Should novice riders be banned?

[tallyho!]

Hey! I find dis offensive. 😂 I sound nuttin' lik dat.

Oh my god I literally have Maura off of Love Island talking to me in my head!!!!

 

[OldNag]

Ok so we have established, I think, that only experienced riders should own proper horses.

Everyone else should stick to cobs until they have at least gained their BHSI.

What do we then decide about children? You can't trust cobs with children obvs as they will just eat them.

So what do we seem suitable for a novice child (once they have attained their Pony Club A test they could move onto a something "proper").

I fear Shetlands offer much the same issues as cobs (eating everything in their path etc) so what's the alternative?

 

[blitznbobs]

Ok so we have established, I think, that only experienced riders should own proper horses.

Everyone else should stick to cobs until they have at least gained their BHSI.

What do we then decide about children? You can't trust cobs with children obvs as they will just eat them.

So what do we seem suitable for a novice child (once they have attained their Pony Club A test they could move onto a something "proper").

I fear Shetlands offer much the same issues as cobs (eating everything in their path etc) so what's the alternative?

Children should only be allowed to ride once their parents have gained at least one Olympic medal and a doctorate in horse management - obviously

 

[tallyho!]

Children should only be allowed to ride once their parents have gained at least one Olympic medal and a doctorate in horse management - obviously

No no no... I disagree... only once the parents have tamed a herd of pink fluffy unicorns.


(That can dance on rainbows obvs.)

 

[milliepops]

OMG the earworm!!!!

 

[TheBear1983]

Is there an argument to be had that if you restrict the opportunities to progress for novice riders, that the pool of capable riders will narrow and you will actually increase the number of incapable riders?
Everyone was a learner once... the feeling of being left behind and falling back into the saddle, holding the reins and struggling to balance - what if someone had said we couldn't own our own or have access to learn anymore? Whoever started out totally capable? Is there anyone who hasn't at some point through incompetency jabbed a rein or dropped into the saddle? Let the rider with the spotless technique throw the first horse poo

 

[rascal]

I see worse horsemanship by 'competent' riders who bit up, spur and whip their horses and over-jump them. Novices wobble around on kind and patient animals at walk or trot. They generally have long reins and they generally don't ask very much of the horses. I doubt the animals are bothered.

This is true, i once saw a very well known show jumper at a show in Birmingham. He had a refusal in the ring, and and when ha left the arena gave his poor horse a few yanks on his reins and hit it with his whip several times. No amount of passing exams will stop this sort of behaviour

 

[maisie06]

I get what you’re saying but you could literally say that about anything in life...... what about prospective parents getting a qualification in parenting before they have kids or prospective dog owners learning how to care for a dog before they can own one. We were all beginners once and I’m guessing that most of us learnt to ride on real ponies and not simulators?

This, I think humans should have to pass an IQ test, have a basic income of 30k per year, and own their own home before being allowed to have kids!! And no I don't have kids, due to not wanting to pass on my poor looks and not having enough cash to raise them properly!!

Horses and novices, well, I have given up riding due to money lack of and weight issues - too much!! But hmmmmm we all have to start somewhere, I always was a novive rider But, I'm good on the ground and good at looking after them but rubbish at riding them, so could I have a general licence so I could just own a gentle oldie and look after him until the end of his days, not all of us want to ride!!

 

[Auslander]

Is there an argument to be had that if you restrict the opportunities to progress for novice riders, that the pool of capable riders will narrow and you will actually increase the number of incapable riders?
Everyone was a learner once... the feeling of being left behind and falling back into the saddle, holding the reins and struggling to balance - what if someone had said we couldn't own our own or have access to learn anymore? Whoever started out totally capable? Is there anyone who hasn't at some point through incompetency jabbed a rein or dropped into the saddle? Let the rider with the spotless technique throw the first horse poo

I think you need to re-read the post - and perhaps look at Shilasdairs previous posts. She has form...

 

[cobgoblin]

Is there an argument to be had that if you restrict the opportunities to progress for novice riders, that the pool of capable riders will narrow and you will actually increase the number of incapable riders?
Everyone was a learner once... the feeling of being left behind and falling back into the saddle, holding the reins and struggling to balance - what if someone had said we couldn't own our own or have access to learn anymore? Whoever started out totally capable? Is there anyone who hasn't at some point through incompetency jabbed a rein or dropped into the saddle? Let the rider with the spotless technique throw the first horse poo

But, but,.. We were all perfect from day one!

** lobs piles of cob poo in all directions **

.

 

[JFTDWS]

I think you need to re-read the post - and perhaps look at Shilasdairs previous posts. She has form...

When you get a bite, you don't tell the fish that this fly doesn't quite look like the natural counterparts...

 

[Shilasdair]

To be honest, I was kind of making a serious point - that many small/skinny/light riders are so busy 'fat-shaming' taller/curvier/heavier riders that they overlook the fact that they are terrible riders who should be dragged off a horse and slapped with a wet fish.

