What ‘type’ of rider/riding style do you think you are?

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rpcdp

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As in, what do you think another rider would ‘feel’ if they got on your horse? 🤔 Had a conversation today with a professional rider who mentioned feeling the way a horse has been ridden by it’s usual rider. Made me think about how my riding has affected my pony, so just curious how anyone else feels! 😂
 
Mine has only ever had me ride him for any length of time, he has had a few people borrow him if they need an extra horse which he has tolerated until the last 12 months, he now gets really arsey if anybody different gets on him , so I guess they would feel he is awkward and not at all willing to go forward, which he can be with me but I can somehow manage him , we have a unique way of going between us😄
 
Both of mine are sensitive and very quick off your leg which makes me think that I don't use a lot of leg when I ride and I do usually try to sit quietly. They are both very responsive to your voice. One of them is beautifully schooled (not due to me!) and the other is quite green but I am hoping with hard work she will get there.

Downsides would be they both have a strong tendency to go on their forehand (as I think I ride with my reins too long and not quite 'up' enough), and they occasionally lack discipline in transitions as I do let them get away with bad ones!
 
mine is VERY hot and quick off the aids, he's also light and easy in the contact so anyone that kicked, nagged or fiddled would just get sent orbital i think.

he's small but you have to ride him like a big powerful WB,hes got a super nature but he wouldn't let anyone take that for granted.

he's also only used to my long legs so a shorty might take him a bit to get used to lol!
 
I’m a fairly quiet relaxed (lazy!) rider, so I get on well with sensitive forward thinking horses, although I’m not brave enough for them these days.

I was having a lesson with a BHSII/list 2 judge on the late maxicob. She hopped on him, then hopped off him again pretty quickly! She told me that I ‘made a very difficult horse look a lot easier that he was’. She had jammed her legs on, as she expected all her horses to accept this, and expected him to deal with it. He didn’t.

We parted ways soon after, as she wouldn't change her fixed ideas on what aids a horse should accept.
 
Depends which one they got on. My two ridden horses are like chalk and cheese - one is very forward and the other much more leisurely. I suppose they are both quite light in the mouth.

The only vaguely noticeable thing about me as a rider is that I tend to make everything I train kind of horizontal. So if someone was used to something spooky and sharp then they'd probably find mine kind of different I guess.

Interesting question
 
It depends which one you sit on. Jeff is very light in all aids and on the hands. Gray takes a bit more leg - not kicking or flapping just on a bit stronger but again very light on the hands. Actually my dartyis the same. I ride with more seat and leg than hand. You can pick up the reins on them but you don't need to beyond looking pretty in the ring.

My horses at work are like chalk and cheese. People get on the Reprobate and think 'Oh El rides him he must be a bus' and he promptly buggers off with them! You need to grab a good hold of him - he likes taking you up the gallops, and down them! Big Bad Boris has 2 ways of going - buckle end doing bugger all or you grab him up, put your leg on and have a horse that takes you up the gallops. You can rile him up and have a hyperactive bouncy ball if you wanted!

But generally I would say I ride with more seat/leg than anything else.
 
Mine is light and sensitive, sharp and quick moving, and a bit of a mummys boy, whenever my sister has ridden him he grinds his teeth and acts like he is being tortured. I think as a rider I'm sensitive but a bit lazy and undisciplined, so I think decent riders would find him fun and light and easy to ride, but would probably get a lot more out of him than i do. I play around without reins a lot so he listens a lot to voice, body weight and touches to neck or behind saddle, which might be buttons that other people aren't expecting.
 
I'm totally different on both mine. Archie is a thug so I have to ride him really strongly as if you give him an inch he'll take several miles. M on the other hand is so polite and responsive I ride him very politely. I've been told if I rode M the way I ride A we'd be world beaters but I can't bring myself to do it and I think he'd go to pieces! They both get ridden by other people. Arch will take the mick out of his sharer in the school and do what I call his tank trot - he just goes everywhere in trot at top speed never breaks into canter but doesn't want to stop either. It's what he did to me when I first had him before I got to grips with him properly (not literally!) M is much much lazier for his owner's 12yr old son. He (M) only does the bare minimum and my friend's son doesn't yet have the strength in his legs to make M feel he has to co-operate. Again, M was like this when I first started riding him. Flatwork didn't inspire him but enough insisting he did it properly means he now does it properly first off as it's the easiest option. I like to think I've improved them both!
 
