What is the difference between a novice rider, a good rider ...

blitznbobs

blitznbobs

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And an excellentrider...

I never know how to describe myself - there seems to be so many ideas what's a novice rider so what makes a good rider?
 
Honestly, I think it varies from person to person and from horse to horse. I'd like to think I'm an experienced Ned rider, but he is very different from the riding school horses I rode at work, which I actually found much harder to ride!
So many people under value themselves I think. I have seen some fantastic riders on this site and in person say "Oh, I'm just a novice..." No! You're fab! :P
 
Well literally speaking, a novice rider is just that - new to the sport. If you've been riding years but with no real finesse, you're an average, possibly competent rider (competent at the relevant level or discipline).

Some people think being a good rider implies you're good at many things, or can get a good tune out of most horses - I think a good rider may be good in one field and lacking in others, and that a good rider may be more skilled in a certain type of horse, and less skilled on another. An excellent rider, I'd expect to be good across the board.

But there are all manner of descriptors which may be relevant. Some riders may lack experience, but have natural feel or tact, while some experienced riders who have the balls to wing it over 1m40 fences may lack any real skills to improve the horse and remain a passenger. I think the insight to know what to do, and the skill to do it, just at the right time, is a pretty rare combination - and that's where the excellent rider slips in.

I'm not a novice - I've been riding 17 years or so, owned for 16. I'm not incompetent - I've broken in a number of horses, 2 exclusively, plus a few reschools, and I've trained one with little external input to medium, and I've trained a few to do other stuff too (played horseball, done basic arms work, TREC etc) but I lack experience and finesse jumping above unaffiliated local levels. And that's why it's tricky to boil someone down to a one word generic description...
 
I class myself as a novice even though I have ridden for over 40 years. I have never competed at any level and only hack out on my own horses. I love a good gallop and will pop a fence while out but I hate schooling and always have done even though I have done a lot in the past. If someone asked me to jump a course or have a go at eventing I would run a mile!
 
A beginner rider is one who is still learning to walk trot canter and maybe pop a low pole
A novice rider is one who can walk trot canter and gallop on a horse that is well schooled and or very calm or they are used to
A good rider is someone who can get on anythings and everything without fear and at least get it to move comfortably
An excellent rider is one who can get some sort of tune out of everything they sit on, that the only limitation is the horses ability not theirs
 
Well Windand Rain if they are official ratings then I am somewhere between novice and good, I will get on most horses but can't promise not to be afraid!!
 
It depends on who you speak to and how many books you have read and or how much time you spend googling these days it would seem.

A novice rider to me is one that can walk, trot, canter and perhaps jump a small fence fairly safely on a steady horse.

A good rider is one that perhaps has a decent competition record at unaffiliated level, can and will sit on most things, not necessarily stylish but can manage to get around an intermediate course without screaming blue murder or erupting into tears at riding a 4year old.

An excellent rider is one that is competent at managing tricky and or quirky animals, perhaps has an established competition record and can school to a higher level.

You then go into the territory of competent novices, nervous riders etc... And the vast majority of 'new' riders and those still in RS completely over-estimate their abilities because of a RS classification of their lessons... The experienced group jump 2ft3... This makes them 'excellent riders'.

After 25 years of being around horses, including riding out at race yards and running my own breaking and schooling yard, I would still consider myself a competent novice, if I ever had to describe myself as I suffer terribly with nerves and return to not being able to ride if something even flicks an ear at me these days... Saying that i'll happily fly over drains without supping the hip flask out hunting ;)
 
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