Difference between riding school horses and privately owned

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Both my horses are ex riding school. I wouldnt class either as novice rides, not because they are sharp especially, but because they are both extremely good at sussing out people, and will refuse point blank to work. I think thats probably normal... why work hard for 4 or 5 hours aday if you can avoid it ?

I've had 2 ex-RS mares and they have been exactly like this.
They both started out by trying every evasion in the book whilst remaining as safe as houses - both absolutely bombproof - but gradually learned that they did not need to do this with us. They learned to appreciate the opportunity to go for a nice, interesting hack, that we do our schooling in a field, that you are expected to do as asked but not to go round and round in endless circles/squares doing the same thing over and over, whilst guessing what the rider actually means.
I was looking at a video of the current ex-RS mare the other day, taken when we hadn't had her long. The difference in her is amazing in just 12 months.

 

[justforfun]

In a way I LOVED the riding school horses, they gave me the 'fix' to want to ride, made it seam easy to 'do things'


So I went out and bought a horse , OMG what a difference, I nearly died.


BUT It made me realise how 'different' riding school horses are, for a moment I was put off a 'normal' horse, but after the riding schoolhorses, i fouynd a new found confidence to 'KICKON'

5 yrs down the line and I now have 2 horses

 

[RainbowDash]

Depends on the RS I suppose? And the horses/ponies they have?

I came back into riding after 20 yrs out and found a good local school - took 4 refresher lessons on the same horse - he was lazy first lesson and went to fairly responsive by the last one - instructor saying it was due to my improvement.

With this confidence went out and brought my own pony - the difference was amazing - going from a horse that seemed bored to a responsive pony.

A few months later I rode the RS horse again on a solo hack - I rode him the same way I rode my new fella and the RS horse was brilliant, responsive, willing, really perky and we had a great gallop. - no one believes me though as he's thought to be the slowest plod on the yard

 

[natalia]

I think anyone who is only used to riding school horses needs to explain to a seller on the phone they are looking for a good first horse type. Something fairly forgiving. We supply a number of riding schools in the south east and what often goes to the schools are fairly easy rides, the desensitization will come in time and from lots of different riders. Hence why most of my horses are ridden by a real mix of riders while here, as then they are a little less on the sharp side when sold. I always think a good RS will have some better horses also for the more experienced riders, access to something a bit more competition ready is brilliant for those up to it.

 

[merlin84]

It's not the horses - its the instructors! I feel very sore about one 'lady' I paid £20 a week to for about a year. At the time I knew no better but what I realised was I was paying her to say stuff like....

'now trot a twenty meter circle at A, push her on, ride her forwards, push her on, shorten your reins, push her on, go large, go to walk at A, pick up trot at C, canter at D, keep going, go the whole way round'. You get it?

You have Hit the Nail on the HEAD Billie! This is why I am feeling so frustrated- I have paid £25 a week for the past year to receive exactly the same- I am essentially paying someone to read out a dressage test to me!!!!!!!

 

[merlin84]

I once found a great RS with lovely forward horses, who were a pleasure to ride. As the weeks went on though, they became less and less forward. My favourite went from the type of horse you'd never dream of using a crop on, to one who needed a whack for every upward transition. I honestly believed it was my fault.

This is the thing- although a lot of you who are really skilled riders say that you can get a tune out of anything and if the horse doesn't respond, it is due to your faults as a rider (which I agree with), there does seem to be a consensus that many RS horses are harder to get going and less responsive.

The thing is, I am not yet a skilled rider so I can't just ride anything and get it to work for me and it can be very discouraging when you are reading about subtle weight shifts and then get to the RS and are told "kick him, now hit him he is not listening."

Personally and this may be just me, I have preferred riding privately owned horses who you have to be careful and subtle with and may have a bit of excess energy as I find it easier to do everything quietly.

