What type of horses would you expect to see in a RS?

The riding school where I rode for around 3/4 of a year was probably the typical sort of riding school everyone thinks of on here. Only a couple of the horses were well schooled, others were extremely lazy (who can blame them!?) and some were just downright unsuitable. There were a lot more little ponies for the beginners and only around 5 more advanced horses. I found that I really learnt very little by going there. I also started to get into bad habits such as gripping with my knees as that was what the instructor always told me. One of her favorite phrases was 'yank it until it's teeth come out!', which I just found shocking really. I also helped out for 6 of the months I rode there, I never once got a free lesson! I went almost every week on a Saturday and stayed there for 6 hours generally, by the end i sort of felt like i was being taken advantage of.
I think this is how a rs shouldn't be run, and generally the horses should be well schooled and pleasant to ride, with more advanced horses for more experienced riders :)
 
I'd say have a couple of decent 15'2 small horses that are talented enough to cater for small adults/experienced teenagers. Large connemara types would be perfect for this. How many horses/ponies do you want?
 
Beans2000 said:
I just can't stand the riding schools where everyone wants to stay and 'help' lol
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Are you kidding, I hope you are. For some pony mad people this is absolutely the only opportunity they can get near a pony or horse. It enables those who want to learn and yet are unable to fund a share, loan or own, to be taught, hopefully the right way, all the ins and outs that go with horses.

So long as they are kept an eye on and not left to run riot I am sure many riding schools could not function without these little helpers, paid help being too expensive.
 
there were loads where i learned, buckers and bolters of all shapes and sizes, but then there were also perfectly mannered horses of all shapes and sizes!

my favourite was an 11.2 chestnut welshy named otis who would gallop full pelt at jumps then do a dirty stop and send you flying hehe. made it all the better when you could get him over a jump, the wee turd. then there was a big guy called orion who was nearing 17hh and would never put a foot out of line, i think the bigger the variation the better!
 
Sorry, I will now answer the question. I suppose it is horses for courses, so to speak. You cater for your intended market.

Without questions there are queues of children wanting to be taught, so kick along safe ponies. However, there are many older people who wish to get into the saddle. These people are, probably, very serious and want to make progress quickly, probably a mixture of welsh, cob, t/b and warmblood. Trouble is, if you think too deeply, like I am doing right this minute, its a bit of a mine field. Do you cater for a broad spectrum with mixed clients? Do you cater for the fickle minded who want to give it a go, like anything else they might fancy? Again, more kickalong. Do you cater for the older learner who wants to progress quickly?

If it were me I think I would cater to the serious older rider, late teens and adults, who seriously wanted to progress. They would probably be wage earners, retired or supported adults with spare disposable income who are willing to pay for facilities, good teachers and the chance to compete on a regular basis. I would expect a good quality horse who looked good, moved well and was very much up for the job in hand. You can't make a silk purse out of a cows ear so you have to invest in the right fabric, so to speak. No good trying to cater for the serious rider on kick along ponies and horses who are so used to going round a school you could blind fold them. That isn't riding, that is just sitting there wasting your money. You could maximise your income by offering clinics, guest speakers, etc to fuel their fires. You could go even further, providing horses and ponies for your clients once they are competent riders and have learned their horsemanship. I guess the options are as broad as your mind ... and bank balance allows x
 
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One thing I learnt very fast when running a riding school. Is be very firm about who rides what.

The kids rode the ponies in rotation - no demanding to be allowed to ride a particular pony. They all het favourites and these were allowed to be chose for holiday programmes but for weekly lessons they took it in turns - 6 riders 6 ponies, If you rode Twinkle one week, you got Gwenny the next, then Algie, then Sparkle, then Podge and then Santi. So every 6th lesson you got youre favourite. I found that this way we didn't get tears if they didn't get their favourite and they learnt to respond to the different ponies and so become better riders.
 
Beans2000 said:
I just can't stand the riding schools where everyone wants to stay and 'help' lol
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This is what keeps my RS afloat! Technically YO could do it alone and has done in the past, but it's us 'minions' that make her life easier. I would go and help every single day if I could! Sadly my real job won't allow it. We all really enjoy it (most of the time, it's not so fun ankle deep in mud, while being battered by rain!) and it's makes us feel useful and important :)
Sure, some of the smaller kids get in the way, rather than help, but they learn!

EDIT: Agree with Tnavas - if you're not tough with who they ride, they'll walk all over you! Thankfully, no one else likes Ned, so I pretty much have him all to myself :P Only one other girl rides him and we don't clash!

As far as types go...we have:
2 TBs, 2 ISH, 1 Standardbred, 1 Haffie, 1 Welsh Sec D (only YO can ride him though), 1 Welsh thing, about 14.2 (don't know what type), 2 New Forest, 7 welsh pony types, 1 cob, 2 other small ponies (unsure what they are) and another one about 14hh. I don't think I'm forgetting anyone!
They are all useful for different things, some are for riders who like a challenge, others are great to just plod along on.
 
