Do you let others ride your precious horse?

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peanut

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I desperately need some help exercising my 6 yo but can't bring myself to let anyone else (other than our trainer) ride her. It's mainly because I've had her since a 3 yo and have put so much time and effort into producing my potentially ideal horse. I also consider her to be a very precious and much loved member of my family and not just a horse.

I'm basically just terrified that her beautiful mouth will be damaged / bad habits will be formed / things won't be done exactly as I like them done.

Has anyone else experienced this dilemma?
 
I had someone riding Thumper for me over the winter to help keep him fit.

I don't have a problem with others riding my horse - but I am particular about who I ask.
 
I know what you mean and my advice would be - don't! if you're short of time, lunge her. You'll never forgiver yourself if she gets ruined. Only allow someone you absolutely trust to ride her, like your trainer. Maybe you could pay her to exercise her a couple of times a week?
 
I take it that any potential sharer/rider you'd watch ride her first? I think that alot of us have over inflated ideas of our riding (sorry, not aiming that at you!)

My sharer is more than competent of riding my two boys - she's not heavy handed and she's nice a light (gives them a break from my fat ass!) but I made sure I watched her ride them in the school and on a hack first before letting her 'get on with it'

Just be picky about who you let ride, but I honestly feel that different riders can only help a horse rather than hinder it.

And if I hear one more person on my yard (who are riding bombproof types) say 'oooo my horse gets really nervous when anyone else gets on' I will scream.....

End of the day, it's your shout hun, do what you're comfortable with but I do think it helps! xx
 
I know the feeling - I have ridden so many other people's horses for them but when it comes to my own horse I am ultra paranoid about anyone sitting on him! I think that stems from the fact he was injured though as opposed to his schooling being ruined, but I think I am naturally a possessive person as well which doesn't help! I can't relax when someone else drives my car or lorry either - other than my dad who I trust. So maybe think of a rider you know and would trust the most and take it from there. Could your trainer not ride him more frequently for you?
 
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And if I hear one more person on my yard (who are riding bombproof types) say 'oooo my horse gets really nervous when anyone else gets on' I will scream.....



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She's a far from bombproof ISH which is part of the concern about her mouth! I worry that someone would resort to hands rather than seat etc to hold her.
 
I do, but not just anyone!! My older mare is pretty much anyone's raide so not massively fussy about who rides her, as long as they have a reasonably indepensant seat and don't haul on her mouth! My little lad however I only allow people to ride who I think will cope! He does take the mick with new riders and if they tense up will just sod off with them! Plus I have put a lot of work in to make him how he is now so also paranoid about not ruining that - not saying I am a great rider but I think I know how to ride him - and certain methods don't work!
But having said that there are a couple of people on our yard I would let ride him.
I guess it also depends if you are thinking of purely hacking perhaps to maintain fitness or looking for someone to work and school the horse.
 
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Could your trainer not ride him more frequently for you?

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We go off site for lessons and it would cost an absolute fortune by the time I'd also paid someone on the yard to get her ready / turn her out after etc.
 
I agree with Parkranger on this one.
If you're really anxious about someone else riding, then don't. But different riders can help the horse, and you're assuming that someone else will 'ruin' her. Have you considered that someone else may improve her? As long as you get the right rider, and make sure you TRUST them, you'll be fine
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See I take completely the opposite approach to this - I'd be mortified if someone reasonably competant couldn't get on my horse and ride it, and would feel highly inadequate if someone could undo all my schooling to such an extent that five miutes of me on board couldn't fix it.

My horse is my ideal horse and more than one of the teenagers on the yard has ridden him, and done a perfectly good job - in fact one of them rode him better on the flat than I do!

People have ridden him and he has totally taken the pee and pretended he's never gone on the bit before in his life and within 30 seconds of me getting back on he's been fine. I've had him since he was 5 and even my total beginner OH has sat on him.

JHe's now rising 8, novice eventing and not a push button ride, but I have no problem with other people riding him at all. I like to be there the first time, but once I've established they aren't about to kill themselves, people have ridden him when I'm not there.

I think people are way too precious about this - is the work you've done so fragile and so badly established that someone could really undo it that quickly? And would you really be so bad at picking a rider that you'd pick someone likely to teach bad habits?!
 
If you're really worried about it then don't.
I have let my hubby, my instructor and two other people ride Hovis (who's my 5 year old) and it's done him no harm at all. In fact I think its been good for him, he's learnt from other people and not just from me.
I wouldn't put anyone on him though that my instructor didn't think was capable.
 
I've had Solo 5 years now, and in that time, only 2 other people have ridden him properly. It took me a good 2 years to learn how to ride him properly- he's quite sharp and has braking failure at times, which I'm not best pleased about.
I wouldn't be able to live with myself if someone fell from him and was injured. The 2 people that do ride him are very experienced- the first person is an ex-jockey, and Sol adores him, and the second person is his partner, who rides racers out.
I'm a bit particular with who rides Red too- apart from the OH, there's one other person who rides him, and that's the Solo/racer rider mentioned before. Red's as safe as anything, but I wouldn't want someone taking advantage of his kindness!
 
