Not Novice Ride...

I have a pony who is ridden by a novice and is completely bombproof. However she is liable to take advantage of a novice and her way of going is suffering as a result. She was very well schooled when the novice started riding her, push button really. Now she isn't :(. So really she isn't a novice ride but has no vices or real faults either!
 
How long is a piece of string...

I think going and seeing the horse is the only way to find out, and hope that the owner is vaguely honest.

I put a loads of novices on my boy, he was good as gold and I took them round a small course of jumps. I still wouldn't have classed him as suitable for novices in a full time home though as he is quick to suss you out and take the p*ss where possible. He went on loan to a riding school novice and it turned out girl was so petrified of him she only worked him in the top half of the school as "oh no he wont go down the other end", she never hacked him as he "took off with her" and refused to canter. Needless to say I took him back.

My mare is young so I knew would be green but the place I bought her from said she was a total beginners horse, any person could get on her and go. I got on and she tanked off with me. 6 circuits of the school before she stopped. :rolleyes:

A horse I was considering loaning, the mother made out the horse was a bit of a nightmare and almost dangerous but I went and saw him anyway and he was the sweetest thing. She'd gotten him on loan the month before for her 13yo daughter who had outgrown her 14hh connie (he was a 16.3 6yo TB!). I rode him 3 times and the only thing he did (which is why she classed him dangerous) was little bunnyhop bucks when mosquitos landed on his bum out hacking. Only reason I didnt get him was he went lame.

Everyone has different definitions of whats suitable for novices. It wouldnt put me off viewing a horse but I will always get the owner to ride first, and suss out if they are a really good, strong rider thus able to keep the horse more in check than I would be able to etc.
 
I wouldn't go and look at a horse that said that in its ad. I have ridden, hunted and competed all my life but I read it as a cop out for bad behaviour - napping/bucking whatever. I want straightforward now.
 
Tammytoo said:
To me, a novice is someone who may well be able to ride a riding school horse at walk, trot, canter and jump a small jump on a well schooled horse but given a horse that is not 100% safe and reliable, they would struggle to cope with anything unexpected. They would not have had the hours of experience on horses which could behave unexpectedly and would not have the experience to deal with problems out riding. My son's pony is 100% safe as far as we are concerned, but a novice would struggle with her as she is very sharp and has a tendancy to spook.

Someone could ride for years at their local riding school on lovely safe horses, but I would still consider them "novice" due to lack of experience with other horses.
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This. I would describe my boy as "not a novice ride" and although he is safe and not nasty he is, as you say, sharp and when he spooks he spooks BIG.

P
 
I would describe Ned as "Not a novice ride". I'm not the best or bravest rider, but I've come to know him slowly, so I can handle most things he throws at me.

He also has a walk and trot (sometimes small canters) girl on him and he really looks after her. But she's never and will never ride him alone, she always goes with the group after I've ridden him first.

I would not feel safe (not that I ever plan to sell!) selling him to anyone who I didn't think could manage him at this very very worst.
 
Novice to me means can't handle basic misbehaviour. That said a total clueless of my acquaintance was advertising wanted for not novice ride thinking it meant suitable for not very brave riders! When i've used it i've always had beginners ring up telling me they are not novice as can now canter. To me only just cantering still counts as beginner.
 
This is v interesting as need to advertise my Hampshire Warmblood (;-)) for a sharer soon. Because of her size (14hh) I am worried about attracting a lot of Nervous Nellys who haven't riden properly in years. I was going to use 'not novice ride' but think I might be better putting 'can be sharp/spooky & has been know to buck/throw a paddy so needs confident rider'

TBH I would rather have a not stylish but confident sharer than a beautiful rider who is nervous for my pony. Riding is possibly easier to improve than confidence especially on a sharp little pony.
 
The last horse I sold was a just-backed Section D Stallion, sold as a potential HOYs horse, eventually to a very nice and knowlegeable home. We advertised him as a Just backed section D stallion and 'Not a novice ride' One person rang up and asked why he was not a novice ride? I replied that he was a just backed stallion. But what are the issues that make him not a novice ride the potential purchaser wanted to know. I put her off and sold him to somebody else. I would have thought that just being a very green stallion would have put off novices but apparantly not, however by putting not a novice ride I managed to prevent us both from losing a day.
 
I wouldn't personally go and see one tbh, although previously I have BE'd (before it was called that) to intermediate. I've sold 2 with that caveat though, both with pretty serious quirks which made them...well... not for a novice really but also not for anyone lacking in confidence either. Bit of a catchall for anything from seriously cold backed to having the odd nap.
 
To me it simply means that the horse isn't a ploddy, super forgiving type. I dont take it as meaning that the horse needs a really experienced rider, just that it would need an effective, confident one. I class a novice as someone who simply doesn't have very many years experience and would probably suit a super safe sort of horse.
 
Clodagh said:
I wouldn't go and look at a horse that said that in its ad. I have ridden, hunted and competed all my life but I read it as a cop out for bad behaviour - napping/bucking whatever. I want straightforward now.
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Me too - it puts me off and I wouldn't call myself a Novice rider. However I might ring and ask what behaviour makes the horse "not novice".

"would suit a competition home" also suggests to me the horse is difficult.
 
i'm in the process of looking at the moment and whilst neither me or OH are novice - i dis-count most ads that say 'not novice ride'. Mainly because we just after something uncomplicated and straightforward to ride and like others have said, a lot of people tend to use this phrase now to describe a horse that needs a really experienced rider rather than just not suitable for beginner. The only ones really i've looked at further have been ex-racers as a lot of people ten to put that on their ads just because they're TB which having had one before wouldn't bother us.
 
I also get put off by adverts with the term "not a novice ride" although I've started asking sellers exactly what they mean as it varies wildly from one person to the next. I get the impression sellers that use it basically don't want to sell the horse to someone who's looking for their first horse or new to horses.

I spent my last lesson riding a broncing, bucking pony whose stable mate left the yard on a hack and she decided to misbehave! Cue me spending the next hour working her in an outline, lots of transitions in between her whinneying loudly and being a general madam. And I still class myself a novice!
 
I think on the whole it's a bit of a lazy term really used by people who don't know how or can't be bothered to write a decent ad. Instead of saying what the horse isn't or who he's not suitable for, how about saying what they are suitable for?

For example, I could put not a novice ride for my horse...but as you've all so clearly demonstrated this means different things to different people. Instead I would put something like: Ideal second horse, well suited to a confident and competent rider as he can be cheeky and a bit sharp at times.

And yes the above could still be open to differing interpretation. By that I mean someone who's been at a riding school for a few years may well think they are a competent rider but my horse would not be suitable for them, hence my clarification that he is an ideal second horse. Or people could think that "a bit cheeky and little sharp" = raving nutter!

That being said I really don't think a lot of people even read ads properly anyway! *rolls eyes*
 
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