, Inuendo said:

wtf with thumbs up she stay in her bed, I am sorry to say, but this is really crazy

Sounds more like unlucky then crazy.. Of course if you fall off the horse you need to get back on :) so good luck to her and a speedy recovery.

37 minutes ago, BumGun said:

Complete for what ? Should they be asked if they are going to go for a pony ride along the beach ? How would you even know unless the opportunity presents? and what if you change your mind and think, you know what, I might like hike to this waterfall and you slip on some rocks and hurt yourself badly, is that classified as an extreme sport ?

Clearly cycling, pony rides, crossing the road, swimming and any drinking alcohol while on holiday will invalidate your holiday insurance. Don't even think about having sex on holiday!

9 hours ago, wensiensheng said:

Well, the only pony riding on a beach that my 7 year old daughter did was on a beach in hua hin, being led by a woman walking beside the horses head. The pony itself looked very resigned to its fate and hardly looked like it could raise its head let alone a trot.

So I don’t think you can speak in total generalities. That said, I haven’t seen any other examples of pony riding on a Thai beach so maybe others use highly strung stallions itching to set off at a gallop.

I can only speak for what I have seen and what I saw was not extreme at all and paled in terms of risk comparison to riding a motorbike.

I must also admit that I have never seen any warnings about pony riding on Thai beaches. Jet ski, yes. Motorbikes, yes. Pony riding, no. Then again, I haven’t particularly been reading embassy websites looking for it.

I guess I should count myself lucky for avoiding the extreme activity of pony riding without even trying to do so.

I conur. The only pony riding i have seen is people either being led by a guide walking (as previously mentioned) or following a guide on a horse. Actually, when I first read the story I was baffled how someone could break their back falling off the type of pony-riding- on a beach i have witnessed. Maybe, they were in a beach area with lots of hills? Maybe the pony fell on her (not mentioned?) Anyway, I feel for her and hope a speedy recovery (and insurance companies suck.)

We don't know the details, and maybe she was just extraordinarily unlucky, but proper riding is intrinsically dangerous (Superman, Christopher Reeve, springs to mind), especially for those 50+, who don't bounce so well. If it was a bog standard guided beach ride, then the insurance company is being their usual arse-hole self in refusing the claim. Personally, at 71, I'm now extremely risk adverse, and these days, I doubt I'd recover so well from the numerous mishaps I had in my younger days, you certainly wouldn't get me on a horse, or a pony, for that matter.

12 hours ago, Geoff914 said:

what is not covered in the accidents section. "Any claim arising from an Accident occurring while You are motorcycling as a rider or a passenger"

Can understand as a rider because that's what motor insurance is for. However, as a pillion? Guess you would have to rely on the moto taxi driver having valid insurance. A Thai pillion passenger would be in the same boat but for a different reason; treatment for injuries caused in a Road Traffic Accident (RTA) aren't covered by Thai National Health Service.

13 hours ago, Geoff914 said:

Right I would have thought more chance of being hit by a stray gold ball on a golf course or twisting your ankle in the sand trap. Is golf listed as an extreme sport?

I believe it should be. My headmaster at secondary school suffered a fatal heart attack whilst attempting to hit out of a bunker!

On 3/27/2026 at 12:40 PM, FlorC said:

Riring a pony is not an extreme sport.

As usual insurance companies weasels out.

Insurance companies are what I classify allow them to legally steal. They can make up reasons to not pay and yet most governments do not question their decision and if it's the victim that decides to sue them then they will need deep deep pockets to take out a civil action against these mongrels.

My insurance doesn't classify climbing stairs as hazardous so may well be captured by the get out clause. Better call the company to verify if ascending or descending stairs is covered. Or getting in and out or the bath.

8 hours ago, nausea said:

We don't know the details, and maybe she was just extraordinarily unlucky, but proper riding is intrinsically dangerous (Superman, Christopher Reeve, springs to mind), especially for those 50+,

Falling down stairs is probably more risky for an older person than a younger person pony trekking?

On 3/27/2026 at 2:05 AM, Liverpool Lou said:

But it is an insurance policy exemption, regardless of your irrelevant definition.

My policy doesn't mention Pony trekking or horse riding but buy not excluding or including it it is covered by the exclusion cause.

If a pony ride isn't cover3d then is climbing stairs, going to a gym, aying qny sport etc cover3d...this case highlights how insurance companies bull<deleted> their way out of paying, and the government, whete they are based, should investigate.

17 hours ago, Geoff914 said:

My policy doesn't mention Pony trekking or horse riding but buy not excluding or including it it is covered by the exclusion cause.

See Inclusion or Exclusion. You never find out till you make a claim. Bunch of thieves and LEGAL. What a joke. May as well play two-up? When it comes to making a claim.

I thought I would look into my policy in a bit more detail. I previously found a clause excluding riding on a motor bike as the rider or a passenger. Now I find a clause that says riders of a motor bike must have a full UK motor cycle license and held it for at least 3 years. Confused? Now I have a full license but not riden a bike for at least 45 years. So I am treated more favourably than somebody who rides a bike every day but for less than 3 years. Very strange.

An inflammatory post has been removed.

On 3/27/2026 at 8:19 AM, milesinnz said:

would you call riding a pony on a beach an extreme sport ? I wonder if the insurance policy lists what are to be deemed extreme sports.. maybe crossing a road on foot in Thailand is also an extreme sport - would seem more dangerous than riding a pony on a beach ?

If you can't read face the consequences, but don't go for begging