Help with horses...."testing" potential riders....

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KatB

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Now a friend is looking for help with exercising her two horses.... she has one 17.2 hunter who can spook for england very occasionally, but is generally a gem to ride, doesnt pull, etc etc, but because of his size is obviously daunting to some! The other is a 16.2 full up hunter, who is a bit opinionated, and can be strong, but doesnt spook etc, just likely to through in an odd buck.... and possibly jiggle eveywhere. Now obviously all these traits will be explained to anyone who comes to ride, but obviously some people can be less than honest about their experience... so which would you think is preferable to "suss" people out....?! And if anyone knows of someone in the South Notts area....
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I'd probably put them on 1 to start with in a safe environment, if its looking like they know one end of a horse from the other I'd then test them out on number 2.
I would work on the assumption that if they were fairly confident on number 2 then they should be able to deal with a decent spook from number 1!
 
On our yard - they are bunged up on the horse and shown the school. If they look ok they are then taken out for a few hacks. If clearly ok - they are sent off on their own after riding out with YO or me a few times.

You can usually tell the minute someone gets on if they are a rider or not I find.
 
Probably not the answer you want, but I would suggest neither of them.

If they were my horses (who are very good really, but can be sharp) and I had never seen them ride before, I would want to see them sit on something that was as safe as houses first. Would be worried about the safety of my horses, let alone the rider if he or she couldn't manage them.

Would obviously be different if I knew their background and they had some 'credentials' (had competed to a decent level / produced young horses to my knowledge). If that were the case then neither of your horses should be a problem from what you say.
 
But if the person is answering an honest advert for them, and is put in a safe environment, surely because it is these horses they will be riding, would be better than putting them on something complete easy...?! Unfortunately don't have access to anytghing but two mentioned....
 
Agree with AmyMay, some people can do all the talk - you can only tell when they get on if they can ride!

KatB - im in South Notts (w.bridgford) would be interested to hear more!
 
Probably fine if you have access to a very safe environment (indoor school or one with very high sides?).

For me the purpose of seeing them sit on something safe is just to check that they actually appear competant. Would obviously want to check them out on the horses they will actually be riding too.
 
I would go with Silly Mare but I guess that's a bit tough if the person doesn't have access to a quieter horse. Could she borrow one from someone just for the one of two people who check all the boxes otherwise?

Worst case scenerio she could ask to see pics/video - it's not the same as seeing them ride but it is something before you put them on the horse.

Do you use waivers in the UK? I would definitely have them sign something before letting them get on. And I would have the horses at their absolute quietest for the initial ride, including riding them first so that the people have the right to refuse if they think the horse is too much when they see it go.

I'm curious to see how threads like this go. I'm relocating to the UK in the summer and will most likely not continue to ride professionaly after I move (I a successful business traning youngstock and restarting problem horses) at least initially but will most likely look for something to ride, preferably in my area of expertise. I'm interested to see what the procedure is.
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