Experiences of new riders

[Biscotte]

Hello,

I'm an adult beginner, I'm 52, I started this September and so far, apart from some aches and pains its been great. I'm in France and I'm interested to know what others experiences of starting was/is like in other places and what sort of things I might expect in the future.

I've started at a club my daughters' been at for nearly five years so I know the place and people a bit which helps. The club is a not-for-profit association which is quite common here. There are about 20 club ponys, and 40 horses plus owned horses. There's two menages, an arena, some woods with a cross track in them and a sort of mini-racetrack. It's in the city so no outside space. There's a circuit of competitons: CSO (jumping), dressage, cross, voltige and poney games (I think this is called mounted games in the UK) so there's often something on at the weekend.

I've done five lessons with four different horses, so far I've done walking, rising and sitting trot, stopping with and without reins, some direction work and of course getting on and off - from the ground. We're expected to get there half an hour before the lesson to get the horses ready, brush them, clean their feet and tack up. Everyone except me has ridden before when they were kids and there's a strong element of expecting you to just get on with things - this is fine for me as I have had my daughter to help and, apart from some nips from a very large horse last week, I have managed to get them ready without incident.

Everything is in french of course which is sometimes difficult as the entire vocab of saddles, horses etc is quite different. The teaching is what I think of as quite french too, they tell you what to do, and you're expected to do it. They will help you a bit of course if you're in difficulties, but the class goes on regardless - there's between 3 and 6 of us in any one class. It's probably a lot cheaper than the UK as far as I can tell, its 25 eur for each lesson, and club membership - including insurance etc - is 170 a year. You can get individual lessons for 35.

If I last the year I'll be expected to be able to walk, trot and gallop, prepare the horse, have some notions of its anatomy and all the tack, be able to stop, start and do some basic maneuvers in the manege. This will get me my gallop 1 certificate! Year two is when you do jumping.

So that's my experience as a new rider, I'd love to hear what others are doing elsewhere and how it's done back in the UK, or elsewhere for that matter.

 

[Kunoichi73]

Hi, I was a returning rider a few years ago. I rode when I was a child but then had a 30 year break. When I returned I had an assessment lesson at my RS and then started private lessons. My biggest issue with returning was balance, particularly with transitions. I tend to lean forward slightly too much which unbalances me.

Since I've been back, I've done some hacks, beach rides, a 3 day mad skills course (jousting, tent pegging, trick riding, quintain and horse archery) and some jumping. I'm a bit of a wimp with the jumping! I'm loving my riding. It's the one thing I do that completely makes me forget about the stresses in my life!

Good luck with your horse journey!

 

[Keith_Beef]

Hello,

I'm an adult beginner, I'm 52, I started this September and so far, apart from some aches and pains its been great. I'm in France and I'm interested to know what others experiences of starting was/is like in other places and what sort of things I might expect in the future.

I've started at a club my daughters' been at for nearly five years so I know the place and people a bit which helps. The club is a not-for-profit association which is quite common here. There are about 20 club ponys, and 40 horses plus owned horses. There's two menages, an arena, some woods with a cross track in them and a sort of mini-racetrack. It's in the city so no outside space. There's a circuit of competitons: CSO (jumping), dressage, cross, voltige and poney games (I think this is called mounted games in the UK) so there's often something on at the weekend.

I've done five lessons with four different horses, so far I've done walking, rising and sitting trot, stopping with and without reins, some direction work and of course getting on and off - from the ground. We're expected to get there half an hour before the lesson to get the horses ready, brush them, clean their feet and tack up. Everyone except me has ridden before when they were kids and there's a strong element of expecting you to just get on with things - this is fine for me as I have had my daughter to help and, apart from some nips from a very large horse last week, I have managed to get them ready without incident.

Everything is in french of course which is sometimes difficult as the entire vocab of saddles, horses etc is quite different. The teaching is what I think of as quite french too, they tell you what to do, and you're expected to do it. They will help you a bit of course if you're in difficulties, but the class goes on regardless - there's between 3 and 6 of us in any one class. It's probably a lot cheaper than the UK as far as I can tell, its 25 eur for each lesson, and club membership - including insurance etc - is 170 a year. You can get individual lessons for 35.

