‘Not a novice ride’

blitznbobs

blitznbobs

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So I’ve now ridden several horses now looking for my dream competition mate... 3 of which were ‘anyones Ride’ and 2 of which were ‘not a novice ride’ none of which were ‘a novice ride’ - after all I’m looking for something to be event but not were they dangerous either ... but I’ve come to think in my , admittedly v limited experience that ‘not a novice ride’ actually means ‘ I’m so scared of my horse that it has got away with everything and has really, really bad manners ...’
 
I think 'not a novice ride' could be pretty much anything. My horse would be not a nivice ride as shes very very green, yet shes done nothing wrong. It could also mean total nutter, has a quirk, is forward going or a novice has bought a horse they cant ride etc etc, I think the reasons are endless, some genuine and some maybe not.
 
It’s a bit of a woolly term and can mean lots of things to lots of different people .
I hope you find something soon .
 
It's the same problem with most stock phrases i.e green, forward going, sensitive... they're all very dependant on the individual writing the ad. Hence why I've always rang people first before seeing anything. Good luck in your hunt!
 
Can also mean that the horse is very sensitive or sharp.
A previous horse of mine ridden by a very experienced person was an angel who could and would take on the world for you.
A less experienced rider, perhaps someone who wobbled occasionally or who applied thoer leg aids for canter as far back as they would in a riding school would end up with a panicing bolting horse and would be injured.
He needed tiny aids and a steady calming presence on his back
 
Generally I’d expect the horse to have some sort of quirk, or need good riding to get a tune. It could also be a way to try and put off less experienced riders and discouraged them from trying out horse so in owners eyes it’s not wasted!
 
It's such a varied term. I do some teaching on a riding school and we have a couple who aren't for novice riders. I would expect however for them to be safe for someone who can ride just not riding school novices. I would be wary of responding to an add that said it without additional information as I have seen so many where it covers the I'm nervous and have turned my horse into a giant pest!
 
Phoning and asking is best. I've seen ads though where the horse was described as suitable for novices, I phoned up and explained my confidence issues (which was only with getting on, once on I was fine and I was working on it) to be told the horse isn't novice suitable. But the ad said it was? And I'd kind of expect a horse suitable for novices to be good for someone with confidence issues.

But I guess they just didn't want to sell to me in case I ruined it. Could understand that I guess.
 
To me not a novice ride means you need to already know how to ride confidently and not be learning basics still. Both my horses I would describe as not novice rides. They are not mental or horrid at all and they are fine for someone who can ride, but for someone very novicey, one would take advantage and the other would get upset or confused lol. A novice suitable horse would know what its doing and not be put off by its rider or take the p out of them imo.
 
huskydamage said:
To me not a novice ride means you need to already know how to ride confidently and not be learning basics still. Both my horses I would describe as not novice rides. They are not mental or horrid at all and they are fine for someone who can ride, but for someone very novicey, one would take advantage and the other would get upset or confused lol. A novice suitable horse would know what its doing and not be put off by its rider or take the p out of them imo.
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I would say exactly this, I have an amazing horse that I would describe as 'not a novice ride' she is awesome for me and other experienced riders, she has done well eventing and dressage and yet I can hack anywhere I like but is far too sensitive and sharp for a more novice riders and I have let friends ride her before that have come unstuck very quickly.
This doesn't mean she doesn't have manners nor does it mean I'm scared of her she is simply too much if you aren't capable of sitting quietly and using quiet aids. I think if she went to the wrong person she could quickly turn into quite a dangerous ride as could so many sharp competition horses.
The same as a Ferrari wouldn't suit a new driver, buy the engine you can cope with until you are ready.
 
If I was advertising my horse 6 months ago I would have advertised him as "Not a novice ride" because he could be really cheeky and take the mick but even if I was to sell him now, I would advertise him exactly the same as although he no longer takes the mick, he gets confused if he doesn't know what you're asking - I guess this is exactly what huskydamage has said above!
 