 

[Shilasdair]

Is there an argument to be had that if you restrict the opportunities to progress for novice riders, that the pool of capable riders will narrow and you will actually increase the number of incapable riders?
Everyone was a learner once... the feeling of being left behind and falling back into the saddle, holding the reins and struggling to balance - what if someone had said we couldn't own our own or have access to learn anymore? Whoever started out totally capable? Is there anyone who hasn't at some point through incompetency jabbed a rein or dropped into the saddle? Let the rider with the spotless technique throw the first horse poo

Yes, I agree. I've taught many a novice rider in my time. My favourites were always the older people who had longed to ride all their lives - but were only just able to access the opportunity in their later years. Lovely, caring, thinking novices.

 

[JFTDWS]

To be honest, I was kind of making a serious point - that many small/skinny/light riders are so busy 'fat-shaming' taller/curvier/heavier riders that they overlook the fact that they are terrible riders who should be dragged off a horse and slapped with a wet fish.

I'm absolutely with you on that.

 

[pansymouse]

I see worse horsemanship by 'competent' riders who bit up, spur and whip their horses and over-jump them. Novices wobble around on kind and patient animals at walk or trot. They generally have long reins and they generally don't ask very much of the horses. I doubt the animals are bothered.

I agree. Some of the most shocking riding I've seen is from a Pony Club display team who were sawing at the horses mouths some much I had to walk away. I'm ashamed that I didn't find the organiser and make my feels known.

 

[scruffyponies]

Have you ever ridden a mechanical bull?

I had a go on one in Berlin last year... it was quite good fun, but no match for a Welsh pony, so he stopped it and I got off

 

[Keith_Beef]

I had a go on one in Berlin last year... it was quite good fun, but no match for a Welsh pony, so he stopped it and I got off

The only place I got the chance to ride on one was at "The Moor the Merrier", I think it must have been about 1983 or 1984... I had three goes on it, it was that good, and hardly anybody else dared try it.

 

[Rumtytum]

Yes, I agree. I've taught many a novice rider in my time. My favourites were always the older people who had longed to ride all their lives - but were only just able to access the opportunity in their later years. Lovely, caring, thinking novices.

I hope (at least I’m trying to be) one of those caring, thinking older novices

 

[Reacher]

I’m off to eat chocolate and cake in order to improve my riding 🍰

 

[Skib]

Mary Wannless has a despairing description of the worst novice rider on the slowest horse wandering along at the back of the class with a mutual agreement that neither would trouble the other. That was me. I had full understanding with that horse. And it turned out that's what much of riding is about.

 

[Auslander]

To be honest, I was kind of making a serious point - that many small/skinny/light riders are so busy 'fat-shaming' taller/curvier/heavier riders that they overlook the fact that they are terrible riders who should be dragged off a horse and slapped with a wet fish.

That is very true. I fall (heavily) into the latter category, but I am very mindful of what horses I ride, and what I do with them when I'm on them. Have recently disposed of a livery who was very small and light, and made much of how much she adored her elderly pony - but rode the poor (angelic) creature in a twisted snaffle and spurs, and was regularly spotted "schooling" it by yanking and see-sawing. One of the many reasons she is no longer on my yard

 

[laura_nash]

I disagree. The hard part for the horse is the real beginner. They have to get up there to start with! they have to repeat and repeat to learn how to control landing on the horse's back. They have to learn to sit there and get the idea of being up on a horse, do "around the world" generally move their bodies around until they get acclimatised. Kids may learn that quickly but adults take a lot longer and provide a lot more discomfort for the horse. How much easier for them (and the horse) for them to use a basic simulator to learn the very basics rather than be dragged round on a leading rein trying to get everything at once. As for the horse spooking real beginners are a long way off worrying about that.
Some of the Heather Moffett videos showing trotting and cantering on her simulators and they seem to be pretty good and realistic.
I have always thought that with a good selection of simulators (basic to very realistic) on one side of the riding lessons and then horse handling/leading the horse type exercises/ recognising horse behaviour on the other side of the lesson beginners could learn quite a lot about horses and riding without causing the horse too much discomfort and could progress more quickly.

Some years ago I had a weekend with Heather Moffett riding her simulators. There was a young man riding a welsh cob in the school, we were all admiring his seat. She told us he'd only been riding independantly for one week, arrived as a non-rider, did 2-3 weeks daily on the simulators (can't remember exactly), then a couple more weeks on the lunge. Oh and the horse did spook and he didn't fall off.

 

[Shilasdair]

Simulators do not give a true feel though - they lack momentum. In rising trot, it's the horse's forward movement that creates the rise, on a simulator, you need to haul yourself forward in a completely different way.
Yes, simulators have their place in teaching correct position, but they are not very realistic.