If I last the year I'll be expected to be able to walk, trot and gallop, prepare the horse, have some notions of its anatomy and all the tack, be able to stop, start and do some basic maneuvers in the manege. This will get me my gallop 1 certificate! Year two is when you do jumping.

So that's my experience as a new rider, I'd love to hear what others are doing elsewhere and how it's done back in the UK, or elsewhere for that matter.

I started riding as an adult here in France after I moved back in 2012.

What the French call "galop" is not "gallop", it's canter, and it's not unreasonable to think that you'll be able to sit through a complete circuit of the arena at canter after your first year.

I started riding after helping my daughter for a year, so I'd acquired most of the vocabulary by then, but there are still new words for me to learn after riding for just over ten years.

Don't worry about it, it'll come.

Oh, and you might like to read this thread.

 

[norolim]

Hi and welcome!

I'm also a newish rider and one of the main things I've found is, the more I learn the more I realise I haven't got a clue! It's a massive learning curve both in terms of riding and horse care but it's fantastic and addictive.

I'm the sort of person who is keen on progress in any aspect of my life and often catch myself thinking about what I haven't achieved yet, rather than what I have. There was one stage I remember thinking, I'm never going to be able to get canter and now I'm at a point in my riding where I think I'm never going to be good at XC jumping!

Try and enjoy the journey, take your time, don't put too much pressure on yourself and do what makes you confident and happy. With time and practice, it all starts coming together eventually, even when it feels like it never will. Good luck!

 

[toppedoff]

What a nice little set up but definitely don't pressure yourself! Alot of people on here never rode as a child too, all walks of life on this forum Enjoy!

 

[calder]

51-year old restarter here, trying to find time to ride alongside work and family responsibilities - I'm the only regular rider in my family, although missus and kid have ridden a number of times and I am hopeful of converting them so that it's something we can all do as a family. I've ridden off and on all my adult life, mostly in the UK but also during a couple of years in the US and once or twice in Ireland. Some observations on what's changed over those years:

- Riding schools are a lot fewer and farther between in the UK, and lessons are much more expensive. I'd be interested to see stats - is this something that BHS or ABRS collect? There seems to be less middle ground between starting out and owning, particularly for the young.

- Riding schools, and instruction in general, is a great deal more professional. RIs more often have equine degrees or other qualifications, and I more often get told about how and why to do something rather than just get yelled at. Horses are no better or worse cared for I think, but yards are better-kept. Safety is much more important.

- British riding culture is a whole lot fancier - more gadgets and kit. Clobber is fancier, and more specfically aimed at each gender. Take jods: when I started out in the 80s, both boys and girls had a choice of two or three brands of basic nylon in beige, blue or black. It was the unisex era so we wore polo tops or sweaters on top, maybe a Husky if you were fancy. Nowadays, breeches come with sequins or embroidered tassels for women, while those for men are expensive and hard to find.

- Fewer opportunities to hack and I see fewer riders on the road for some reason, although I don't drive so maybe I'm just not seeing them.

- There's a lot more you can do with horses. Trad English equestrian culture was all about showing, hacking, racing and hunting - maybe eventing, but that was quite rarefied. The influence of dressage is massive, which I appreciate as someone reluctant to jump big fences. There's also a lot of smaller, newer disciplines.

- Attitudes to horses are changing, maybe as the last memories of their use in agriculture and warfare have faded. It's not just welfare, but the basic relationships are also less.. brisk and practical... and more about bonding and learning from each other. You see this most obviously in things like equine therapy and natural horsemanship. I can see a lot of practices being abandoned or modified in the years ahead, but also some resistance, in particular to ideas of anthropomorphism.

As for me, I'm not looking to do anything more specific than improve as a rider and deepen my relationship with horses. I've done one or two of simple dressage tests on the now-defunct Interdressage platform, which I enjoyed surprisingly much - almost like getting out, but lower-stress and with good camaraderie. I don't (yet) want the responsibilities of ownership: horses are how I unwind, so I don't want to have to think about them 24/7.. however, once you have the bug it's hard not to! I'm not sure how it happened as I'm not from a horsey background but somehow they've entered my bloodstream and I need to find a balanced way of having them in my life while leaving space for other things. Not owning a horse, but owning being horsey is where I'm at. Good luck with your journey!