Both my horse and a horse I regularly ride would probably come across feeling a bit 'unexploded bomb'. They're not, they're just very off the aids because I'm too lazy to have something I need to keep my leg on all the time. They're both also used to having a level of compromise, neither does particularly well with being ridden strictly. Again, my laziness probably causes that 🙈 I think a leisure rider who wants a play would find them pleasant. A competitive or strict rider who wants 'this' and 'now' possibly wouldn't get on with them (especially my mare). A more novice or nervous rider would probably get off because they feel reactive (I consider myself a nervousish rider, but I know the horses 😂)
 
Laid back ;)

I think they're the sort of horses you can get on and expect them to be generally polite, mannerly, sensible and adaptable (in that they're accepting of different styles / disciplines / expectations). They all have a reasonable level of schooling, Fergus more than the others. So I'd say that makes me the sort of rider who values manners, probably.

But you might get a more realistic view if you ask one of the many forumers who've ridden mine!
 
A horse who's used to negotiating! We normally both want to do the same thing, so I don't have to tell her much. She's pretty responsive - enough to surprise people who've hopped on her - but if she doesn't want to do something, she'll argue with you every step of the way.
 
Yes it's an interesting question. I find it very interesting to ride other people's horses too ;)

Not many people have ridden Kira. I have taught a friend on her once, she was learning lateral work and K is very established so she had a bit of a play running through various things. She was surprised by the size of her movement and how sensitive she was. I guess as she is a short arse she may look like she has ponyish paces but she throws you about quite a bit. She's also rather strong :oops: which my trainer remarked upon when he rode her in the spring! There's no point artificially shaking her off the contact, if you want the hindlegs engaged she gets very positive in the hand.
Anyway, what kind of rider am I with her? Accommodating ;) she has to have the last word or she won't play. If someone with very black and white opinions rode her, she would just nap.

Not sure there's a lot to say about Darcy yet. I think another rider would feel the same that I do, which is that the basics are coming along but the brain is a little way behind. He is getting to be fairly supple and reasonably nice in the contact, and he knows about the outside rein and lateral aids so I think another rider would find him fairly standard in that way. Or they would if they also rode horses like that... I realise that not everyone does ;)
 
What I do find amusing is when people have exracers and wont let anyone else ride them because "they are the only ones to have ever ridden them properly" eh naw! They would have had their main person riding them most days but until that main person is found every Tom, Dick Or Harry would be on them! Some never find their person and swop about a lot. And then the jockeys hop on at the races probably never having even clapped eyes on the horse before!

MP I am defos not saying this is you! But it is a common theme when people first start showing them and worry about having a ride judge on them 🤣😂
 
lol! Oh no I'd be more than happy to let anyone (who could cling on) ride him :) I am a bit precious about Kira because her brain is wonky but none of my others are like that.


change that, please please someone else come and ride him!! we're going through a tricky patch :p I would be happy to have a crash test dummy for a bit and just watch from the sidelines :eek::oops:;)


any takers.....? o_O
 
Yep it’s definitely interesting anyway and makes you think about your riding 😬
My one is 10 but has basically been in and out of work her whole life due to her previous owner, so she’s still fairly green in a lot of ways and tbh I find her tough at the best of times 😆 I’ve ridden her since she was a breaker though and eventually bought her a few years ago so we’re very much in tune despite a lot of arguing! I ride with an injury as well so I think she accomodates and compensates for me a lot more than I think, so someone else getting up would probably feel a bit ‘off’ on her and she them. She’s super downhill naturally and leans heavily to avoid contact, she had a little jaw problem that needs dentist regularly so I find myself being soft on her mouth but try to use plenty of leg to compensate 🙈😆 I think a pro rider would lose their shit with her AND me tbh! Anyone leisurely or young riders it depends on the day, she has been sweet and done pony rides for kids but is a bit of a narky mare sometimes and can be very bold so not for the nervous rider anyway! I like to think I’m laid back but firm enough with her. On her good days she’s great and it’s been a long road for a pony you couldn’t even get a headcollar on as a 7yo so I’m pleased anytime we progress 😄
 
Can I rectify my answer to - full of bad habits due to riding racehorses too long!?!?! Stirrups too short, tilt forwards, rarely ride with my feet in stirrups, ride one handed on the buckle end quite a lot, etc etc 🤣😂

MP I would happily pop along for a shot but your a wee bitty too far away 😂🤣
 
I rarely get on anyone else's horse without feeling that it has the lateral flexibility of a plank. So I guess I require more lateral flexibility than some other people. My hands are too busy but I think I'm pretty functional. I want my horses pretty sharp and I'd expect them to feel too buzzy for a lot of riders.

