Dangerous horses at riding school

hazel25

hazel25

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Hi all. Would like any thoughts/opinions on horses at riding schools. Recently visited a RS that I went to briefly when I was starting riding as friends suggested having a group lesson together. My friends are still fairly novice riders and one is quite a nervous rider. Everything was fine at the beginning but when we got into the cantering, one horse started bucking and threw my friend off. Talked to them afterwards and they told me it was quite commonplace at the RS for kids to get bucked or reared with and falling off.

IMO horses at a RS should be safe - stubborn or slightly tricky is fine, but they shouldn't be throwing people off?

Looked like quite a sour horse to me as well. Apparently some of the horses there go in the school for 5-6 lessons a day, including jumping (they said horses might be jumped over 3 times a week as well, which is wrong IMO.) and no hacking either. I feel as though this is a welfare issue as well for the horses.

Should I report this? Can I report this? I don't think the RS is BHS approved either. Any opinions or ideas would be appreciated.
 
hazel25 said:
Hi all. Would like any thoughts/opinions on horses at riding schools. Recently visited a RS that I went to briefly when I was starting riding as friends suggested having a group lesson together. My friends are still fairly novice riders and one is quite a nervous rider. Everything was fine at the beginning but when we got into the cantering, one horse started bucking and threw my friend off. Talked to them afterwards and they told me it was quite commonplace at the RS for kids to get bucked or reared with and falling off.

IMO horses at a RS should be safe - stubborn or slightly tricky is fine, but they shouldn't be throwing people off?

Looked like quite a sour horse to me as well. Apparently some of the horses there go in the school for 5-6 lessons a day, including jumping (they said horses might be jumped over 3 times a week as well, which is wrong IMO.) and no hacking either. I feel as though this is a welfare issue as well for the horses.

Should I report this? Can I report this? I don't think the RS is BHS approved either. Any opinions or ideas would be appreciated.
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How much riding have you done Hazel? Surely you would have checked to make sure the R/S was licensed and suitable before booking a lesson? People fall off for all sorts of reasons but l agree horses which ‘throw people off’ MAY have a reason for doing so not necessarily the horses fault.
 
gallopingby said:
How much riding have you done Hazel? Surely you would have checked to make sure the R/S was licensed and suitable before booking a lesson? People fall off for all sorts of reasons but l agree horses which ‘throw people off’ MAY have a reason for doing so not necessarily the horses fault.
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Hi - have done a fair bit of riding and currently have a share. I did move RS due to moving houses several years ago. Didn't really know anything when I was taking lessons at the aforementioned RS and was only there for 2 months, 1-2 lessons a week. I didn't really think to check license etc. before attending the lesson recently with my friends which was stupid of me but I believe they did change owners last year.
 
This may give some background. https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...sing-statutory-guidance-for-local-authorities

You could contact your local authority, who will (should) have inspected the RS for its licence. BHS approval is a separate thing. What you describe sounds less than ideal but obviously hard to say more without seeing things in the flesh. Probably a good idea to find an establishment that better fits your/your friends' needs, though.
 
Burnttoast said:
This may give some background. https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...sing-statutory-guidance-for-local-authorities

You could contact your local authority, who will (should) have inspected the RS for its licence. BHS approval is a separate thing. What you describe sounds less than ideal but obviously hard to say more without seeing things in the flesh. Probably a good idea to find an establishment that better fits your/your friends' needs, though.
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Definitely check this. If the place isn't licenced you can report it.
 
SEL said:
that will be the council licence.

The link has already been posted above but if you are concerned then the council is a good starting point.
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Agreed.

However, if they are anything like the adjacent borough council, then you'd be wise to mention safeguarding in the 1st instance, rather than riders getting dumped.
There is one (Locally notorious) that is council licenced and unless they spend shed loads, get qualified coaches etc etc they will never be anything like an ABRS or BHS approved establishment.
How they ever get/retain their council licence is a thing of great mystery.
 
The Fuzzy Furry said:
Agreed.

However, if they are anything like the adjacent borough council, then you'd be wise to mention safeguarding in the 1st instance, rather than riders getting dumped.
There is one (Locally notorious) that is council licenced and unless they spend shed loads, get qualified coaches etc etc they will never be anything like an ABRS or BHS approved establishment.
How they ever get/retain their council licence is a thing of great mystery.
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They will retain their licence at a low star rating subject to meeting all the minimum standards as required by the DEFRA legislation 2018. it is up to the public to decide if they want to use a minimum standard rated riding school. On a plus point, DEFRA have recently deemed that riding schools and other animal activity licence holders, cannot remain at one star rating for more than one trading year. This will weed out poor practice.

Answering the original question, if the rider or the guardian of the rider has a safety concern in respect of the riding school they attended and had a fall at, they need to contact the licensing authority and make a formal complaint, evidencing why they consider the horse to be dangerous. The licensing officer can then investigate their claims. This will include looking at the accident book to see if there is a pattern of falls from the horse in question or a pattern of falls under a specific instructor. Horse health record can be viewed and work load records plus a tack check. Some lower level schools can be a little suspect on saddle fitting.

Riding school accident books will be full of 'went round corner and toppled off' reports, it is very rare for riding school ponies/horses to be broncing their riders off. The schools simply cannot afford or risk that level of behaviour.
 
This smacks to me of a pain issue somewhere.

Horses do not do this kind of thing for fun or to be "naughty", they do it because of pain, pure and simple.

If this was my horse I'd be getting back-checks, saddle checked, and teeth checked.

A few years ago now I bought a horse which I was told "bolted". She'd been with RDA, but they'd basically kicked her out because she'd allegedly "bolted" with someone with whom she'd been put on summer loan with. I liked her, so bought her (had to sign a disclaimer). Got her home and tried to mount her, she moved immediately away from the mounting block. So I got my back lady out, who immediately found significant pain around her sacroiliac area. After treatment, and rest, she came good and there was no repetition of the behaviour.

It is a tough life for RS horses; every uneven & novice rider banging around on their backs and janging at their mouths; coupled with repetition & boredom, and everyone kicking at them to the extent that they become brain-dead.
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
This smacks to me of a pain issue somewhere.

Horses do not do this kind of thing for fun or to be "naughty", they do it because of pain, pure and simple.
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RShorses are the exception to this rule. Sometimes they are just fed up with the life,sometimes they get no turnout and are hot and sharp. They are about the only horses I can think of where physical pain wouldn't always be my first thought.
 
I bought my old horse from a riding school around 20 years ago. He was worked hard in the RS - I believe up to 4 lessons a day at weekends. He had started bucking so they could not keep him as he was deemed to be dangerous. RS manager and a vet thought he was totally fed up of being there. He was sold to me as a known bucker. I later was told that two people had come off him and ended in hospital with broken bones.
I think if I was aware of issues with a RS pony then I would be very wary. A decent school will take good care of their animals as their income and reputation depend on them.

In the case of my pony subsequent investigations showed he had kissing spines but by the time this was fully diagnosed the bones had fused. After spinal injections, and a Tildren infusion he was much happier and with vet approval he came back into low level ridden work and carried me safely for hacking and TREC until his late 20s and lived out with his herd until his early 30s. I think he realised that he had landed on his hooves and cantered up to me every day until he passed away.
 
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