If I were to describe Nero I’d say he was not a novice ride, but he is an absolute saint. Novices have rode him, and even my mum bareback! But he is sensitive to your balance and aids, tries to do what he thinks your asking, in other words doesn’t let you away with clumsy mistakes! He wouldn’t do anything bad, just stop, or not trot, or get quicker!
 
huskydamage said:
To me not a novice ride means you need to already know how to ride confidently and not be learning basics still. Both my horses I would describe as not novice rides. They are not mental or horrid at all and they are fine for someone who can ride, but for someone very novicey, one would take advantage and the other would get upset or confused lol. A novice suitable horse would know what its doing and not be put off by its rider or take the p out of them imo.
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This is the best description I've seen and is how i use the phrase. But I guess some people use it to mean quirky or nuts or very green so it's a very vague term.
 
There have been lots of posts on here asking "what is a novice rider?" It's a term that means a lot of different things and "not a novice ride" comes into the same category IMO. I'd prefer to describe the horse accurately and then use a phone conversation to check the potential owner out. The one thing I'd never have thought it meant was that it's owner was a rubbish rider. a friend has a lovely well schooled horse for sale which I guess is "not a novice ride" The mare pops round a decent SJ course, does a good medium test scoring well and is pretty straightforward XC, not strong or silly but if the rider is tight or unbalanced, she just won't put up with it, she'll tighten her back and put in a small buck and if the rider is nervous tbh she'll take advantage. I hack out with her and she's great in traffic etc. My friend is struggling to sell her (she's completely overstocked) but is completely honest and won't sell her if she thinks the rider isn't suitable.
 
huskydamage said:
To me not a novice ride means you need to already know how to ride confidently and not be learning basics still. Both my horses I would describe as not novice rides. They are not mental or horrid at all and they are fine for someone who can ride, but for someone very novicey, one would take advantage and the other would get upset or confused lol. A novice suitable horse would know what its doing and not be put off by its rider or take the p out of them imo.
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This!
 
I've given up putting 'Not a novice ride' for my horse as people seem to have a habit of over-estimating their ability. I'm more specific now and say 'Needs a quiet rider'.

I had someone come the other week - described herself as very experienced and balanced, really bigged herself up. She got on and within five minutes my horse had taken off with her as she was so bouncy (could barely rise to his trot!) she scared the bejeezus out of him.
 
SA, what a shame, I hope that your horse soon settles again.

There was a thread on here a while back about whether, as a potential purchaser, you would be offended if the vendor first assessed you on a schoolmaster before letting you ride the sale horse, if it was a sensitive type. I had no problem with this, but plenty of folk were horrified at the prospect.

In fact, just this happened to me when I went down to HHO's Janet George's Indigo stud. She has a longstanding homebred member of staff who JG sometimes uses to assess potential purchasers. I was more than happy to have a ride on this mare first so that JG could get the measure of me :).
 
I would let a confident novice hack either of my two horses in a quiet walk but if i wanted them actually ridden (and not just sitting quietly as passenger) I would describe them as 'not a novice' ride. The term certainly doesnt mean anything bad to me it just means they are 'proper' horses that need proper riders (i.e someone who can ride) and I wouldnt want some novice doing more harm than good.
 
Tiddlypom said:
SA, what a shame, I hope that your horse soon settles again.

There was a thread on here a while back about whether, as a potential purchaser, you would be offended if the vendor first assessed you on a schoolmaster before letting you ride the sale horse, if it was a sensitive type. I had no problem with this, but plenty of folk were horrified at the prospect.
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Thank you :) I'm not a prude about letting people ride him and am generally of the opinion that he needs to get used to as many types of rider as possible, but I really did feel for him - you could see he was trying so hard to keep it together but in the end he had had enough (and I didn't blame him tbh!).
 
