should I let someone else take on my horse this season

HKJ

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Hi, Im sure Im in the same situation as a lot of people, lack of time to ride, (not ridden any of my horses since October) due to work commitments and lack of falcilities close to home.

I have a very talented young event mare whom I coached along slowly last year and she exceed all our expectations. I have come to realise that I just wont get the time this year to do her any justice at all - so I think Id like someone to carry on with what I've started. I know she'll go up the grades quickly as she is super bold and very intelligent - now she needs 'milage'!

Im not interested in selling her, and even though she has blood lines to die for, Ill not put her in foal (yet).

Ive had people ride for me before, but schooling, dressage, showing and show jumping - but never eventing.

Ive looked at some young rider profiles and cant decide if she will be better off with one of them instead of a 'pro'.

Does anyone have any ideas of how to 'get' a rider (eventer) and how much it costs ect. She is on full livery at the moment, and I have 3 other horses to play with while she is away (one is 2 year old TB, one is my 18 year old, and the other is a tiny pony)

Suggestions/ideas/advise/experiances please :)
 

HKJ

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I'm on the Isle of Wight, I was based in hampshire until about 3 years ago. I know she will have to go to the main land, but we do have to travel there for competitions and schooling anyway.
 

seabsicuit2

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I would make a list of people and watch their riding on youtube& see who you like. Also see which riders can keep their horses sound& improving as they years go by,so you don't want someone who has a high turnover of horses ( unless they are being successfully sold on!!) the wrong person could break the horse- which is so important as they are all so fragile. You've got to have someone that has the right sort of management program .
I love Lucienne Elm's riding, she has a small professional set up& is in Hampshire.
 

mightymouse

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I had to find someone to event my young stallion last year. I asked on HHO for some suggestions and looking at the short list I drew up I chose someone just over an hour away.

Although it wasnt a disaster it certainly wasnt the right choice for me or my boy. He came home as planned for some stud duties & I started looking for a better choice before things went very wrong.

I eventually chose a young rider who was based with a more experienced rider about 3 hours away. Although not totally ideal for watching him at every show I did get to 2 out of 3 BE events in the 2nd half of the season.

With my experiences I would certainly recommend that you watch people at events as well as at home as this was were I found out more about my choices than at home.

Also distance shouldnt always be an important factor when choosing as I found.

We are extremely happy with our 2nd choice & looking forward to my boy going back next month. It will be a little tricky re his covering season but he does love competing & needs to prove himself so we will manage.

Good luck in your search
 

Luci07

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Maybe think about your own aims for your mare, then think about the sort of setup you would be really happy with. So, maybe distance is a consideration, maybe you want to look at your mare doing 2* this year (as a guide), perhaps you would prefer a rider who doesn't have say 10 horses out as want to know yours is important to the rider. My personal preference would perhaps be for someone who has a record of producing on young horses well not taking over rides. I always found that talking to my vet or my saddler ( mine is Ellie Martin, think she goes to the Isle of Wight if I remember correctly) and get the inside scoop. They won't put down a yard but do tend to be enthusiastic about they ones the rate!
 

HKJ

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Thank you for all the advise :)

I would defiantly quiz any prospective rider on EVERYTHING to do with the care, training, feeding, tack ect. And I will go through the BE lists to look at results and the amount of horses they have ridden.

Yes Ellie does come to the island, mum uses her. I tend to use TDS and have done for years, but I have met and chatted to Ellie about my girl just over a year ago now, and she was very informative and we liked her.

Most of the people who work on the island (farriers, vets, saddles ect) only know island people and I'd rather she went to the mainland anyway.

I'm not too worried about distance from the island as I'm used to traveling anyway :) but would require regular updates.

The time off has done her the world of good and she has matured again over the winter. I think I will keep my eyes open and watch for a suitable rider for her, and when I get a chance to start her working again so at least I can see someone else ride her before I let her go.

If anyone has any other suggestions, they are very welcome :)
 

Luci07

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Thank you for all the advise :)

I would defiantly quiz any prospective rider on EVERYTHING to do with the care, training, feeding, tack ect. And I will go through the BE lists to look at results and the amount of horses they have ridden.

Yes Ellie does come to the island, mum uses her. I tend to use TDS and have done for years, but I have met and chatted to Ellie about my girl just over a year ago now, and she was very informative and we liked her.

Most of the people who work on the island (farriers, vets, saddles ect) only know island people and I'd rather she went to the mainland anyway.

I'm not too worried about distance from the island as I'm used to traveling anyway :) but would require regular updates.

The time off has done her the world of good and she has matured again over the winter. I think I will keep my eyes open and watch for a suitable rider for her, and when I get a chance to start her working again so at least I can see someone else ride her before I let her go.

If anyone has any other suggestions, they are very welcome :)

You know it would be worth talking to Ellie. While she is uber discreet about where she goes yard wise, I know she goes to a lot of event yards and good names in the SE. I have known Ellie for over 10 years and she is now a good friend but I would still struggle to tell you where she goes! She won't bad mouth or even offer anything negative but think she might well be in a good position to suggest some good options.
 

HKJ

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Yes I will contact her for some advise on who would suit my girl and me. I'll also see when she is coming over to the island as all mine will need to be checked over before I start to get them back into shape one at a time...

Thanks Luci!
 

Luci07

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Yes I will contact her for some advise on who would suit my girl and me. I'll also see when she is coming over to the island as all mine will need to be checked over before I start to get them back into shape one at a time...

Thanks Luci!

No problem.... Wonder how long it will take for the penny to drop when you say Luci suggested you speak to her...

Soon as I am working again, I will be putting money back into saving for the new SJ bespoke saddle Ellie can make for me too!
 
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