What is the riding level....

Cliqmo

Cliqmo

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Following on from Kub's post earlier...

What do you call the level / stage / time period between being a 'novice rider' and an 'experienced rider' ?

Also what actually classifies an experienced rider?

And when do you get promoted to the next level?
 
I don't think you can put a time period on it. I've been riding for a total of 7 years (not including the 5 year break) and I still class myself as very much a novice, whereas I know people who've only been riding one or two years who are very good riders and I might call them intermediate. I suppose it's just a case of confidence more than anything else - I COULD call myself an experienced rider, but then I might get put on something I couldn't possibly handle!
 
Charmaine18, just wanted to say your cob is gorgeous!! (I'm guessing he/she is a cob...)

And ali_m, very good question! I will be paying close attention hehe
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Sadly, I have been riding for 30+ years and am still very much a novice! I'm not the sort of "novice" who team-chases and pops round 1m+ SJ courses for fun, i am literally the sort of novice who worries in case the horse p*sses off with them in big open spaces, and who doesn't have terribly good balance.
 
QR

My opinion, FWIW, is that it's about what you've done and what your attitude is, rather than duration of riding. Obviously if you've been riding a long time, there's a good chance you've tried a fair few different things and have gained confidence in a variety of different situations and with a variety of different horses, though that's not guaranteed. How a person's experience is classified, though, I don't know
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For example, I've been riding for 26 years and have had a break for 4 years now. In that time I've ridden riding school horses, ex-racers, hunters, cobs and heavyweights - fizzy nutters to armchair plods. I've done an awful lot of jumping, schooling and xc, but have never done a jot of competitive dressage, point-to-point or endurance. I absolutely love hacking and would happily spend the rest of my horsey days hacking mindlessly around the countryside. I'm interested in equine psychology, but have never done Parelli. I honestly haven't a clue where all that places me on the level/experience scale, particularly as I've never competed, and wouldn't know how to describe myself in those terms
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that's a hard one! is a good/experienced rider someone who is confident to ride anything? or someone who is more technical and knowledgable about the dynamics, but is not so brave?
 
Oh thats very easy....

a Novice think they can ride anything...

an experienced rider is aware of their limitations and is truthful about their ability!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Oh thats very easy....

a Novice think they can ride anything...

an experienced rider is aware of their limitations and is truthful about their ability!

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you have it there!
 
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Oh thats very easy....

a Novice think they can ride anything...

an experienced rider is aware of their limitations and is truthful about their ability!

[/ QUOTE ]

Ooh does that mean I am experienced because I know I am useless
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Oh thats very easy....

a Novice think they can ride anything...

an experienced rider is aware of their limitations and is truthful about their ability!

[/ QUOTE ]

That makes me an experienced rider... and I'm afraid because of this I have to disagree!
 
This is an interesting thread!

I would call myself fairly experienced in some ways - eg hacking,I have done lots, on all types and ages of horse and can cope with most of the expected unexpected things you meet out and about.

However as far as competing goes, I am a novice because I have only ever done a couple of dressage competitions and to be honest I don't really want to do any more - just not my thing. So with that I guess I'll be a novice for ever
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I would never say I can get on anything and get a tune out of it either - I know the type of horses I like best and am most likely to click with (although will have a go on most things as long as they are fairly sensible),and I reckon I know what issues I would be able to deal with and what I would need help with.

I also know that I am balanced and quiet, and that when I tried a horse out at a welfare centre they said they would have been happy for me to take one of theirs (although I didn't click with the one I tried- nothing drastic, just not quite right).

So I think of myself as fairly experienced, but not invincible (or ambitious
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) On a horse that I click with I can be good, on a horse I clash with it can be a disaster zone as far as style and elegance goes
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So because I am looking for something to hack, I call myself experienced - if I was looking for something to compete I would have to reassess that.
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Oh thats very easy....

a Novice think they can ride anything...

an experienced rider is aware of their limitations and is truthful about their ability!

[/ QUOTE ]

That makes me an experienced rider... and I'm afraid because of this I have to disagree!

[/ QUOTE ]

Ditto, honesty and being realistic doesn't really make you an experienced rider
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time for me to add my thought FWIW, ok i jumps at foxhunter/1m30 regularly have ridden meduim dressage and shown at county level all with success and take horses for schooling/breaking/competeing but...................foxhunter is counted as a class for novice combinations so does that make me a novice??? compared to ben maher et all then yes i am compared to someone in a riding school learning to trot i am experiance.
Maybe it just depends in what context and to whom you are being compared with??????
 
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