It sadly covers such a wide array of types / issues / problems etc. Id describe mine as not a novice ride yet she's extremely safe (never bucked, napped, reared etc.), hacks beautifully, jumps anything and is an absolute dream to handle and do in all ways. However she is sensitive to ride in that if you dont ride her a certain way then she can go like a giraffe if you're anxious yourself and you never need to kick her as she's naturally forward going. I always think of novices as someone who might get on and give the horse a bit of a kick to get going etc. which my mare would hate and if you were rough with her or just confused her then she could get ruined pretty quick. Yet "not novice ride" can be an absolute nutter! If I were you, Id simply ask on the phone what they mean by not novice ride.

Ive tried to sell my mare a few times but always given up really quickly and taken her off the market again as even experienced riders seem to expect any horse to go they way they ride, they refuse to adapt their way of riding to the individual horse sadly :(
 
A novice ride is a horse that is exstremely safe in my books maybe a bit ‘kickalong’ And behind the leg etc... but being talented does not stop a horse being a novice ride, my last Grand Prix dressage horse was definitely a novice ride ... I could (and did) put literally anyone from toddlers to my very beginnery brother in law on him and he just rolled his eyes and plodded round... for me he went well and did all the party tricks when *insert famous dressage rider name* got on him it was like watching another horse again... can you tell I really miss him 😢
 
my loan horse is fab,she is safe but i would say she is not a novice ride especially in the winter when she is clipped. she doesnt do anything major but can be a little bit spooky and is VERY forward going, if someone gave her a kick she would be galloping off with them and if they yanked the reins she would go faster. for a reasonable rider she is an angel but she is a sensitive soul and needs to be treated gently, before i got her my confidence had got quite low as my previous mare was a nutter and very unpredictable,*not a novice ride!!!). within a couple of weeks of riding my loan horse i was back to my usual confident self.and was happy to hack out alone again....
 
It's such a tricky term as it means different things to different people. Horses can also appear quiet and easy with a certain rider on their backs but not others, even if they have roughly the same ability. A friend bought a pony for her novicey child a year back. He's adorable and certainly not badly behaved but her child is quite nervous and holds on to him, which in turn makes him anxious and joggy and hey presto, a vicious circle. The old owner's also novicey child wasn't nervous and although she didn't ride brilliantly was happy to go with him so he never displayed this anxiety with her and doesn't with other confident novices. My friend is now selling him as not-a-novice-ride, second pony which is probably the safest option but in truth he could be as he's not bothered by a kid bouncing about on his back or giving him the odd accidental sock in the teeth while jumping, he's just a bit sensitive and picks up on the rider's anxiety. I'm sure it's putting people off him though as she's not had much interest. People obviously think he's the nutter that some of you interpret "not novice ride" to be.
 
I would say my mare was “not a novice ride”. She’s super easy and safe (now that she’s well again) but she’s responsive and forward and only 5. She wouldn’t take well to an unbalanced novice rider on her and she has such good manners that I wouldn’t want anyone to let her take the mick
 
If I had to sell my saint of a pony I would describe her as not a novice ride as I couldn’t bare the thought of her being pulled about and all that willingness being stifled .
 
hackedoff said:
If I had to sell my saint of a pony I would describe her as not a novice ride as I couldn’t bare the thought of her being pulled about and all that willingness being stifled .
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I would do this with my horse even though he has been ridden by novices and isn't bad at all with them. He's like a riding school horse to be honest, he was actually used in one for a little while as a 6 year old so that makes sense. He was difficult when in pain but what horse wouldn't be? Now he's not in pain he's dead easy again.
 
That's a good question! I think a lot of sellers just add that to the advert to protect their horse from any bad habits a more novice rider may have i.e. heavy hands, lively seat. I would certainly describe my ex-racer as not a novice ride, he is not naughty in any way and will do anything to please anyone but he is forward going, responsive to the leg and takes a lot from his rider. I would happily lead someone round on him who is learning to ride but I would not sell him to someone who was classed as a "novice"
 
So it seems that ‘not a novice ride’ doesn’t mean that it means more ‘not for novice riders’... which is subtley different - I’m sure in my youth it just meant ‘nutter’
 
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