For those of you that have people other than you riding your horse..

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Whether it be hacking/schooling.. what ever, do they act differently for different riders??

A couple of girls ride my horse for me when I'm at work, I'm a bit naughty for galloping around, on certain parts of the hack etc.. and he seems to know that when I ride him he can be silly and strong and it's fun, but then knows to behave for the other girls/my mum.

I wouldn't have thought he was clever enough to know the difference - wondered what your experiences were?
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Mine can definatly tell who he has on top! When my mum rides him he's STAYS in walk and becomes a plod...which is the complete opposite than when i ride him....My cousin walked around on him and he was sooo well behaved, and after he had a few months off over the summer i put a little girl on top (bareback), he was a little star, but when i got back on a few days later he was a complete and utter nutter....and i had no brakes whatsoever!!
 
I would say absolutely they know. Some years ago, I rode a horse for a lady for a short while, who you would say was advancing in years. She had a lovely cob, sane and sensible who would go at exactly the pace she asked him and no more - no spooks etc - nothing.

Well, she says, come an exercise him for me a couple of times a week. Goes along - first couple of rides great exactly the same reaction as with her. After a few times he cottoned on that I was perhaps up for a bit of fun and we had some small spooks, jogging - really taking a hold in canter etc. which was no bother to me. But, as soon as his owner got back on he reverted to good old Bob the plod. She really used to chuckle at my efforts to do his girth up when mounting with him jigging around "stands perfectly for me she used to say!". But what a lovely boy!!
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Talking as "the other rider", yes mostly they do act differently. Berlin and I don't trust eachother enough yet but he's got a fab relationship with his owner and is much more confident with her than me. Kit knows I'm more experienced than her novice owner and doesn't take the P as much with me as she does with her owner (but that's why I'm riding her anyway). Cookie and Cracks always used to seem to know to behave with me on board, as I could be nervous and they knew they had to take care of me!
My own horse acted differently with me too. She's always be cocky and spooky and revved up with me, but when my nervous novice mum got on her she'd turn donkified and be a complete angel.
It's amazing what horses can sense off their riders!
 
ohhh... and another thing.

We have a lovely old mare on our yard who was used on the riding school. Now you could put a beginner on her - perfect. Someone experienced - she was up for anything. But the amazing thing is with her RDA rider. This boy suffers from epileptic fits. When he first started riding her they were out walking one day with leader, and two helpers either side (they go for short walk up the track). Suddenly mare stops. No amount of encouragement will get her to move forward. Seconds later, rider has a fit. Mare stands stock still till finished - then calmly walks on. Whenever that boy is going to have a (minor) fit, she stops a good 10 - 15 seconds before any outward signs. Now tell me horses are not intelligent!!!
 
Halfpass sometimes rides Axel and when I ride him he's fab on the right rein and not so good on the left, when HP rides him he's fab on the left and awful on the right!

I keep getting her to ride him as he might actually even up one day!
And the day after she's ridden him he goes lovely for me
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Definitely. An old pony of mine used to be a bit of a tearaway (not encouraged at all by tyhe fact that I used to go everywhere at breakneck speed), she'd bronc and squeal with excitement, spook, mess about and be generally fizzy, but when a friend's daughter rode her (the little girl had down's syndrome) she was the perfect pony, every time. It was sweet to watch.

My previous horse did not share her caring instinct - when my novice husband was a little too vigorous with his leg aids, my horse took off through the village at a rapid and slightly kamikaze-based canter, sending traffic scattering and making people come rushing out if their houses to see what the commotion was. I like to remind my husband of this at regular intervals - keeps him grounded
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My mare is schooled by my instructor at the mo and hacked/lunged by me,now to a certain extent she goes the same for both of us in terms of her spooking and being silly-she'll do the same with anyone but when she is having a good day and going well in the school my friend (instructor) can get her moving a lot better than me but to be fair the mare is 4 and very green still and she has the experience of those and knows what buttons to push to get the best out of them,i've done a few sessions on my own which went fine and my lessons go ok but she went through a naughty stage so i'm leaving it to the instructor for now until i can take over again and keep the tantrums under control!
My hunting pony that i rode for many years used to take off with her owner all the time and on occassions would run walkers over! but she had no control and the pony new it and just took the piss all the time,she would sort of try it on with me but i wouldn't give her an inch so she just gave in and generally was very good for me.
 
BTW - just wanted to point out that I didn't mean I don't think any horse isn't clever enough to notice - just my big thick bugger!
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But he must be more tuned in than he looks!
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Our Black and White cob mare was amazing with a young woman who had Multiple Personality Disorder, chucked off the adult/teenage rider, but carried the "3" year old version as if she was carrying eggs! She also the allowed the "little" one to put her a hay hat on at night, not something she would have tolerated from anyone else at all.
 
My mare is definately different, she can be spooky/naughty/arguementative (has a sense of humour), if me or my friend who does her when I'm working ride, but put a novice or child on board and she is a real lamb (especialy if they are disabled).
 
Mae is an angel for me, however put a more confident rider on her and shes a b***h! For a 'plod' shes taken off with OH on board, also bucked a friend off!! Its only the 2 she plays up with, i gave her a few weeks off in the field and the first time back on her it was like she was rode the day before.

She just loves her mummy lol.
 
Yes for sure they know, my friend rides my stables mates horse and when i ride out with them both he acts differntly to who is on top!
I dont know if it is the way she rides and handles him etc, but difinitley different!
And when my husband is learning to ride on my horse, he is great with him, i get on and he starts spooking etc.
Weird but true!
 
