Roughly how long should a riding school pupil

[eahotson]

Be at riding school, having regular lessons take to reach a standard of riding when they are ready for their first own horse.? I ask because I have seen a couple who have been riding school BHS ones etc. for a couple of years.They have been walking, trotting, cantering and even popping the odd small jump.When you watch them ride though, its obvious that they have very little balance and the smallest unexpected thing will cause them to fall off.They are not stupid people, they have just been taught (or not) incredibly badly.I know not all of us aspire to be Carl Hesters or John Whitakers but most of us want to be reasonably safe surely.

 

[sandi_84]

I would say in skill level as to riding it depends on what horse you are looking to buy but there is a LOT more to owning a horse than just being able to ride. I would expect they should be able to walk/trot/canter/small jumps be able to cope with the unexpected and be balanced and have good control though.

 

[annaellie]

It depends on the indvidual, I remember teaching a little girl who picked it up like a duck to water, but then another girl who I taught had been having lessons for two years and helping on rs so getting free lessons too, she was awful

 

[sarahann1]

Honestly, very difficult to answer this, so many variables involved. I would say it depends on the:

Riding school
Instructors
Horses available
Dedication of the rider
Element of natural ability within the rider
Confidence as a rider

As someone who came through riding schools I'm still very much a novice and I really wish I'd learnt on privately owned horses alongside riding school horses, but thats only because of my own experience. Other people may have very different view.

 

[Tinsel Trouble]

I think that of they are willing to learn, have the support of a good instructor, lots of enthusiasm and have picked the right horse then who are we to judge them when they want their own horse?!

 

[Kaylum]

you never learn to ride until you get your own horse. But people just dont understand there is more to owning a horse than riding for a start. We used to give stable management lessons which included pasture management.

As for balance and safety its up to them to think they are getting value for money but many dont see that until they change schools and realise how bad they have been taught.

 

[BringoutheBest]

I've been wondering about all this lately as well. I only know one riding school in my area (am not very in with it all ) and the vast majority of people who ride there - just can not ride! They can have been there up to 8 years and they still just "sit on" a horse. I was like that until I left and got my own - and certainly everything seemed to start working despite the fact I wasn't having lessons anymore! I think there will always be such a huge leap from riding school to own horse - as a riding school horse and situation more often than not just can not simulate what horse ownership is like. Which also means as horse owners we should probably be more encouraging to novices making this next huge step. (obviously lots of horse owners are wonderful, kind and help out loads etc - but I know I do occasionally fall into "complete snob" cateogry where riding school riders are concerned - I really need to get out of that mindset!
To me it seems as though riding school horses are just so stiff a lot of the time (I suppose due to a lot of incorrect riding, and in the case I know - incorrect tack, poor feeding) that it is very hard to learn to really sit and ride into their back and ride independently. As a riding school rider maybe there is less choice but to just "sit on top."

I know that doesn't really answer the question and I may be completely off the mark (and in NO WAY am I saying ALL riding schools are like this, or ALL riders - just in my VERY limited experience of one riding school )
- So don't pounce on me - I am completely open to opposing opinions, I just thought I'd share my thoughts!

 

[MerrySherryRider]

The most successful RS riders who made the transition to private ownership where the people who had an instructor I know who either sold them or helped them to find suitable horses, kept on livery at his yard until they eventually moved on.
For first time owners making the transition from RS riding, finding a yard where the YO is actively involved as a mentor seems to make a lot of difference.

 

[Tash88]

Like others have said, it really depends on the riding school and the effort that the pupil puts in. I think my riding school showed that the effort you put in is important, as there were things that you could do optionally to improve your ability, many people chose not to and there was a real divide between the kids who genuinely loved horses and wanted to improve and get their own eventually, and those who just wanted to sit around eating sweets (there was a little shop on-site), whose parents made them go horse riding as some sort of status activity.

At my yard we went every week, according to which group we were in (choice, not level) we mucked out and learnt about stable management (unofficial exams taken) one week and rode the next week - lessons in the school (generally flatwork) during the winter as I went on a weekday evening and hacking in the summer. There was the option of going all day in the school holidays and helping the staff if you'd passed a certain exam, usually you would get to ride as well, of course I did all that! I think that was a really good set up for actually teaching kids about the commitment that horses need, bot just riding them. I have to say some of the instruction wasn't great as not all instructors were properly qualified, but some of the horses were quite challenging and that probably made a difference.