 

[oldie48]

I had a few riding school lessons when I was 13 and then the occasional trek as an adult. I started to ride again in my late 40's, initially on well trained trekking horses with some RS lessons as well. I bought my first horse when nearly 50. tbh I found riding RS horses and trekking pretty easy as I went to "good" places and rode horses that knew their job. The trap I fell into was I thought I could ride and actually I was just a well balanced passenger riding obedient horses! I bought my first horse because I wanted to keep my young daughter company on hacks and it was a very steep learning curve. I was lucky with my first horse who was a saint, I now know I really wasn't ready to buy my own but my confidence far outweighed my ability, fortunately I am a rather determined person. I've had several horses since, I had a nasty accident XC schooling so decided to focus on dressage which has become a passion. I never thought about where riding would lead me but it's been a driving force in my life for over 25 years and at 75 I am still schooling and hacking a lovely horse that belongs to a friend. I hope your journey is as fulfilling as mine has been. I feel so privileged to have owned some great horses, they have given me so much and my aim is to keep riding, it's the best therapy ever!

 

[Canelloni]

51-year old restarter here, trying to find time to ride alongside work and family responsibilities - I'm the only regular rider in my family, although missus and kid have ridden a number of times and I am hopeful of converting them so that it's something we can all do as a family. I've ridden off and on all my adult life, mostly in the UK but also during a couple of years in the US and once or twice in Ireland. Some observations on what's changed over those years:

- Riding schools are a lot fewer and farther between in the UK, and lessons are much more expensive. I'd be interested to see stats - is this something that BHS or ABRS collect? There seems to be less middle ground between starting out and owning, particularly for the young.

- Riding schools, and instruction in general, is a great deal more professional. RIs more often have equine degrees or other qualifications, and I more often get told about how and why to do something rather than just get yelled at. Horses are no better or worse cared for I think, but yards are better-kept. Safety is much more important.

- British riding culture is a whole lot fancier - more gadgets and kit. Clobber is fancier, and more specfically aimed at each gender. Take jods: when I started out in the 80s, both boys and girls had a choice of two or three brands of basic nylon in beige, blue or black. It was the unisex era so we wore polo tops or sweaters on top, maybe a Husky if you were fancy. Nowadays, breeches come with sequins or embroidered tassels for women, while those for men are expensive and hard to find.

- Fewer opportunities to hack and I see fewer riders on the road for some reason, although I don't drive so maybe I'm just not seeing them.

- There's a lot more you can do with horses. Trad English equestrian culture was all about showing, hacking, racing and hunting - maybe eventing, but that was quite rarefied. The influence of dressage is massive, which I appreciate as someone reluctant to jump big fences. There's also a lot of smaller, newer disciplines.

- Attitudes to horses are changing, maybe as the last memories of their use in agriculture and warfare have faded. It's not just welfare, but the basic relationships are also less.. brisk and practical... and more about bonding and learning from each other. You see this most obviously in things like equine therapy and natural horsemanship. I can see a lot of practices being abandoned or modified in the years ahead, but also some resistance, in particular to ideas of anthropomorphism.

As for me, I'm not looking to do anything more specific than improve as a rider and deepen my relationship with horses. I've done one or two of simple dressage tests on the now-defunct Interdressage platform, which I enjoyed surprisingly much - almost like getting out, but lower-stress and with good camaraderie. I don't (yet) want the responsibilities of ownership: horses are how I unwind, so I don't want to have to think about them 24/7.. however, once you have the bug it's hard not to! I'm not sure how it happened as I'm not from a horsey background but somehow they've entered my bloodstream and I need to find a balanced way of having them in my life while leaving space for other things. Not owning a horse, but owning being horsey is where I'm at. Good luck with your journey!

This is a great summary of the horsey scene. On returning after many years away from horses, I can add a few points:
On attitudes: yes, owners have started to see their horses not so much as a faithful partner doing a job for us, and more as a pet- there's more emotion involved in the relationship.

On care: vet care has gone through the roof in terms of thoroughness and expense that people will go to. As a result, horses careers now continue into their teens and beyond.

On clobber: yes there are more sequins...! But on a more serious note I'm a bit sad to see the sexualisation of show gear for girls. Tiny jackets , glitter, with peplum waists that barely skirt the hips... my PC DC would have had a fit! Riding as a sport is the ultimate example of equality between the sexes. Let's keep it that way when it comes to the gear! But I'm just an old prude, perhaps.

