Debate for you - How does a novice progress

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Tufty

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OK Lets have your views on this.

Novice rider - been riding for about a year. Nice little position, could do with heels down a bit more and being a bit more established in the saddle. Rides most days has own horse on a livery yard and has regular lessons 1/2 per week. Rides in a outdoor menage, occasional hack, horse is a sensiblish 5/6 year old. Yard owner very much in control of the situation and very safety concious so therefore rider and horse are never being tested or put in the big bad world. e.g no more than two horses to hack out together no canter work just walk and trot, jumping in the school very small fences - is this truly going to make this girl a reasonable rider or do you think that she should be experiencing more stuff .

RIGHT OFF YOU GO !
 
if the yo is cortrolling what people do with their horses i would move,you need to be able to do things like canter out on hacks,what happens if horses bolt & they have never cantered outside.

lessons with different instructors & join a riding club
 
Tricky one if horse was older I might be tempted to say yes go join RC and canter out on hacks. But horse could well hit a stroppy stage at this age so I'd be nervous of it.

To be honest I quite approve of the make it safe and make it boring technique yes it takes longer to progress but once an acciddent is happened and confidence is gone it takes so long to get it back if ever at all.

Suppose I'd be going for cantering in the school with other horses then perhaps canter out on hack with one sensible horse and rider as escort and then perhaps some know well organised low key not busy shows.
 
Is there scope for this rider to have a different instructor and sole use of the school for the lesson? The YO does seem unreasonably controlling! Or the option to box or hack the horse to another venue for lessons? How will she ever cope with a fun ride, for example, when there can be dozens of horses around, or a show?

At the end of the day, the client is the paying customer, the YO sets the rules. If the client doesn't like the set up, and it cannot be changed by mutual agreement, she might be better taking her money elsewhere...this is all with the proviso that the client actually wants to progress. there are some who will happily plod and hack for their entire lives and it is not for us to make a judgement on that.
 
For someone who's only been riding a year I think this set up is ok. I think the most effective way for this rider to improve is to ride lots of different horses even if it means going for lessons elsewhere occasionally...

Also I don't think a 5/6 year old is suitable for a novice rider unless they're having a fair amount of outside assistance as I think they still have quite a bit of learning to do at this age.
 
I don't think thats unreasonable for someone that has only been riding for a year, especially with a horse that is only 5 or 6!! Its reasonable as long as this is a temporary thing, and maybe in 6 months then they'll be allowed to canter on hacks, jump a bit more etc. But if those rules are there forever, then no way!
 
I think the most important and the only thing that matters here is if the owner of the horse is happy with this arrangement!

If she is happy to be doing what she is doing and feels her confidence is growing this way then thats fine, if she wants to do more then she should do more.

I dont believe people should be doing certain things at a certain time and everyone is different.
 
I agree with Alibabe that once confidence is lost, its difficult to regain. The arrangement sounds very good to me. Afterall, the YO can't really control what liveries do with their own horses. If this livery is happy going along with this guidance whilst she is establishing her seat and improving (she is afterall having lessons and jumping small jumps), that will keep her self. Eventually, she will be gagging to do a bit more, will push her boundaries and learn at a safe rate. If she feels too constrained in the end she will move, but she will have developed in a safe enviroment up to then.

I have been riding 5 years, I did far too much to soon, had a number of nasty accidents and as a consequence, I still have big issues with canter and can become nervious quickly if my horse is feeling a bit bright
frown.gif
I know plenty of others who have had similar experiences and have either given-up or seriously limited what they do. Better slowly and safely than it going pear shaped!
 
I would suggest that a yard move might be in order or a change of where you hack. I am assumeing that you cannot canter on a hack as it is private land??? (otherwise I think it sounds very unreasonable)

I have been riding for 18month, had Bert for 12 of them and can honestly say I have learnt more in those 12 months than the 6 months of lessons and occasional walk out. That is not to say that I dont still class myself as novice but I feel that dealing with Bert out and about cantering,galloping in traffic has done more for my ability to control a situation than all the lessons did.
 
will try and answer the points raised

Hunting - I think both the horse and her would be terrified !

Yes she has access to transport so I think that is a good idea if she went off the yard for the odd lesson

fun rides - same as the hunting dont think she or the horse would cope

frustrated - yes she is a bit hence the post , she asked my advice and I was totally torn because on the one hand slowly slowly is the safest route, but then experiencing different situations sometimes gives you lessons also.

I found this very difficult to answer that is why I past it to all you wise and wonderful horse people. Its just interesting to get everyones point of view.
 
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will try and answer the points raised

Hunting - I think both the horse and her would be terrified !


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You could do with someone else taking the horse to make sure it's ok to start with.

Would she still be terrified if she knew the horse was sound (if it was) and with a group of friends to potter behind?
 
If she is starting to feel frustrated then she should be allowed to take things a bit further. I agree with taking things slowly rather than plunging them in at the deep end, but they do need to be allowed to progress
 
Has your friend actually said to the YO that she would like to do more? I can understand the YO trying to keep the situation safe - she is probably trying to keep the confidence (and the enjoyment). I would encourage your friend to talk with the YO and say she is ready to be stretched more, and would like to try new things. She may be telling the YO that everything is fine when she wants more, so how is the YO to know!
 
good idea about someone else hunting the horse first will suggest that to her.

will relay all of your points to her and then she can talk to the YO and take it from there


Thanks everyone great response
 
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