MP I wish we were closer, I would love to swap a ride on your bouncing little fellow for my daisy cutter TB and see what happens.

.
 
I am hypermobile, so riding exhausts me and I easily damage fingers/shoulders/any other joint that feels like it. I train my horses to go off my seat, with minimal leg/hand pressure. It makes them grumpy with people who pull and kick (how rude!) and if you drop a seat bone in the wrong place you'll get something you didn't ask for!

I also correct problems by making sure what I am asking for is easy for the horse (by doing exercises to increase flexibility for example), rather than using force to make them do what I ask. So if you try to force something, they will also not be impressed!
 
maya2008 said:
I am hypermobile, so riding exhausts me and I easily damage fingers/shoulders/any other joint that feels like it. I train my horses to go off my seat, with minimal leg/hand pressure. It makes them grumpy with people who pull and kick (how rude!) and if you drop a seat bone in the wrong place you'll get something you didn't ask for!

I also correct problems by making sure what I am asking for is easy for the horse (by doing exercises to increase flexibility for example), rather than using force to make them do what I ask. So if you try to force something, they will also not be impressed!
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I think I identify with your riding style the most 🤣 I try to use seat & lower leg and work on any issues gradually, and my girl despite her attitude is so much more accomodating and patient with my injury than I give her grumpy ass enough credit for, so I think she would find a ‘pushier’ rider difficult. 😇😆
 
Funnily enough my friend and I met up for a hack a week or two ago and randomly decided to swap horses. She lasted 2 minutes on Brieze before begging to swap back! Brieze is perfect for me and I'd rather ride her than any other horse on the planet, but she is not for the faint of heart.
She has absolutely zero patience, particularly for people who faff around. It's get on and go or get off and give up with her and that's fine by me. I'm used to her and she is used to me. She has only had a handful of other riders on her since I backed her as a 4yo, that was almost 11 years ago.

I think that other people would say that she was rude, but in reality she's the most honest horse I've ever met and is full of enthusiasm and zeal that is difficult to manage if you don't know what you're doing or aren't 100% confident, I've just learned to pick my battles wisely. She gives me confidence and I'd honestly sit on anything now and have no fear, but fortunately I also have nil interest whatsoever in riding other people's horses :D
 
milliepops said:
change that, please please someone else come and ride him!! we're going through a tricky patch :p I would be happy to have a crash test dummy for a bit and just watch from the sidelines :eek::oops:;)
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I miss riding my TB so very, very much. Her antics brightened even the darkest day. She used to turn herself inside out if not in enough work/given enough turnout, bucking and plunging - but all in fun, I rarely came off. Always so full of the joy of being alive!
 
Both of mine are not particularly off the leg but they weren’t when I bought them so not really down to my training. They’re definitely better than they were but are pretty economical with the effort they’ll put in. I remember watching a Carl Hester clinic online and him saying along the lines of that you need to use less leg with a lazy horse and more with a sharper one. I’m sure that’s a bit of a basic interpretation though. Younger horse is not particularly patient and doesn’t like the whip being used behind the leg very much. I’m working on him accepting it as an aid.

One thing I do really notice is that both my boys are a pleasure to handle compared to many horses and despite me thinking my old boy is a bit stiff he’s 10 times more supple and responsive than most other horses I’ve sat on.
 
Interesting discussion this.

Someone who had been Head Girl to an Olympic rider rode each of my two oldies and we just went for a hack together; on each occasion I sat back on my other horse and just watched.

Both horses were totally transformed. That has got to be ONE time that I wished with all my heart that I'd had the foresight to buy myself a head-cam.............

Just amazing.
 
Interesting discussion. I think of myself and J as very laid back - we both function on economy 7 setting! Most people on the yard tell me that their horses are much sharper/more reactive/better trained than J, although on the few times I've ridden any of these sets of 4legs I've always found them rather laid back and nothing like the paragons of excitement they'd been suggested to be. Perhaps I don't know the right questions to ask or perhaps I have a cold bum :D

I'm also amused that if I ever hack with the other "better schooled" horses, J and I are always volunteered give a lead past the scary objects, gates, people etc. When I was young I always fancied being the only one who could ride a flashy horse, now I'm just really proud as we lead the way ambling past the scary looking leaf. That's what I call well trained.
 
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