Please help what riding ability am I?

whenyoufeellikeyourflying

whenyoufeellikeyourflying

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Sep 29, 2019
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Hello
I am planning on maybe sharing a horse or pony locally and I would like to tel them my riding ability but I don’t want to say to high or low and was hoping you could help.
I have ridden for 12 years now and have ridden in a riding schools and on polo ponies and am riding a green 15hh horse for my granny at the moment. I can confidently walk trot canter gallop and jump up to 80cm courses capably. I am comfortable bareback and stirrupless in all paces. I am also not fazed by if the pony bucks and I can stay on when a pony rears and bolts and am not bad at handling a greener / less experienced horse. In dressage I can leg yield turn on the forehand and perform serpentines.

please be honest I don’t want to overestimate my capabilities as a share and want to provide the possible sharers with the right information.

thank you very much for you help
Sophie Xx
 
If you have ridden a range of horses then it is easier going to look at a loan or share horse. What i would tend to do is view and get the owner to ride and then you can see better. When i was buying, at least 50% of the ones i went to see i didn't even ride as it was clear they bore no resemblance to their advert.....but loan horses people tend to be more honest as they want it to work, so have good conversation with the owner first.
 
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Talk with potential sharers and see what they're looking for and if you think you fit. Be honest about what you've done, but as @Jessey said be aware that just because you've done something doesn't mean you've done it well - I can canter and Charlotte Dujardin can canter but there's quite a difference between how well it's done! I think trying to give a level is actually misleading because terms like novice or intermediate can mean very different things to different people. Talk to potential sharers and if it sounds a possibility arrange a meeting a trial ride because what you and the owner see is far more important than what you say.
 
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carthorse said:
Talk with potential sharers and see what they're looking for and if you think you fit. Be honest about what you've done, but as @Jessey said be aware that just because you've done something doesn't mean you've done it well - I can canter and Charlotte Dujardin can canter but there's quite a difference between how well it's done! I think trying to give a level is actually misleading because terms like novice or intermediate can mean very different things to different people. Talk to potential sharers and if it sounds a possibility arrange a meeting a trial ride because what you and the owner see is far more important than what you say.
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I have only put down the things in this post I can do confidently and we’ll )according to my teacher) I CAN jump a course of 1 metre but not well or on a trickier pony yes I will talk to my sharer about what I have done thanks Xx
 
I think if you need to ask you are not confident, if you are confident you know what you can ride and ride what you can't.

If I was looking for someone to help me out with mine, I would be more interested in how you handled her on the ground than I would be if you rode her. If she didn't like you, you wouldn't even get to that stage. She loves being with you, she would be looking for someone who wants to be her, not just ride.:)
 
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newforest said:
I think if you need to ask you are not confident, if you are confident you know what you can ride and ride what you can't.

If I was looking for someone to help me out with mine, I would be more interested in how you handled her on the ground than I would be if you rode her. If she didn't like you, you wouldn't even get to that stage. She loves being with you, she would be looking for someone who wants to be her, not just ride.:)
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I have grown up on a polo yard so can groom tack up much out bandage rug everything I also love spending time grooming and pampering and even doing horses agility with my last pony she became very bombproof ?
 
Reading through this thread I think you do need to be careful not to give the impression you're more experienced than you maybe are. For example you say that you have been riding for 12 years yet in another thread you say you're 13 years old, so a fair bit of that riding time wouldn't really count as experience in my eyes if I was looking for a sharer or loaner. Also for me anyone who tells me as if it's a positive that they can stay on if a horse rears or bolts is on dodgy ground because I'm more interested in the rider who's skilled enough not to create that behaviour (and yes I know that sometimes bad things happen, but stating it the way you do makes it sound like it's happened too often to be bad luck). I'm not trying to be difficult or mean here, I'm just worried that you're going to get yourself overhorsed and then have problems. I know that there are 13 year olds out there who could knock spots off many adults, but from this thread it sounds like you're a more normal 13yo rider and as such I do think you need to be careful about what you take on.
 
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carthorse said:
Reading through this thread I think you do need to be careful not to give the impression you're more experienced than you maybe are. For example you say that you have been riding for 12 years yet in another thread you say you're 13 years old, so a fair bit of that riding time wouldn't really count as experience in my eyes if I was looking for a sharer or loaner. Also for me anyone who tells me as if it's a positive that they can stay on if a horse rears or bolts is on dodgy ground because I'm more interested in the rider who's skilled enough not to create that behaviour (and yes I know that sometimes bad things happen, but stating it the way you do makes it sound like it's happened too often to be bad luck). I'm not trying to be difficult or mean here, I'm just worried that you're going to get yourself overhorsed and then have problems. I know that there are 13 year olds out there who could knock spots off many adults, but from this thread it sounds like you're a more normal 13yo rider and as such I do think you need to be careful about what you take on.
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I know your not being mean and thank you so much for your Honest reply I want to be accurate in the way I describe my riding I turned 14 in July so have ridden for about 12 ish years properly I mean off lead rein able to control the pony but maybe it was just under 12 about the reason I have been on so many buckets bolters etc is because my dad works with young horses and they usually have behavioural issues at the start but with his work they calm down and become wonderful horses I am able to usually calm them down a considerable amount but not always enough to not be bucked off or bolted with but usually after this I am able to calm them down not always though. I defiebtly can’t knock spots off adult riders I am also defiebtly not claiming I am experienced I would probably say i am a confident novice who has experience dealing with naughtier /nappy horses thank you Xx
 
charmisthebesthorse said:
I know your not being mean and thank you so much for your Honest reply I want to be accurate in the way I describe my riding I turned 14 in July so have ridden for about 12 ish years properly I mean off lead rein able to control the pony but maybe it was just under 12 about the reason I have been on so many buckets bolters etc is because my dad works with young horses and they usually have behavioural issues at the start but with his work they calm down and become wonderful horses I am able to usually calm them down a considerable amount but not always enough to not be bucked off or bolted with but usually after this I am able to calm them down not always though. I defiebtly can’t knock spots off adult riders I am also defiebtly not claiming I am experienced I would probably say i am a confident novice who has experience dealing with naughtier /nappy horses thank you Xx
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Even at 14 that's still not 12 years of useful riding experience in my eyes, and at 2 or 3 there is no way you were off lead rein and controlling the pony yourself - if you think you were and that's an indication of what you consider riding to be then that speaks volumes.