 

[ycbm]

I started riding as an adult here in France after I moved back in 2012.

What the French call "galop" is not "gallop", it's canter, and it's not unreasonable to think that you'll be able to sit through a complete circuit of the arena at canter after your first year.

I started riding after helping my daughter for a year, so I'd acquired most of the vocabulary by then, but there are still new words for me to learn after riding for just over ten years.

Don't worry about it, it'll come.

Oh, and you might like to read this thread.

But listen carefully when you go hacking at some point in future, so that you don't just hear "galop" and think you are going to canter when someone has actually said "plein galop" meaning flat out gallop!

 

[Keith_Beef]

But listen carefully when you go hacking at some point in future, so that you don't just hear "galop" and think you are going to canter when someone has actually said "plein galop" meaning flat out gallop!

The people I hack out with use a hand signal to accompany the voice, and before setting out always make sure that we understand what the hand signals are.

They also understand that whatever level the riders are in the group, they might not have been on these particular horses before and give us plenty of time at trot to get us used to their particular ways of going and then always ask us if we feel up to cantering. There's no assumption that we'll all be up for a canter.

I don't thing that we'd ever do a flat out "plein galop" in our forest because there are just too many places where another path crosses our canterable paths (chelling specker things that "canterable" is not a word).

 

[calder]

Horse and Hound wrote an article in March 2023 (link https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/250-riding-schools-close-in-four-years-818389) quoting the 2023 National Equine Forum on the decrease of riding schools and 2022/23 BETA national equestrian survey findings on the increase of horse riding among the British population.

Thanks, that's interesting. I definitely see a pattern of schools closing after their owners retire - and I've seen this in a number of other labour-intensive small businesses.

I'd fill out your survey if I was female, and therefore eligible! That's not at all a complaint - it's perfectly fine to focus on the vast majority of riders, but I am interested in the ways in which riding has historically been gendered and how this has changed and continues to change, as in all things. Good luck with your research!

 

[passion for horses]

If I last the year I'll be expected to be able to walk, trot and gallop, prepare the horse, have some notions of its anatomy and all the tack, be able to stop, start and do some basic maneuvers in the manege. This will get me my gallop 1 certificate! Year two is when you do jumping.

So that's my experience as a new rider, I'd love to hear what others are doing elsewhere and how it's done back in the UK, or elsewhere for that matter.

Hi there. Well done for learning how to ride horse. Its NEVER NEVER to late. The chap who played Captain Kirk in Star Trek rides horses and he's in his 90's !. I think you meant canter instead of gallop. I've been riding for over a year and still not starting jumping. I did fall off for the first time today. A great landing, no injuries 9 out of 10.

 

[Biscotte]

Hello again, thanks for all the interesting responses! Great to hear different experiences and stories.

So I survived my first trimester, first canter, first getting horses ready in sudden frost. It's been great, sometimes scary and sometimes very tiring indeed.

From my pool of horses I've had the maitre d'ecole who makes you feel amazingly good, the complete bastard, the horse who hates all other horses, the horse who tries to lick its hooves the whole lesson, the horse who won't go and the horse who goes only too well. I have my favourites!

Our little group of adult beginners is down from 8 to 4 so I'll see what we're down to this Saturday when it's -5.

Mostly I've learned just how much I need to know - there's an old chap at the stables who has a beautiful white spanish horse and does dressage. I was chatting with him and it turned out he's 65 and only started in his 40's. He told me I'd need 10 years to be good. So 9 3/4 to go.

 

[Skib]

If it may cheer you up, I started riding when I was 61, after 9/11 and bombs on the London Underground made riding seem relatively less high risk than it had been in the past. I had a year of school lessons, just about managing canter but then began to hack as well. It was hacking that taught me to canter easilly. Some time later I went to another RS and had dressage lessons. I didnt have the stamina to ride a whole test so would pause to get my breath in the middle.
Covid lock down interrupted riding and a year later I resumed my share, hacking but not the lessons. Most of my riding for years and year has been hacking solo on a share. Hacking was what I wanted to do. But you may have other choices.

I am thinking now of returning for some more lessons. Maybe riding canter in the school and steering in canter may improve my control of the horse I currently hack. Our canter has become somewhat over-enthusiastic and since I am now over 80 it is possibly time to take care.

