Do good horses really make good riders?

[1pebbs1]

Do good horses make good riders, OR do good riders make good horses, or both?!

The reason is that I have heard top trainers use both terms, and I was wondering which one you think is 'more' correct. I think most people can sit on a wonder horse and make it look ok, but that doesn't make them a good rider necessarily. On the other side, how many people can sit on an awkward horse and make it go nicely? (Carl Hester!?) I'd personally say that someone who can do that is a good rider. hmmm...

What do you think?

 

[dieseldog]

I think a good horse that you can trust helps so much and will make a not so good rider (me) a lot more confident and therefore better.

 

[lucretia]

a good rider can turn a bad horse good or a bad rider can turn a good horse bad but it is gerallly easier to ride a good one so perhaps its more fair to say good horses/riders make better horses/riders/

 

[Honeypots]

I think good horses can make good riders. I think its very helpful to be able to ride a good horse in order to know what to expect of perhaps a not so good horse

 

[virtual]

Surely you need a mixture of both to be an allround good rider. Riding not so easy ones will teach you how to problem solve, and deal with issues you wouldn't get with a ready made horse, but it can also knock your confidence and you won't be able to do more advanced work. It's good to get on an established horse sometimes though, they throw up different challenges and let you know what you're aiming for with the less established ones.

 

[minesadouble]

Agree with Virtual in that you need to ride good and tricky horses to be a good rider. I think one really good pony when you are starting out can make you. My daughter was a cautious rider at 12 after having 13.2 S.P. who gave her a couple of frights (nothing too terrible but he was a sly little fox who would quickly take advantage of a situation if she was dithering).
We then got her a 13.2 who was an absolute star - nothing to look at, had mainly hunted, could only canter on the one leg but would jump anything off any stride you literally just point him and he goes- and he was the making of her.
She worked on his flatwork and did County level open Workers, S.Jd him up to 1m, and X-countried him - this was all within 3 months of getting him prior to which she had never jumped a stick.
She then went from him to a 14.2 B.S.J.A. pony who is a notoriously difficult ride and she manages her really well - the confidence to ride the difficult pony all came from her super little bay pony!A respected Trainer said every child who rides deserves a pony like him just once in their lives.I know my post relates to a child but I firmly believe the same is true for adults.
B.T.W. We still have the little bay pony I have pinched him for myself!

 

[mat]

Maybe good horses make good riders (with the right support and training) but not neccesarily good horsemen (or women).