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Archiesmummy said:
Without questions there are queues of children wanting to be taught. However, there are many older people who wish to get into the saddle.
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I found that around 85% of my riders were children between the ages of 6 and 14. So we had far more ponies than horses. We generally had around 300 riders per week.

I found that the adult market was rather fickle - too much going on in their lives - we had maybe a dozen that came riding regularly. Timing of classes for adults was crucial too - hangovers were the prime reason for cancellations! we generally hels the adult lessons from 10am onwards.
 
Guys read my other comment wasn't trying to slate the proper happy Helpers at all!! My life would be terrible without them and I don't even have a RS!!
 
when i was getting back into riding in my twenties i went to a few RS’s for lessons and hacks. I knew I was looking to buy my own horse but was very rusty.

As a teenager, being slight, i was always put on ponies. Id only ever ridden native or cob types under 14hh. So I asked specifically when booking to ride something finer, about 15.2hh as this was what i wanted to ultimately buy.

First RS I went to was put on a 14.1hh appaloosa, 2nd I was put on a green 14hh, very round Highland, 3rd I was put on a 15.2hh chunky wide cob. :rolleyes:

So I didnt ever manage to get the experience i wanted riding that ‘type’ until i was actually out there trying horses to buy! Funnyily enough it never worked out for me with that type and I have ended up with a 14.3hh Sec D :D Its what Im happy with but I wish the RS’s round here had had something else for me to ride so I could have had that experience. Ime they have a 30 odd year old leadrein pony, a good stock of 14.2hh weight carriers and maxi cob types for bigger clients but nothing more refined or in between.
 
NeversayMever - the problem with the finer types is that you end up limited weightwise as to who you can put on them to ride. They don't tend to stand up to the work as well as the rounder heavier types.
 
I dont think it's necessary to cater for children- I go to Huntley where they have no ponies, and don't take anyone under 16, but they are a bhs training centre so will make money from that. Have to say that it's so nice on a Saturday not to have millions of children around, just adults who want to improve!
 
A small pony that won't move and has to be chased around with a lunge whip.
A spindly thoroughbred type that goes around with it's head in the air.
A lovely young cob type awaiting ruin under the hands of too many novice riders.
A shetland whose main purpose in life is to dump as many small children as it can in a day.
Another small pony who canters half way around the arena, turns in put's its head down catapults tiny rider over head and then continues to the back of the ride.
A fancy looking WB the one everyone wants to ride until they realise it's nuts!

That's my experience anyway :p :D
 
sussexbythesea said:
A small pony that won't move and has to be chased around with a lunge whip.
A spindly thoroughbred type that goes around with it's head in the air.
A lovely young cob type awaiting ruin under the hands of too many novice riders.
A shetland whose main purpose in life is to dump as many small children as it can in a day.
Another small pony who canters half way around the arena, turns in put's its head down catapults tiny rider over head and then continues to the back of the ride.
A fancy looking WB the one everyone wants to ride until they realise it's nuts!

That's my experience anyway :p :D
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^^^ this - spot on ;) and the majority of them will have mouths like iron that no matter how much the rider pulls on them to stop/turn etc. they do bugger all except what they want to do ;)
 
sussexbythesea said:
A small pony that won't move and has to be chased around with a lunge whip.
A spindly thoroughbred type that goes around with it's head in the air.
A lovely young cob type awaiting ruin under the hands of too many novice riders.
A shetland whose main purpose in life is to dump as many small children as it can in a day.
Another small pony who canters half way around the arena, turns in put's its head down catapults tiny rider over head and then continues to the back of the ride.
A fancy looking WB the one everyone wants to ride until they realise it's nuts!

That's my experience anyway :p :D
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I think this reflects the quality of tuition given that the horses and ponies behave this way.
 
The RS I teach at is fairly small, as it's a side earner to the main livery yard. We have a fair few ponies, but only one above 15.2hh that can handle hard work, which is where I think we could do with an extra one.

We have a couple that compete a bit - main ones are a 14.2hh that is solid as a rock and used to jump 1.10 competitively, and a 13.2ish welsh pony who's won medium dressage, high level showing and some smaller jumping.

Also have a lead rein pony or two, a couple of bigger old horses that do beginner lessons (15 hands or so?), a 13.3/14 hand random farm pony - lovely schooling, jumps like a stag but can get a bit hot (not naughty, just fast) so we use her for the more advanced kids.

Got a 15.2hh TB, very sweet but quite lazy. Also does not really canter right which needs some fixing!

14 hand pony that is also quite sweet but pretty green and quite fast - she gets used fairly infrequently.

Long answer, sorry ;) but I think ideally you need a few ponies around the 14hh range, can be used for a lot of people - then a couple of 15.2hh's and probably a 16.2-17hh or so, maybe something heavier than a TB.

Then a couple of small ponies too!

As for temperament - some easy ones suitable for total beginners to learn on. Then some to progress on to that are say, more lazy, or more forward, or need a bit more direction :)
 
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