Do you let others ride your precious horse?

I positively enjoy watching others ride my horse as its nice to watch her way of going, if others ride her well or even better than me it makes me proud ( although slightly envious. )
Have let all sorts of riders sit on her from friends eventing and jumping at a reasonable level ( although she completely took the p out of one of them!) to my 3 year old niece who loves to sit on her on the lead rein have also attempted to teach very novice OH on her. I would nt let anyone pull her about or beat her but think it does her good to be used to different styles of riding.
 
Was that Bash?
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Agree that letting someone "not that good" ride your horse is not going to ruin him (apart from harsh hands) and won't mind people riding while I am there but I will only let a couple of people ride him when I wasn't there as he is a sensitive soul at heart. There are certain people I know who I would def. not let ride though.

I would also only let a couple of people jump him as he lacks confidence and he needs a lot of faith and trust from/in the rider.
 
I'd hate to have a horse no one else could ride - what would happen to them if something happened to you
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I won't let just anyone sit on my TBx as she has a killer buck and I don't want to get sued
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but I'm happy for others to ride her
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I agree with others who have said some people are far too precious about their horses. There's a difference between not allowing just anyone to ride, and assuming anyone but you would ruin your horse.

Although I don't currently have a horse, I've never had a problem with other people riding mine in the past, although I wouldn't have anyone riding Taz without my supervision because of his abuse issues in the past made him very senstive and worried about new riders. Any of my other horses, no problem with anyone riding them the odd time, and so long as they are reasonably competent, I've had people ride them without me there too.

If you ever have to sell a horse, you're a bit screwed if nobody else can ride it!
 
I have to say I only let people ride my boy whose riding I admire or like. This has resulted in a good friend of mine taking him on as she has had to sell her mare. This is beneficial to me in 2 ways - she has swapped it for lessons for me (good for me as I really want lessons) and he gets a really good rider schooling/hacking him (good for him as she is an AI). So I feel I win both ways.

I do think it is good for horses to have other people riding so they don't get used to just 1 rider. If you think about shows where a Judge may ride, I don't my horse going ballistic because there is a different rider on him.
 
No, I wish I could. It took six months until she'd let me ride her, let alone anyone else. Plus when she was away for re-hab, the guy who got her rideable-ish told me never to let anyone else ride her - partly because "she's got to feel safe with me" - and partly because she'd probably put them in hospital!
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I let loads of people ride him. I like it as sometimes people can pick up things you have missed or not addressed enough. Also if you have one horse you become obsessed about small things and forget the overall picture. I also think it does riders good to ride a well schooled horse as it brings there riding on. I do not expect people to ride my horse like crap and think actually they try harder because he is nice.

I cannot stand that 'oh my horse can only be ridden by me' crap.
 
Don't think it's fair to name names on here, but lets just say the day they saw me ride her, she was on one and although she went fantasicly, she was VERY sharp and had already had a good bronk on the lunge beforehand!

I like that about her though - she is happy to have a quiet plod round the farm, yet sparks up when you get in the school - quite the opposite of the boy, so it's really fun to have the variety.
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It's interesting how people have different views on this.

I've put my OH on Ty who, at the time, was a complete novice and Ty was great with him....just wondered around on the leadrein so didn't pull at his mouth etc.

I guess I don't worry about Ty as if he doesn't like someone, they find out quite quickly ;-)
 
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Yes - I have let a few people ride my boy and would happily let people ride my new girl. I think it is good for them, especially when they are young (5/6yrs).

Already tried to pursuade one of my friends to get on my new girl, but think she was a little scared! Will let more people on her when she is a little more established (only been backed 4 1/2 weeks at the mo).

I wouldn't let anyone with bad hands on them tho! Cant stand it when people saw a horse in the mouth to try and get it to tuck it's nose in.

I too think some people need to wake up and realize that if your training methods are that poor that someone could ruin your horse riding it for 1/2 hr (harsh hands excluded), then they need to look in the mirror to find the bad riding!

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I agree, I can't imagine anyone could do that much damage but perhaps it would be different if I had a youngster. I also would not let a saw-er ride either though.
 
Bruce only used to get ridden by me and Lauren (instructor)

He now gets ridden by me, Lauren and another girl, who rides brilliantly.

I would never let a novice, or for that matter any other livery on my yard, sit on him.
 
Yes, I would let other people ride Bodey. In fact a friend of TwigBen’s has been having lessons on him. I think it would take quite a lot to ruin Bodey now, the ground work has been well and truly done. Saying that if someone rode him and I thought they weren’t riding him to well (say really pulling or really unbalanced) then I would ask for them to get off. But I’m not precious about him.

We have even had someone who had never even sat on a horse before ride Badger.
 
I would love others to ride my horse, purely so I can actually see how he goes.... Problem is... no one will!!!!! Because he's very sharp and has in the past turned himself inside out, I can't get anyone else on him.