But I can assure you that, if being on a horse is a treat, and something you love, being 50 or 60 years old is not too late to start. All you need is patience and saddle time. I have had 23 years of joy and wish you the same.
I always add to these posts as a caution, that I wear a hard hat and when hacking I wear a body protector too.
One is bound to fall off at some point when learning to ride (my mother said), but it neednt be serious and if possible you should get right back on.

 

[Biscotte]

Yes @Skib I'd love to go hacking but we're in the middle of the city. There's a forest opposite the riding school but you need your galop4 to be allowed to take a horse there - it's a four lane road to cross so I think that's why.

I'm hoping to get some beach riding in over the summer as you can do it near where I live.

I've yet to come off, though came pretty close this last weekend going over poles on the ground. My daughter got chucked off yesterday but she's still at a bouncy age so just a bruise.

Hopefully falling off won't be too bad, except you have to provide cake for everyone the next lesson!

 

[myheartinahoofbeat]

I was pony mad as a kid , had riding lessons, helped at the riding school, had a pony/horse on loan and then gave up when i went to university. I then had a career and my own kids ( not horsey) . I got back into horses in my 40's. Starting sharing a horse and hacking out but it wasnt enough as I had awoken my inner pony mad child !!! I am 55 now, compete grass roots eventing, show jumping and dressage . Finally, I got to rent a house with land and I now have 7 horses . Be warned !!!

 

[Skib]

There's a forest opposite the riding school but you need your galop4 to be allowed to take a horse there -

I just looked at the Galop pages on line. It looks as thoughthe French authorities take much the same line as the BHS. That one must be able to canter safely in the school before being allowed to hack out. Galop 4 requires canter in the school and as well as that, riders take a test about riding on public paths and roads which sounds much like BHS riding and road safety. Then you get a certificate or licence to ride on roads.
The Galop levels are not the same as the BHS Stage levels.
And in the UK, RS riders must hack accompanied by a member of staff. It is only when you own or share that you can ride alone.

 

[Keith_Beef]

I just looked at the Galop pages on line. It looks as thoughthe French authorities take much the same line as the BHS. That one must be able to canter safely in the school before being allowed to hack out. Galop 4 requires canter in the school and as well as that, riders take a test about riding on public paths and roads which sounds much like BHS riding and road safety. Then you get a certificate or licence to ride on roads.
The Galop levels are not the same as the BHS Stage levels.
And in the UK, RS riders must hack accompanied by a member of staff. It is only when you own or share that you can ride alone.

In my experience of riding in France, galop 4 is considered competent to hack out alone. We were hacking out along roads to get to the forest at the galop 1 level accompanied by two instructors (one at the front, one at the back). This was a few years ago, before the the contract for managing the riding centre was awarded to a different organisation, and the chief instructor was very old-school.

Under the old management I accompanied, several times, groups of up to six smaller children on Shetlands being led by a instructor at the front, and me just walking at the rear, keeping an eye out for traffic. This was just through the streets around the riding centre.

 

[Biscotte]

Galop 4 is really quite competent, at my place you'd have done a minimum of four years of riding and be able to jump at least 80cm, lots of dressage skills etc etc plus detailed knowledge of horses. Lots of young riders stop after galop 3 because it is a big step up.

You'd be expected to ride the more difficult horses as a matter of course and, as my daughter is currently doing, taking a turn bringing the young horses up to scratch - getting a former cart horse to canter round the manège _both ways_ is her current labour of love.

Can't see myself getting there any time soon that's for sure, but maybe one day. Although @Keith_Beef I have already had the dubious pleasure of leading some littlies and their sweet tempered Shetlands round the club.

 

[Biscotte]

Well I did have my first fall last week. Riding a big grey and carefully spent the first half of the lesson waking him up then the coach out some bars on the ground preparing us for jumping one day.

Turned out my sleepy horse really likes jumping so instead of the trot we were doing I got an instant canter, managed to stay on and slow him down three times but the fourth was too much, nearly fell into the wall but managed to stylishly land on my arse instead! Bit of a bruised hip but nothing worse and did get back on after some swearing.

Made me think a bit more about the unpredictability of horses but also how I need to be able to canter comfortably for more than a few paces!

 

[Skib]

so instead of the trot we were doing I got an instant canter,

That is how I got my first canter too. I was told that horses find it easier to canter than to trot over poles which involves lifting their feet up.