Chloe will do the bare minimum when my mum rides her, but takes care of her now. When my OH rode her she went very slow, and their steering was a bit hit and miss. When I ride her she livens up, and turns into a dressage diva carthorse
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Megan has had an experienced rider jump her for me, and I was like
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at what he got out of her. In fact, it put me off for a while as they were so good
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I've had less experienced people ride her whilst I've been on hols, and she's seriously took the mickey out of them, to the point where she refused to canter
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I think our 3 all do. OH's mare is MUCH better behaved for him than me, but despite being very confident he is a bit novice still so I think sometimes his balance is a bit off and she really does look after him. My older mare is totally different according to who rides her - with my mum/novice friend she is super safe and careful, with me she's probably herself, which is fairly forward going but not really strong or silly, whereas with my friend who loaned her for a year, well, she was MAD! But thats the sort of horse said friend enjoys, she likes a challenge!
My arab isn't exactly different with different riders but he does test a new rider (jogging, skipping around, the odd buck, cantering off at any opportunity!) but as soon as you know how to ride the little b*gger (ie you have to not give him an inch but let him *think* he is getting his own way!) he will go well for most riders who can cope with his antics!
 
My horses are exactly the same, my old mare could be a holy cow some times but if my mum or sister rode her she went so slow and steady i was amazed, then i put my back out and a few people said they would ride her for me, both stated they were very experienced, went along to watch them first time each of them rode her and they both ended up on the floor.
My 3 year old is the same she does exactly as asked and a few of my nervous friends have ridden her in the field and she was breat with them, then when the girl who rides another of my horses very well got on her within 10mins she was on her bum on the floor.
I think to a degree the horses, know when someone is trying to be something they are not and they just cant stop themselves putting them in their place
 
I'm fairly relaxed about letting other people ride Polly but for almost everyone else that rides her she immediately goes very tense and hollow, carries her head very high and becomes almost impossible to control especially in the canter.

Although i know she is prone to this behaviour, she doesn't tend to do it at all for me anymore, she stays much more relaxed and stretches down into a contact (mostly).
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it has taken over a year to get to this point but I'm very proud of it!

She is the sort of horse that you need to learn inside out I think before you can get any sensible work out of her and if you are prone to riding off your hands she will be an absolute S.O.B. Ror this reason I tend to chuck a lot of my Saturday kids on her for 10mins at lunchtime. They tend to assume a well schooled horse who appears to work in an outline easily must be dead simple to ride. it is often a shock when they suddenly find this 'well schooled' horse doesn't stop or steer unless they ride properly LOL
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My arab definitely acts different. If I put a novice/kid on her she is an angel and just strolls about quite the thing. When ANYONE rides her for the first couple of times she is a superstar and behaves like the dressage star she can be (not that I let many people on her!!). However with me (and my mum who owned her for 6yrs before me she is a moo; evades everything, can't possible go straight and has a different personality for every day of the week. Yet no one believes me because that one time they ride her she goes like a dream...

My QH is the same crabby moo no matter who is riding and not had anyone else (or even me!) on my TB yet since she came up.
 
Kiwi(the grey in sig) was like that she'd know it was time to work when her owner got on and time for fun with me as I used to just hack out for hourse on her finding new routes and places to go etc.

Bondi(coloured in sig) is very similar but not in a good way, he knows to work when his owner gets on but when i get on completely takes the p!ss out of me and knows i'm a bit wary of him (to the point where i only want lessons and dont want to hack him)
 
My horse is definately most relaxed with me and always tries his best, but is still cheeky.

He is super careful with novices and especially childeren.

He is totally different if someone experienced gets on him, if they ride him sensitively he will be lovely for them but those who get on with a dominant attitude get nowhere - he will not co-operate on even the easiest thing such as turning or stopping
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He also changes his attitude depending on what we are doing - if we are hacking out with a nervous or novice rider or a young horse he will be an angel as he knows his job is to be the sensible lead horse. If we go out with people who can look after themselves he knows he can be much cheekier.
 
Mine know whose riding, Fudge's worst behaviour with me ever is to nap, and although he's cheeky he always takes care of me when i'm sick but he used to try to throw his sharer by bucking or spinning then dropping his shoulder. He works well for my RI and is an absolute star on the lead rein with a novice or small child.
Lady is a star for little children but more excited when the teenager who rides her or I get on.
 
Yes
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The first little girl who hacked out our 12.1 had nerves of steel and he tested her out at every opportunity when hacking or schooling
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He performed very well for her at shows though
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His next girl was very nervous and he never put a foot wrong with her . Aww, bless him .

My old mare was quirky. I'm not a technical rider
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at all but we just clicked from day 1 .
Two friends tried her and were spun off within seconds. Both were more experienced, confident and capable than me .

My present mare finds nervous people( rider or handler) very worrying. Her character defo changes for the worse so I won't allow them to handle her. She is fine with a total novice as long as they are genuinely confident!
 
I let my really nrvous, novice sister ride slighty tempramental pony after she'd been in for a couple days and she was as good as gold, much to my suprise. She then went home and I had a ride. The saintly pony then took off with me bucking when I asked her to canter. She deposited me on the floor and galloped a few more laps of the school.

I swear she has a spilt personality - when I ride her she's a monster but when anyone else rides her she's a saint.
 
Yes, mine changes according to who rides him.
I have a lovely 12 year old that rides after school a couple of times a week and hangs out at the weekends. S fully rips it out of her. He does the minimum as she allows it.
I have another lady who rides him occasionally, he tries her out but she is much more experienced and puts him straight.
When I get on, he behaves how he behaves for me.
I am just grateful for people to help me keep him fit.
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