He's awsome now and I wouldn't change him for the world but most of the people at my yard are older and just too wary. It's fine, each to their own... but it would be nice if I could get someone else on him!!!
 
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no one else is brave enough to ride buster!
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SNAP! Maybe we should swap for the day?!!! How's he going anyway Buster? Got any more events coming up?
 
LOL I have the opposite problem to the OP - my question is should I allow MYSELF to ride my precious horse?!!!

My boy is not backed yet (4yo, busy with stud duties atm) but when he is, I will, without a shadow of doubt, be the worst rider ever to sit on him!

Of course one can't let just any old complete novice ride a very valuable or difficult horse - that would be stupid and possibly dangerous - but I do think people can get a bit too precious about this...and some do seem to have a rather inflated idea of their own abilities!

I will always be happy to allow good riders to ride my boy - in fact I will pay good professional riders to back, start, school and compete on him. The only rubbish rider allowed on him will be me! But I will only be doing a bit of hacking, so with any luck I won't ruin him...
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My horse is on working livery and I allow friend to ride him, he is an anyones ride type of horse though and loves it
 
i only let people who can ride to a half decent standard on our welsh as she is prone to taking the P big style. i dont think anyone else is actually mad enough to get on otto and i let anyone who wants a go sit on soph, she reacts accordingly,if they are muppets she plods around doing as little as she can get away with but works fine with someone competant and doesnt seem to mind who is on board. i think everyone at our old yard had a sit on her at some point and i get my friends daughter to come and jump her so she has a bit of fun along the way.
 
QR I doubt a short ride from a competent but less than world beater type rider would ruin most horses.
If I was lucky enough to have my own horse, I'd certainly allow competent friends to have a ride.
 
Yes.

Through word of mouth I have two people who ride my horse.
Both are completely different riders.
One is a young girl who is very novice but very quiet. He takes her for a ride more than the other way round. (He isn't young though, if he were young I wouldn't allow this to happen).
The other is an experienced horse rider who rides him really well and I know he gets worked when she rides.
It is hard letting go but this has actually turned out to be a wonderful thing. I haven't physically got the time to ride enough. When I do get on I generally get to do the Schooling, jumping and fun stuff. My friend does all the exercising out on the roads for me. I get to compete. My horse has a loyal fan club. How perfect is that?
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Here is some advice I would dish out from my experiences so far.

If you find someone, be straight from the beginning about your feelings and what you want from them.

Ask them what they want.

Don't expect too much from people. It isn't their horse they don't HAVE to do anything.

Get in to the habit of them letting you know what they did. By phone or note book.

If you find a good rider, look after them. I am lucky that my main person has become a good friend and we are totally straight with each other.

Remember you are as lucky to find a good rider as they are to ride your horse.
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I'm quite happy for a couple of other people to ride my 6 year old, but I think 3 is probably enough riders for him at the moment! I'm not particularly keen on jumping, but have a friend at livery with me who is a very competent event rider and just loves to jump, so she is delighted to be furthering his jumping career. I also have another girl who comes to hack him out once a week on his own, she's very calm and relaxed and is not bothered if he's tense or lively - he bucked me off a few weeks ago out hacking on my own and since then I've been a bit anxious which he picks up on, so for the moment it's better for him to be hacked out by someone relaxed. Both of them ride at least as well as, if not better, than me so it works well all round. I also think that horses are less likely to develop problems with one sidedness etc if not always ridden by the same person.
 
Only people who I think can ride, very wary having seen too many all hand no leg riders. It tends to be me, sister and one friend who is an instructor. It is likely to stay that way. My mare can be very sharp and spooky and I do not like to see her smacked in the gob. (sister does not rider her much as she does not like spooky lightweight horses. We choose very different types, so I don't often want to ride hers either!)
 
I like having other people ride my horse, he is so much fun to ride when behaving it seems a shame to keep him to myself. If he is working lovely in the school I will shout at my friend to get on and see how he feels! My other friend who is nervous jumping even gets on him and pops over jumps that she wouldn't normaly do as he will look after her and show her how fun it is (with me he turns more daredevil and would put most people off getting on). But he is very aware of who is on his back and will look after them (or not). My boyfriend has been on him down the byway and men being men think they know best marched off ahead at a nice walk, if I were on his back he would know it was time for a good canter. He is a saint with children to. Years sgo I advertsied him for half loan and a not so nice lady turned up very just eh, well she lasted 5 mins before he bronced her off, something he has never done - I had to laugh sorry, he just knew she was evil.

I show him so need him to not be phazed by other people riding him and he is always pretty good for the ride judge maybe just a bit 'exhuberant' but he thinks thats fun and showing them how fun he is.

This doesn't mean my horse means any less to me or is less precious becasue I let other people ride him, believe me he is my world! I think people just need to get on with things a bit more and stop putting their insecurities onto their horses. As long as you pick some one you trust and know how they ride then just go for it. You may end up with a better horse!!
 
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