Who else do you let ride your horse?

Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins

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Oct 10, 2004
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I am very possessive about my horse. Despite numerous offers from people to hack him for me, jump him for me, compete him for me etc. I have only ever let 3 other people get on him. Two were my friends who wanted a quick sit on him (about 10 minutes each), and the other was the head girl on the yard when he was being a little naughty. I have another friend coming to ride him tonight – I’m not sure that I really want her to, but she has helped me out in the past and as her horse is currently lame I didn’t feel that I could say no when she asked me.

I have been called ‘selfish’ by someone on the yard because I didn’t want her to hack him out when I was on holiday. Other people have said that I risk him becoming too ‘in tune’ with me by being his only rider and that it is good for a horse to have several different riders. I actually like the thought of him being ‘in tune’ with me. How can this be a bad thing?

I’m interested in know if you like other people riding your horse, or do you like to keep him (or her) all to yourself? How do you feel when other people get on your horse? Does the green eyed monster come out, or do you enjoy watching him working?
 
I like other people riding my horse if they are good. Infact yesterday I was lucky enough to have an international showjumper ride my big horse for me as he was visiting us and offered to help with the him leaning left on me problem. He worked beautifully and I had a massive grin on my face the whole time as it was so nice to see him going perfectly. YO will ride him occassionally if hes short of a horse to hunt but thats about it. I'm not precious, I'm full aware that other people will ride him better than I do, but I wouldn't let someone who didn't have a half decent seat on him as he has a hell of a buck in him when he wants! The pony I'll let most people have a go coz shes a star and puts up with anyone!
 
I understand your point MP although I most certainly do not think it's selfish, at the end of the day he's your horse and it's up to you who you let ride him! Somebody wanting a free ride while you're not there is a bit cheeky really and quite rude of them to say that IMO!

Personally I don't have a problem with other people riding Roxy although she’s not available to all & sundry. I’ve had a couple of friends ride her who are more competent than me when I’ve had a wobbly moment or she has been in a particularly mare-ish mood, and of course Drill Sergeant. I enjoy watching other people ride as I get to see her move (so beautifully!) and see what potential she has from another perspective.

I have an informal ‘share’ type arrangement going on at the moment, my friends partner (who is also horsey) occasionally rides Roxy for me. They approached me & asked if he could ride when we were going away on holiday for a month – they didn’t expect an answer there & then but thought it might also help with peace of mind for me knowing the (mostly useless) YO isn’t her sole carer but also that she will be kept active for a month & not just sat in a field doing nothing. I thought I would be insanely jealous but actually I’m not. As her main carer we still have a great bond, Roxy has developed a couple of great relationships with other horses she now often goes out with and she gets to do some faster rides that I’m not quite confident enough to do yet.

They always ask a few days in advance if I’m planning to ride on whatever day and if not could they please borrow her. He has also done some great work with her at the mounting block and with picking out her feet. At the moment we seem to have struck a really happy balance & I hope it continues but if I was not happy or I didn’t like his style of dealing with her it would be a very different kettle of fish.

It also helps that I have known these people for a good couple of years before we got in this situation so I feel I can trust them with her. At the end of the day though, my horse is happy and benefitting from it so it makes me :happy: too!
 
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I love seeing people riding Joy as she's so beautiful and I can't see her when I'm riding. She's so paired with me I think it does her good. My problem though is in making sure that the person has the right attitude or can handle themselves if she decides to test them. technically, everyone is better than me but it's ensuring they are a rider that listens to her.
 
I have a superb sharer who adores him and is very used to throughbreds! She used to SJ and Event at about 1m at home.

I've let three other people on him, all three have either owned or previously owned ex-racers, two event personally and work on event yards and the other is a work rider for a well known trainer and shows her ex-racer at county level.

The thing about Henry is that to an expereinced rider he's a novice ride but to a novice rider he's an experienced ride!
 
My sharer rides both my ponies and i have no probs with it as it gives them exercise where i can't always do it.
 
Me, my OH and any riding instructor (if I had one - and not for the whole lesson thank you very much :yellowcarded:). That's it for regular riding. There's one or two people on the yard that if, say, their horse went lame for a long while I would offer them some regular riding on Poppy if they wanted it. I would let her previous owner pop on for old time's sake if she wanted as well.

She's one of those "one-person" horses and gets quite grumpy when even my OH rides her - I'm sure she'll get used to him though. She's not an easy ride either and although I don't think I ride better than most people in any way I want MY horse to get tuned in to MY way of riding so she becomes easier for ME to ride! :giggle: At the stage we are at in our ridden relationship I think it would be detrimental for us if I let lots of different people ride her. (OH rides in a very similar way to me and I think it's fair enough to expect a horse to tune into two different people riding them anyway).