Crikey i also agree with parkranger. No offence but do you really think you are that entirely amazing that you would never ever teach your horse anything other than perfection? If you are then I aploagise..........

If not then, if it is for the benefit of your horse, and you can find a good experienced rider with a good grasp of seat, correct training/riding then why not let them help you out.

Im glad not everyone feels like this or I wouldnt be riding my share horse....... and no I dont pull him about or teach him bad habits, infact his school work is 100 times better than it was 8 months ago when i first rode him, and his owners agree!

Good luck with finding someone up you you standards!
 
I think it is good for the horse to experience other riders - how is your horse going to cope in the show ring when the judge wants to ride it if you've never let anyone else on it's back? I have Char-Lottie (a poster on here) ride Jack and she is a marvel. She has done fantastic things with Jack and his way of going- he has had broken withers so has some issues - and I hope I never lose her, she is brilliant. People are are far too precious about this as Spottedcat say's. IMO anyway.
 
I would be mortified to find out that I had trained a horse that would not be ridden by anyone else but me. If you don't need other people to ride or help exercise and you are going to keep the horse till it's end then fair enough. But what if the said horse did not live up to your competition expectations, would you then have to sell the horse and it begs the question if so would it then be able to handle a different person on it's back.

I understand about wrapping up that special horse in cotton wool. And yes I do have one of those but I am more than happy for other people to get on and ride him as it will make him a more tolerant and forgiving ride. I think it is a very personal preference as to whether you let someone else ride your horse or not.

At the end of the day it does not matter what anyone else thinks as this is your horse, you pay for it, you look after it and you make all the decisions on it.
 
I think it's really sweet that you've got a one-on-one relationship with your horsey.

My horsey loves variety & as a schoolmistress is totally push button... in fact, she sometimes takes the piss out of me when I ride her but is always PERFECT when complete numpty riders with flappy hands and legs get on her.
Very depressing.
But she's a superstar & hopefully soon (a year or three!) I'll be able to ride her over 1 metre tracks as if they're no big deal like the girls who jump on her for me do.

xa
 
I've been very cautious about who has ridden my TB mare...not because she's particularly precious....but because they are!
She is an evil rider-frightener when she so chooses...the good thing though, is that I can tell if she likes someone or not before they've even got on....
Once I know she likes someone, they can take her out when I'm not there - that's fine.
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I do let others ride my pony, but they never ride him for long. Nothing to do with competence, they get scared, as his small body has more movement than a bigger horse. I think it does help a horse, to learn to adjust to other riders. No matter how good we are (or not!), different leg lengths and rider weights will subtly adjust the aids. As Cazza says, allowing someone else to ride them makes them a more 'forgiving' ride. It's equally important to ride a different horse (IMO), once in a while, too, for similar reasons.
 
Yep, dont have a prob with others riding him. It is good for him, and does no harm! The only
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thing is that there have only been a handful of people which have actually been able to do anything on him!!!!
 
I wouldnt let any old person climb on board, mainly because I dont trust my horse to behave with any old person on her back but partly because I'm quite particular about how I want her to feel when I ride her.

My older horse is beyond ruin so anyone can ride him, I dont think he'd change whatever anyone did!!
 
I let people ride P; you cant exactly break him on the flat; if your a Novice he will look after you, if your experienced he will test you and if he feels like it he will work
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He 17 now so no matter who rides him, once I get back on board it's the same as always;
 
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!
 
Who was scared!
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She has been backed before the recent one as well hasnt she so im sure she would have been fine!

I agree I dont think someone badly riding a horse for a short while wouldnt exactly ruin it
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but I dont want anyone on my horse riding it badly TBH and anyway I like riding them too much to let anyone else on them!
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Although I must admit I did have someone riding them when I broke my collar bone as I wasnt going to be out for that long so wanted to keep them ticking over
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Its not that i necesarily think that someone riding my horse badly for a short period of time is going to ruin him - I agree wit those above who are more concerned about safety! The one time I did let someone take him out on a hack in company that perhaps I should have known wouldn't be able to deal with him, he p*ssed off with her and caused a stampede of 5 horses!
Now had she ridden him like I told her (I said stay at the back, and keep him between your hand and leg if you all canter together) they would have been fine. But unfortunately people don't always listen! So that is why I am quite choosy about who rides him - not that they would ruin him, but that it might create a dangerous situation. For me, and most people I am sure, he is a good boy, but he is one of those horses who need clear boundaries and if given an inch he will take a mile.
 
I love watching other people ride Donkey - I get to see her strong points and weak ones - Also love watching people admit that she is harder to ride than they thought (I think they think it is me)

Also as Donks does show as a hunter and gets Judge ridden the last thing I want is her to only respond to my riding.
 
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