I left the riding school and got a share horse when I was 18 (bought my own 18 months later), as I couldn't get my own horse until I could drive. I was ok when I got him, as I had experience riding friends' horses, as well as horses in France (parents have a house there so I helped at a riding school) which were quite nutty sometimes! I did find that having your own horse is completely different though, mainly the fact that you are completely responsible for that horse's way of going and if he misbehaves, that is probably down to you.

I think the transition can be made, but only if the RS school pupil is modest and realises the challenge of having a horse and the responsibility involved. I've seen some disastrous cases of ex-RS pupils getting horses and not having a clue, and being rather lazy as well.

 

[blood_magik]

my first horse taught me to ride properly
I'd been riding for 5 years when I got him but I was under the watchful eye of my instructor so wasn't allowed to mess about

 

[Pearlsasinger]

IME, the best RS's are the ones where there is a range of horses, which are not just used for teaching but also go out competing in various disciplines/ hunting/etc. The RI's should also be involved in a wide range of activities, competing, judging (preferably in affiliated comps), hunting, RDA etc. As others have said, once you've found a good RS, then it depends on the rider and the horse they buy when it is the right time.
Our 1st horse, who was not a challenging ride, certainly taught me and my sister how to look after a horse properly. We had been riding for about 5 yrs before we got him.

 

[Burnttoast]

you never learn to ride until you get your own horse.

Well, this isn't strictly true. I've never had my own horse, but I can ride, well enough at one stage to have sole charge warming up and hacking out GP dressage horses as part of my job. So it can be done. Some of the people I know who own horses could perhaps have done with a bit more learning first, as they don't seem to be improving with their own to hand seven days a week (rather the reverse in some cases).

I'm not sure how much hacking most RS riders get these days. When I first learnt, aged 8, I was hacking in a string as soon as I was competent to do so, and when I moved to having lessons at a private yard where the daughter (an AI) taught on a borrowed pony, I did a lot of hacking - and she had no school, so I rode in a large field otherwise. It is this kind of varied experience that I suspect RS riders lack these days, and this is why (along with lunge lessons apparently being deeply unfashionable) their balance and ability to deal with the unexpected are not as good as they might be. Whether this improves when they have their own horse depends on a) the horse they buy and b) their willingness to find and make use of a good instructor.

 

[katastrophykat]

i was a riding school child for years (from 8-19) and rode anything i was given the chance to! my first school ran shows, we could hire a pony and choose our own classes etc, and ran hacks and stable management. I got there at 9am and left at 4pm on saturdays and helped out doing anything they would let me do!

When i outgrew that school at about 14, i went to another local centre where they ran a horseball team, BHS exams, the BHS team competitions for riders without horses (same as the uni comps for those who were on uni teams, 10 mins warm up and a dressage test and 1m SJ course- Equitation jumping!) so i rode everything from the demented and very fit horseball team, to the ponies being a pain and everything new that came in and had a pretty face and we had a high turnover of horses, so not many riding school plods there! it brought me on very quickly, i vaulted there for a few years and hacked out as back marker for other rides on the horses that werent used in the school that needed exercising.

once i could drive, i joined the advanced jumping lesson (only 'school' person with the liveries so had my pick of horses!) and managed a year where i didnt have to stay on the ground at all! i jumped my first 5' hedge on their horses (last time i turn a young hunter into a hedge to stop it ) My instructors were fantastic, taught me lateral work, how to work a horse rather than sit on it, how to fall (!) and how to adjust my riding to whatever i was on at the time... and how to find brakes XC when i put the wrong bridle on a horse- 'you put it in a snaffle, you ride it in a snaffle'- the mare in question had an iron gob and went xc in a gag normally. all lessons learned- i didnt put the wrong one on twice!

As soon as i was in a position to buy my own, i was straight back there and bought my favorite mare and took her to the other end of the country... and dont regret a second of it!

 

[sj_mad]

I was at a riding school for about 5years but learnt to ride at a trekking centre, I then started showing fell ponies in hand and used to help out looking after them, then I also helped show a welsh D under saddle I got my own horse aged 15 when my dad thought I was old enough to look after it myself as neither of my parents are horsey. I think if id just stayed at the riding school my riding skills and knowledge would be nowhere near as good, you need to get out and about in the 'real world' and get all sorts of experience