Besides I'm paying for her so I wouldn't expect anyone else to EXPECT to be able to ride her, I think that would be rude of them!
 
I let OH ride Storm and that is about it. If I were still on a yard I'd not let anybody ride her these days - she is sensitive and it has taken me years to reach an understanding with her. I used to pay sombody to ride her whilst I was on holiday but that was only in the very early days - and that person was a RI whom I trusted. I don't think for Storm it would be a good idea to have different riders - she is willing for me, but can easily be mis-understood by others.
 
Only the lovely man who back Jazz is allowed to ride her as he has trained us in a wonderful way. I'm also quite protective of Cheeky, even though I do make throwaway offers to people "come and ride him anytime" but never get around to actually following through with it! Spiggly has ridden him as has Clairebear. :)
 
I am fussy who i let ride Moet, especially if i am not with them. i have about 4 people i would allow ride her without me being present. BUT i am very specific regarding what they can and cant do.

To be honest with you i would not allow people (even them) to ride her if they asked to ride her, only if i offer!
 
No-one has ever ridden Thyme except me. I would love someone really good to get on her and show me what she looks like with someone competent on board! I asked my RI to ride her but she won't ride newly backed horses. Not that Thyme behaves like a youngster!
 
Both of mine are naturally limited due to their size.

I love watching the kids ride mine - they bth behave so well and lovely to watch the kids progress.

I've only had one good rider on her - she ran off into her stable with her on :I part of me would love to watch a good rider on her... The other part wouldn't as I ride her in a specific way and I would worry she wouldn't trust me anymore of they were rough with her an it's taken us a long time to come to an understanding!
 
I'm not at all precious about other people riding mine, Rio was bought as a family ride in the first place and she's had several sharers, and I've often invited friends to ride one or other of them when they visit. Both horses are easy to ride and well behaved and it doesn't seem to be a problem :)
 
Yann said:
I'm not at all precious about other people riding mine, Rio was bought as a family ride in the first place and she's had several sharers, and I've often invited friends to ride one or other of them when they visit. Both horses are easy to ride and well behaved and it doesn't seem to be a problem :)
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I think half of this and other forums have ridden Rio:giggle:
 
I'd never let anyone ride my horse without me being present. Its not that I don't trust the riders, its that I don't fully trust Flipo and I'd hate something bad to happen.
I've happily let other folk ride him while I am there, but I tend now to gauge the type of rider. I don't want anyone who's going to try and tell me what to do....unless they're my RI (who I'd actually love to see riding Flip).
Sounds like you've got some lovely folk on your yard spinning you a yarn to get what they want. Yes its good for a horse to experience different riders. Especially if you're going to be doing any ridden showing classes where the judge rides. But I agree with you. The bond you have with your horse is exactly why you bought him. To build up that 'in tuneness' rather than relying on RI horses. Its not a bad thing to understand and predict your horse's moves and knowing the right buttons to press.
 
Must add to my earlier post, if someone got on one of mine and it misbehaved I would be mortified! If my horses aren't easy to ride and handle then I haven't done my job right. The big horse is only a baby so wouldn't want anyone to rip his head off, but everyone else should behave if someone else gets on them! Its funny how a lot of teenagers round here horses are so naughty that only they can ride them... Personally I think its more impressive if a horse is well mannered and will listen to whatever they are told, whoever is on them. If my horse bucks I am embarassed to be honest and think oops better school that out of them, dont want that to happen again!
 
He is yours, and you have every right to be very selective, and choose who and when and where!

I was always very particular about who rode my horse, which is a funny thing for someone who shares other peoples to say! Partly because he is sharp and, although well mannered, could have caused real trouble for someone who got nervous and gripped up or was unintentionally a little rough. But also partly because he is/was my first horse, I had him from a 5 year old when I was a teenager, and I wanted him to be all mine!

The thing is though, I kind-of wish now that I'd been a bit more flexible about it. I've grown up and moved away from home and left him with my Mum, who doesn't ride him. Although older and a bit stiff these days, he could be pottering around the fields and lanes with a competent, confident rider a couple of days a week. Unfortunately, after many years of only being ridden by me and my instructor, when someone gets on him and doesn't ride the way we do, he is very intolerant of it.

I won't put him through the stress of changing his ways in his old age, so he is essentially retired now, when he could still be having a bit of quiet fun with someone. Me and my family adore him even though he is a bit "special", and his future is secure. But if I ever have another horse I'll make sure that being ridden by a variety of (balanced and competent) riders is part of his or her education, because if circumstances change then the horse has so many more options, and thus more security.

To go back to Mary Poppins' original post, I think the situation with Ben is a little different, since he is more established and has already been in other homes and been ridden by other people. And there is a big difference between not wanting just anybody to ride your horse, and not wanting anybody else to ride him at all. But, yes, another time I would be more open to other people riding mine :)
 
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