 

[Destario]

I remember telling an intructor friend where I was training for a jumping exam about my nightmare horse to jump, as for years and years I had jumped ponies (being small) and horses were an altogether different thing to jump! He then booked me a lesson with him and picked me a horse which I had ridden flatwork on before and everyone else said jumped well if you didn't fall or he didn't do a dirty stop. Neither of these things fazed me because I am very difficult to unseat so I charged on into the lesson on the longest tallest narrowest beasty in the world, with a bad temper to match. and having struggled a little with his length when I had ridden him on flatwork (with an instructor I hated, but the intructor wasn't a choice) I was not looking forward to fidlding with striding. The instructor was very much more helpful especially as he had seen me ride for years and years and actually gave me tips on how it should feel and what to do when he was looking long. Also asking me what his canter felt like I responded with - it feels fast but I think he might be being lazy, but I'm not sure - and the most wonderful thing ever was the response - well I know Albert and he is being lazy, and backwards, but I understand where you're coming from as he has such a big stride, he can be more forward - Just what I needed, someone who knew the horse, knew me and then told me not what to do, but what he was seeing and I could fix it. I hate pushing horses out of their natural gait in SJ but on a horse you have never ridden before and don't know, how will you know his gait? RIs like that are great, and although I spent 45 minutes in a solid canter doing gridwork (yes no breaks from canter allowed) I felt good about the exam and the horse and the lesson in general. Somehting I think is sometimes an issue when using a RS horse - not feeling you managed to achieve anything in a lesson, to be told you did, or feel you did and have that confirmed is wonderful.

 

[FabioandFreddy]

Whilst we were recently horse hunting, i was quite shocked at the low standard of schooling at some of the privately owned horses we went to see, particularly as they had a good pricetag attached to them!

I sometimes go to a RS to have a jumping lesson as i think it does me good to go on a different horse every now and then. They have one horse who's really nice and responsive. He's in his late teens and is good fun to ride, not a plod. However, they have put me on one of theirs before where i worked harder in the lesson than she did. Made it clear i didn't want to be put on her again. It was a complete waste of a lesson and to be honest i'd rather have took my own out for a hack and saved myself the money! I think most RS will have a mix of horses, i think RS horses have to put up with a lot with the amount of different experienced riders they have, its no wonder some end up dead to the leg and unresponsive.

 

[LJN]

Before I bought my horse, I was having lessons at the yard I now keep him at. I was always amazed at how nicely the riding school ponies and horses went - It wasn't until I got my boy and started spending more time at the yard that I realised that all of the ponies are regularlly schooled by the instructors to make sure that they all still know how to go round corners, w,t,c etc etc.

On another note - One of the horses I rode was great fun, really forward going and had a great jump, but I couldn't practise shortening and lengthening canter strides like I could with some of the less forward going horses. Now I have my horse, he is certainly no slow-poke, but when I shorten him up I am using muscles and skills that I learnt on the slower ponies, not Zippy McSpeedy Bum

 

[Jazzy B]

Another one here sticking up for riding school horses, having worked on a very good one! Our ponies were very good at sussing people out we had some nice ponies that would be complete donkeys for a novice but if you stuck a decent rider on them they would play a good tune. As for doing 3/4 hours - that really is nothing for a horse! They were fit and their lives were very varied, they got to be groomed and loved, went on numerous hacks/picnic rides, clear round jumping, pony camps and shows and yes they had to go round and round in circles but least they didn't have the same boring rider on every time. I have actually ridden worse horses since leaving the riding school which are privately owned, dead to the leg, heavy on the hands all as a result of being ridden by one person.

 

[fjordhorsefan]

My friend has bought what we now suspect to be an ex-riding school pony - it knows every trick in the book to get out of work, and if someone gets on who is an experienced rider it starts bunny hopping and threatening to buck after trying all the other evasions (napping, throwing head on the floor, turning into the fence, refusing to move at all even if led). I'm sure we can work through it, as the pony is sweet natured, but she must have had a horrendous time previously! I have ridden some lovely RS ponies when I was young, but sadly I know a lot of them at the school I went to were put down after it was sold on because they had basically been worked to death. This was over 20 years ago though. I get other people to ride my horse regularly so that he doesn't get used to just me.