Riding on your own/Riding with others.....

Supertrooper

Supertrooper

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Which do you prefer?

I've gone from riding in a field, often on my own to riding in an indoor school, often with others and today people warming up for a SJ competition.

It's very different, I've reached the age where I don't really care what people think of my riding but I suppose a bit of me thinks people are judging me, I know I can ride but would never think I'm a good rider ;-)
 
Well.......... up until relatively recently I'd only ever, in the main, ridden by myself. Simply because that due to my job at the time (emergency services) I was always working when other people weren't (and vice versa) so got into the habit of riding solo simply because there was never anyone else around to ride with!!!

I could probably count the times I'd ridden out in company within a twenty-year time-span, on just 10 fingers and still have some spare!!!! I didn't keep my horse at a "yard" as such, and frankly just preferred going at my own pace rather than either having to crawl along with nervous riders OR have to hoon around just because you didn't want to hold the faster riders up!!

But recently that's changed: job has changed; I've got two horses now (one on loan) and have a lovely friend who I ride out with every weekend (and more during holidays etc when she's free), and it IS lovely to be able - for once! - be social and go riding with someone else. The horses love it too. We've had some lovely rides - both have kept horses in the past in different locations locally, so both know different areas well and are enjoying showing each other our old fave rides!!

But I still try to get each horse out on their own each week; nothing like hacking solo to get a horse properly "listening" to the rider IMO.
 
Mostly i ride alone.....i like it. Although i did make some hacking friends last year and we do have some nice long hacks complete with hip flask. If I'm honest its been really good for my youngest project to get him out in company too.
I do like schooling out on hacks and trying to improve my tiding, and i find when i ride with friends i just end up slobbing and chatting :)
 
I like hacking with others but schooling I wouldn't be able to concentrate if I had to share a school all the time, much prefer doing it in the field and being able to concentrate and not feel watched. I think it is quite rude on livery yards when people just come and watch you riding!
 
Every time I ride there are about 10-15 others in the arena (don't ask!) and I've been riding like that every week for the past 6 years (excluding hacking of course), so I suppose it would be weird for me to ride by myself! Would be lovely though...
 
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