Learning: - One horse or Many?

[FrecklesTheCat]

I've been involved in a couple of discussions recently about whether to learn to ride on one horse or learn to ride on a variety of horses.

One runs a riding school, which doesn't guarantee the horse to be used in the lesson and argues that it is good for a rider to get a feel for different horses as it will help them in the long run. The other has a pony for her daughter and feels that you learn much faster when just riding one horse as you both get to know each other.

I don't consider either view to be contradictory, I can see that it would be possible for one to be slower in the short term and yet better in the long term, while the other is faster in the short term, but causes more difficulty in changing horses later. But is that a true representation? If all other things were equal (i.e. length of time riding etc.), which would you consider to be the better option and why?

 

[ihatework]

I haven’t done enough with beginners to really know, but my gut feel would be in the very early days to stick with one horse, then ride a variety for quite a long time until reasonably proficient. If wanting to specifically develop a particular skill then stints on an individual horse thereafter.

Longer term, being able to ride a variety of horses is definitely beneficial for your riding and it’s the downfall of lots of us one horse amateurs.

 

[Wishfilly]

I'm not sure you can really compare as it's not just about time in the saddle but also about time between lessons. If you've got a beginner for a week, riding 1hr a day, they'll be much further along than someone after 7 weeks of 1hr a week lessons (obviously everyone is different, and progresses at different rates, and if you were very unfit you might struggle with riding an hour a day). So having your own pony will facilitate this, and the rider with their own pony will progress much faster.

Long term, I do think riding lots of different horses does help you as a rider, even as someone with no real competitive goals. For example, many children from "one pony" homes can struggle with the jump from ponies to horses- whereas in a riding school, they will have riden a range of different ponies with different stride lengths, and so being put on a small horse for the first time isn't so different. Riding lots of different horses can also give you more "tools" to work with and ideas to try if things go wrong.

Obviously, if you have any sort of goal of wanting to work with horses, being able to ride and handle a wide range of horses is essential- but this can be learnt at any age/stage, as long as the rider doesn't have a mental block/fear about riding other horses. Then again riding lots of difficult horses/ponies can cause more fear in some people.

Even one-horse owners can have the chance to swap with friends and/or at pony club/riding club, or may ride different horses on holiday etc, so I think it's pretty rare to find someone who's grown up with horses but only ever ridden their single pony/horse they had at that one time.

I actually think one of the advantages of going to a riding school (if it's a good one) is that you get good quality tuition for the basics. A lot of parents who can ride think they can teach their children in the beginning- but sometimes it's not as easy as that. Good riding instructors will have lots of experiences of communicating things to beginners and lots of things to try if someone doesn't understand or isn't getting it. Whereas parents may end up getting frustrated and taking the fun out of it! Also, riding schools do usually guarantee a minimum safety standard. I've seen some parents who "rode when they were younger" do/allow some fairly unsafe things with their kids and ponies!

 

[MuddyMonster]

It depends on so many variables, I think.

My friend's daughter is at a RS with a PC centre attached & is always taking part in something extra on top of her lessons - SJ competition, But rarely hacks or has any experience outside of a RS setting whereas another friend's daughter owns her own pony on a small yard with her Mum's two horses. She's has never been to an organised stable management rally but rides without an insteuctor present all the time, hacks her own pony for miles, has experience of travelling her pony & other things that you don't always get at a RS.

I think learning will occur in both situations & neither is necessarily 'better' than the other.

I love having my own horse and only riding him most of the time. I feel I learnt a lot bringing him on which is experience I wouldn't have gotten at a RS, toding lots of others. But I'm a pleasure rider who doesn't need to be able to ride every horse on the yard