Many of us here have ridden and/or owned young horses and been on yards that back and produce - bucking and bolting should never be a part of it, and certainly not by the time a rider is put up, any behavioural issues should have been worked through by then. Sure you'll likely have the odd buck with some but if it's to a significant degree then the training needs to be reviewed. An odd buck or shoot forward does not make a bucker or bolter and any rider capable of riding breakers should be capable of quietly riding that through in the majority of cases.

I just feel that the way you describe your riding is not what I've seen in the photos you've posted on here, and the difference runs the risk of you getting hurt. With no offence, from the photos I've seen I'd be wary of letting you loose on my Welsh cob without close supervision and I would say he's forward and bit quick off the leg but basically very safe and honest, just has the welsh sense of humour and can get in a tizzy if the rider isn't quietly confident. I wouldn't have contemplated putting you on my RID, not even on a lead rein or lunge line - as one yard owner charmingly put it when I offered the yard "expert" a sit on him to show me just how he should be ridden "it would be manslaughter!". Yet you talk as though the RID is the sort you want!
 
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carthorse said:
Even at 14 that's still not 12 years of useful riding experience in my eyes, and at 2 or 3 there is no way you were off lead rein and controlling the pony yourself - if you think you were and that's an indication of what you consider riding to be then that speaks volumes.

Many of us here have ridden and/or owned young horses and been on yards that back and produce - bucking and bolting should never be a part of it, and certainly not by the time a rider is put up, any behavioural issues should have been worked through by then. Sure you'll likely have the odd buck with some but if it's to a significant degree then the training needs to be reviewed. An odd buck or shoot forward does not make a bucker or bolter and any rider capable of riding breakers should be capable of quietly riding that through in the majority of cases.

I just feel that the way you describe your riding is not what I've seen in the photos you've posted on here, and the difference runs the risk of you getting hurt. With no offence, from the photos I've seen I'd be wary of letting you loose on my Welsh cob without close supervision and I would say he's forward and bit quick off the leg but basically very safe and honest, just has the welsh sense of humour and can get in a tizzy if the rider isn't quietly confident. I wouldn't have contemplated putting you on my RID, not even on a lead rein or lunge line - as one yard owner charmingly put it when I offered the yard "expert" a sit on him to show me just how he should be ridden "it would be manslaughter!". Yet you talk as though the RID is the sort you want!
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My dad retrains badly broken horses with training issues and that doesn’t happen much I didn’t mean to exaggerate or seem like I think I’m better than I am just wanted to say that if the horse did that once as a one of it wouldn’t scare me etc and I know you are a much better rider at producing horses etc and I have only really jumped recently as I usually do polo just jumping on the side I would say I’m a novice just wanted to see what all do you thought thank you for your comment and I will be looking for a sensible bombproof school master nothing spooky etc just wanted to say I wouldn’t lose my confidence. Here are some photos on me jumping I know I’m still a beginner jumper and have loads to work on 707F122C-4596-4BC0-9DF0-EAF50F83B206.png
32400A81-C842-4C8C-A23F-927568AE9C36.png
also I know my positions not great I am ready trying to improve on my jumping positionI will obviously show any potential sharers lots of videos of my riding and they can judge for them self if they think there horse or pony would be suitable for me Xx
 
If your dad retrains horses why not ask him what he thinks your ability is?
I have seen riders get used as the crash test dummy because they were happy to get on and be bucked off. I would not expect my dad to be putting me on a horse that would bolt if I couldn't calm it down. Green on green is black and blue.
Reschooling from scratch shouldn't really need a rider on board happy to be thrown off and if they do it wouldn't be me!
 
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newforest said:
If your dad retrains horses why not ask him what he thinks your ability is?
I have seen riders get used as the crash test dummy because they were happy to get on and be bucked off. I would not expect my dad to be putting me on a horse that would bolt if I couldn't calm it down. Green on green is black and blue.
Reschooling from scratch shouldn't really need a rider on board happy to be thrown off and if they do it wouldn't be me!
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I’m defiebtly looking for something bombproof to share not anything like that yh my dads pretty non safety and my mums the opposite I just wanted to see others views in my riding my mum would say I’m a novice but my dad would say I’m intermediate advanced ish ? I would say confident novice I’m just going to explain to the new sharer how well I ride and send videos Xx
 
Well if you're replying to adverts I would walk away from any that include the following phrases:
- not a novice ride
- green/needs bringing on
- experienced riders only
- needs confident rider
- quirky
- coming back into work
- suit competitive rider
- sensitive
- can get strong
While these phrases may be an over cautious owner covering their back all too often they're code for a difficult horse who's owner is wary of them.
 
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carthorse said:
Well if you're replying to adverts I would walk away from any that include the following phrases:
- not a novice ride
- green/needs bringing on
- experienced riders only
- needs confident rider
- quirky
- coming back into work
- suit competitive rider
- sensitive
- can get strong
While these phrases may be an over cautious owner covering their back all too often they're code for a difficult horse who's owner is wary of them.
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Thank you will keep all of those in mind ?
 
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