Jenna500
Well-Known Member
Could do with a bit of advice please, and apologies as its gonna be long!
Last year, I had a 14 year old girl and her Mum come to me and ask if she could come and make a fuss of my horses sometimes. I said yes, and shed come down when I was there, cuddle them, groom them, and all was fine. She did have a tendency to go on and on about the horses shed ridden, that shed jumped bareback or galloped along the beach, but things didnt ring true, somehow.
Anyway, after a while she angled to ride. I had been looking for someone to help me out, and although I didnt believe all the stuff she said, I thought Id give her the benefit of the doubt. With her Mums approval, I popped her on Lui, whos 16.3 but as bombproof as they come and I can control him with my voice on the lunge if she had any problems.
Well, she nearly fell off in walk. Luis got bouncy paces, but not that bouncy! I got her off straight away and told her she shouldnt lie about her experience as it was very dangerous. I told her Mum that she needed lessons on a riding school horse.
They went away, came back a few days later, and asked how much Id charge to give her lessons. I told them that a) Im not an instructor, b) I dont have insurance to be an instructor, and c) my horses are not riding school horses.
They went away. Came back and asked how much the insurance was as theyd pay for it. I lost my rag a bit, told them in no uncertain terms that she was not riding my horses, that she needed PROPER LESSONS on a RIDING SCHOOL HORSE.
They went away. Came back and asked how much Id charge to keep a horse with mine, as someone was selling foals for £100 and they were thinking of getting their daughter one. I managed to put them off that idea, but youre getting the gist.
Ive seen them a few times over the past few months, they live near my field and pop down when they see me there. Daughter has been having lessons at a riding school good for her and theyd always tell me how well she was doing, that shed started cantering, etc.
Anyway, and on to the dilemma .... Ive just had two text messages and two phone calls from the mother, asking when Im going to be riding next as daughter wants to show me what shes learnt.
How do I tell them, without being incredibly rude (because they dont seem to get simple straight talking) that 3 or 4 months of lessons does not a rider make. Lui is very well behaved, yes, but hes also highly trained and if you give him the wrong signals youre likely to get something you didnt anticipate, if you know what I mean!
The other option is to do what I did before, and stick her on Lui on the lunge and prove to her that shes still not a rider, but then I dont want to upset him or for her to fall off!
Oh, and none of my other horses are suitable for her shes too heavy for my welshie, my anglo arab still has issues were working through, and the rest are unbacked youngsters.
Big hot choccy and bacon buttie for anyone whos got this far without falling asleep or loosing the will to live!
Last year, I had a 14 year old girl and her Mum come to me and ask if she could come and make a fuss of my horses sometimes. I said yes, and shed come down when I was there, cuddle them, groom them, and all was fine. She did have a tendency to go on and on about the horses shed ridden, that shed jumped bareback or galloped along the beach, but things didnt ring true, somehow.
Anyway, after a while she angled to ride. I had been looking for someone to help me out, and although I didnt believe all the stuff she said, I thought Id give her the benefit of the doubt. With her Mums approval, I popped her on Lui, whos 16.3 but as bombproof as they come and I can control him with my voice on the lunge if she had any problems.
Well, she nearly fell off in walk. Luis got bouncy paces, but not that bouncy! I got her off straight away and told her she shouldnt lie about her experience as it was very dangerous. I told her Mum that she needed lessons on a riding school horse.
They went away, came back a few days later, and asked how much Id charge to give her lessons. I told them that a) Im not an instructor, b) I dont have insurance to be an instructor, and c) my horses are not riding school horses.
They went away. Came back and asked how much the insurance was as theyd pay for it. I lost my rag a bit, told them in no uncertain terms that she was not riding my horses, that she needed PROPER LESSONS on a RIDING SCHOOL HORSE.
They went away. Came back and asked how much Id charge to keep a horse with mine, as someone was selling foals for £100 and they were thinking of getting their daughter one. I managed to put them off that idea, but youre getting the gist.
Ive seen them a few times over the past few months, they live near my field and pop down when they see me there. Daughter has been having lessons at a riding school good for her and theyd always tell me how well she was doing, that shed started cantering, etc.
Anyway, and on to the dilemma .... Ive just had two text messages and two phone calls from the mother, asking when Im going to be riding next as daughter wants to show me what shes learnt.
How do I tell them, without being incredibly rude (because they dont seem to get simple straight talking) that 3 or 4 months of lessons does not a rider make. Lui is very well behaved, yes, but hes also highly trained and if you give him the wrong signals youre likely to get something you didnt anticipate, if you know what I mean!
The other option is to do what I did before, and stick her on Lui on the lunge and prove to her that shes still not a rider, but then I dont want to upset him or for her to fall off!
Oh, and none of my other horses are suitable for her shes too heavy for my welshie, my anglo arab still has issues were working through, and the rest are unbacked youngsters.
Big hot choccy and bacon buttie for anyone whos got this far without falling asleep or loosing the will to live!
) and asking if they can just come and see the horses. Er, no! You don't ram on people's doors and ask to see their dogs so why think it's OK to do it for horses? One woman got really snappy with me yesterday and said 'I was let on last week'-well, touch luck, love, that wasn't me and if I find out who is letting strangers on to the yard, I will kill them! You wanna play with the horsies? GO find a ruddy petting farm!