Can anyone please clarify

[Princess16]

The difference between a beginner and novice rider? Not quite sure what the difference is?

 

[iaej]

A beginner has very little/no experience riding; i.e. probably can't rise to the trot. Personally, I think a novice can rise/sit to the trot, canter and maybe do a little jumping although some people may say this is intermediate.

 

[EQUIDAE]

I would class a beginner as someone not yest established in all paces and a novice someone who is established in all paces but as is yet a passenger rather than a rider.

 

[littletrotter]

When i did my initial assessment at my current RS (i am just having lessons, don't own or loan anything for myself) i was pondering this as they had "Beginner/Novice?intermediate/Advanced" on the form and you had to circle one! I went for "Novice" after umming and aahing. The lesson i am in has walk, trot, canter and small jumps in little courses of 2 or 3 at a time. When i was 16 i was riding a little mare who kicked, bolted and was very difficult, but also could (and did) jump 100cm from a standstill, and was careful with her feet and fast in a pinch. What was i back then? What am i now? That little mare wasn't the most difficult i rode either. I had poor parents and generally ended up riding ponies other kids were scared of.

Anyway i went with "novice" and i was so rusty and weak, and so unused to the big cobs the RS put me on (i'm much heavier than i was at 16 after 3 kids!) that it was definitely for the best. I think when i was 16 i'd have overstated my abilities, now i'm older i know how much i don't know! I doubt i'll ever progress beyond "novice" and i'm okay with that.

 

[Shay]

It is so subjective! I expect every RS applies a slightly different variation. A beginner is probably fairly clear. But the separation between novice / intermediate / advanced depends really on what the RS is used to catering to. It is always wiser to understate experience than over state though!

My daughter has her BHS stage 2 (is 16 - can't do her stage 3 until 17), competes BS, BE and PC, has ridden for well over 10 years and owned a string of competition ponies over that time (well - I suppose I owned them - but you get the point...) and hunts regularly. Last summer she had a couple of lessons on a grand prix dressage horse and was classed intermediate. (Fair enough - dressage not a favourite..) But two weeks later did a fantastic course in trick riding where she was classed advanced.

Horses for courses I think!

 

[applecart14]

It is so subjective! I expect every RS applies a slightly different variation. A beginner is probably fairly clear. But the separation between novice / intermediate / advanced depends really on what the RS is used to catering to. It is always wiser to understate experience than over state though!

My daughter has her BHS stage 2 (is 16 - can't do her stage 3 until 17), competes BS, BE and PC, has ridden for well over 10 years and owned a string of competition ponies over that time (well - I suppose I owned them - but you get the point...) and hunts regularly. Last summer she had a couple of lessons on a grand prix dressage horse and was classed intermediate. (Fair enough - dressage not a favourite..) But two weeks later did a fantastic course in trick riding where she was classed advanced.

Horses for courses I think!

Same word but has countless different meanings. I.e British Novice, Novice dresage test. Both of which I would say are for the likes of intermediate riders rather than novice. Novice to me means someone who has no competition experience, but has the ability to walk, trot, canter and jump small fences. Beginner level would be someone who is new to riding.

 

[Abi90]

Riding schools I have filled out forms for generally have had the below:

beginner - no experience
Novice - walk/trot/canter
Intermediate - walk/trot/canter jump up to 2 feet
Advanced intermediate - walk/trot/canter/gallop jump up to 80 cm.
Advanced - as above but jump up to 1m

But then riding school categories don't really apply to outside riding schools. I fit into the advanced category in a riding school but would place myself more in the intermediate level on my own horse in the competition world, mainly due to experience and that as I've got older I'm not as brave!

 

[littletrotter]

See I would have fit into Advanced as a teenager by those RS standards, BUT only on the horses I rode. It all so depends on the horses as well as the rider - for example the horses I rode in younger days I could jump on and easily do walk-canter transitions because they were very responsive to the seat and leg. The RS horse I ride is a sweetie but he is nowhere near as responsive and I'm not as strong and walk-canter always seems to have two or three strides of battering trot in the middle! But when I think of most non-RS horses I've ridden, they'd be pretty upset by the amount of leg I use on the RS horses.

And yes, I am too scaredy to be jumping huge jumps for fun nowadays. My stomach actually churns thinking about the stuff I did back then.

 

[EQUIDAE]

Same word but has countless different meanings. I.e British Novice, Novice dresage test. Both of which I would say are for the likes of intermediate riders rather than novice. Novice to me means someone who has no competition experience, but has the ability to walk, trot, canter and jump small fences. Beginner level would be someone who is new to riding.

It used to be just this - novice was the lowest class. They have introduced lower classed over the years to make competition more accessible

 

[Tnavas]

Beginner to me (an ex riding school owner) is someone who has little or no experience riding. A Novice a rider who can walk, trot, canter and jump a small single jump on a kindly well mannered horse. Intermediate I'd consider to be someone who is capable of jumping a small course of jumps in good style and have a reasonable steady seat on the flat, capable of working without stirrups and maintaining their balance.

I would suggest that you put yourself in the Intermediate level - but rusty and out of condition. You may actually find that the Novice lesson is fine while you re find your riding muscles. Once your lesson content becomes uninspiring then ask to move up a level

 

[Natch]

It's all so subjective. If you can, get an assessment lesson and the instructor can tell you.