what determines whether you're a novice or experienced rider?

[Gembo]

quite simple really ^

what do you think determines whether you're a novice or experienced rider and is there a certain event or seires of events that must happen and can you be a novice rider but still really good and vice versa and what decides an experienced rider

and aslo......what do you look for in a good rider?

 

[rockysmum]

There a such a lot of stages in between.

IMO Novice is competent riding school rider

Experienced rider can actually improve the horse instead of maintaining what someone else has done. They can also handle problem horses and probably compete.

 

[Alphamare]

I don't think a person can consider them selves an experienced horse person if you can't manage a horse. You need to know about so many thing from illness to lameness to saddles to feed. A novice person couldn't handle an unexpected situation.

Same goes for riding. A novice cannot handle anything more than a riding school horse in riding school situations. A competent rider can handle a variety of horses in a variety of settings.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Experienced rider can actually improve the horse instead of maintaining what someone else has done. They can also handle problem horses

I agree with this, but I think that they can also adapt their riding to suit the particular horse that they are on at the time. Therefore they have the ability to assess how the horse is going/reacting and can see possible problems coming and ride in a way that prevents the problem from actually happening.

 

[maresmaid]

An "Experienced" rider has "Experience" - ie they have DONE it. There is a big difference between having lessons and being "experienced", the more horses you have ridden and the more varied the situations you have ridden in, are the only things that can make you "experienced". You might ride all the different riding school horses in a riding school lesson situation, and you might handle them all competantly in the indoor arena but your experience will be limited to a single environment and a single situation. You might be able to jump competantly but could you handle a youngster on its first day out hunting? You might be able to ride a good dressage test on a trained horse but could you cope working in with 6 other riders in the arena when one horse decides to have a broncing fit and upsets your horse? There is no line that you cross that says you have ticked all the boxes and are now officially "experienced". there are many areas of equestrianism that I consider myself to be inexperienced in (and as I have no intention of taking some of those activities up I will remain inexperienced in these areas) There are other areas where I will consider myself more experienced and I would judge someone to be a "novice" in these areas if they are demonstrating a lack of awareness of how situations can develop and what should be done to avoid problems - but my own knowledge is based upon my own experiences, and by listening and learning from others with greater experience - it's an endless peice of string and its all relative.