What would you class as a novice ride?

Blizzard

Blizzard

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Im interested to hear people's views!

For some a novice ride seems to mean anyone can ride the horse even if they havent sat on a horse before, for some it seems to mean that it will be suitable for a nervous rider.

For others it seems to mean that as long as the rider knows how to ride, ie confident in all paces, then the horse is for them, it is easy going with no quirks or hang ups.

I would class the latter as a novice ride.


For example Lance is totally safe in the school, but he is hard work, if you dont ride him properly he will plod along like a donkey, now to some that would make him a novice ride in the school,but I think its the opposite. He CAN work correctly but only will with an experienced rider, so for me that makes him not for a novice.

When I think of who a horse is for, I dont just think well they can sit on it and survive, I think they can control the horse and get it to do what they want it to.

If that makes sense!
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Is a bit like the schoolmaster thing, so many ads label a horse a schoolmaster because it is JUST quiet and safe, not talented., it really grates on me, a schoolmaster is a horse which is VERY experienced in its dicsciplne, be it SJ, dressage or XC etc, and you will only get the best out of it if you know what buttons to press, a schoolmaster isnt just a ploddy hack!
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I would class a novice ride as a horse suitable for someone who is learning to ride and still has the "L" plates on. A novice ride should be safe and steady and forgiving. the sort of horse that is never going to set the world on fire, but is kind and genuine. A schoolmaster is quite a different animal altogether and wouldn't be suitable for a totally novice rider.
 
I think like jinglejangle. The novice ride would be forgiving, not a world beater, a bit of a plod, not spooky, perhaps not the best paces in the world, may take a bit of kicking, can be left for a few days and still be quiet.

A schoolmaster should require the right buttons pressing, for its field of expertise, when you do, you get the right actions, but still I feel it would not be too "hot" as I guess I would think it was not young and not dizzy.

The latter may not be traffic proof, may not be an allrounder, and would probably not be a novice ride.
 
I think I would describe my current mare and my previous mare as novice rides. To me, it means a horse that won't (usually) bolt, buck or rear - although both of mine have done some of those things very infrequently- and which is non spooky.

Both of the mares in question will go a lot better for a more experienced rider e.g. work in an outline etc but I would trust them both to carry someone who had never even sat on a horse before in relative safety. Having said that, however, I don't believe that any horse is "bombproof" and it is unrealistic to expect even the most laid back creature not to react to things occasionally.

Both my previous geldings were definitely not novice rides as both had a ferocious buck, one was nappy and both were spooky and one was terrible in even light traffic.
 
i would class my horse as a novice ride which is the reason i bought her. she will plod around with me but will work properly for an experienced rider. i havnt ridden properly in 20 years so she is just what i want right now.my nervous 13 year old can get more of a tune out of her than i can ! she can also be left for a week without being ridden and be no different when you do ride her. however you do need to be one step ahead of her at all times when on the ground. i certainly wouldnt allow a novice to bring her in from the field lol
 
it's something I wondered about when looking for a horse, although i would say I'm an ok rider having ridden for 30yrs, but as a first time owner I went to look at horses suitable for novices and found them just too ploddy - I guess a lot of people class novice ride suitable for the most novice of riders. George was advertised as 'ideal first horse for rider with some experience' - perfect, he's not a plod and has his moments, but he's kind and safe in traffic, on a hack etc. but I wouldn't stick a novice on him unless they were just plodding around.
 
Something that won't scare the sh1t out of you, but is forward going enough to be fun. Straightforward with no real quirks or spookiness, good in traffic, good in company or alone. Generous in nature and forgiving of novicey mistakes - really an all round good sort.

Now, where the bloody hell do you find one of those?!?!?
 
When I think of what "a novice ride" means, it is a horse who is nicely, but quietly, forward-going with good steering and exceptional brakes. It will be cautious about moving quickly with the rider onboard, no jerky movements and will be forgiving of rider-error. It won't care how you do certain things and it will still understand if you give it conflicting information.

A schoolmaster is something different - as you say, this is a horse who knows it's specific job absolutely perfectly - however if this analogy is used, then I could say my horses are schoolmasters at being novice rides.
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A novice ride should be safe in any situation, forgive minor rider/handler errors, be kind and honest.
When I was looking for Fudge, I found most novice rides were switched off ploddy types and hugely hard work, where because of my ME I needed something that was a safe confidence giver but responsive at the same time. I ended up trying a lot of green and quirky horses to get something close to what I wanted even though I would class myself as a novice rider.
 
Sunny is a text book novice ride. Totally forgiving but if you know where the right buttons are he'll have a go at shoulder in and counter canter stuff. Recently got me a first in a local walk and trot dressage class! Will pop a jump for you and rides out alone or in company, though as an ex-riding school horse he is of the unshakeable opinion that his position on a ride is AT THE FRONT keeping everyone safe! Lol - moved yards in April and on the very 1st day, the gang at the new yard escorted me - newbie and VERY nervous - on a little hack round the block. Well, Sunny can't have had a clue where he was going as he was 25 miles from his previous home but after about 5 mins he inched his way from the back to the front of the ride and was happily striding out doing the job he loves best of keeping everyone safe! He's the best and is the same ride if you can't ride him for weeks (thank god). You could land a helicopter next to him and he's brill in the heaviest of traffic. His only pet hate is sheep with attitude! All this and only 1 eye!!!! A Squillion £££s wouldn't take him from me!
 
I had a friend who came up to the stables to ride yesterday, she said she could ride, that she had learned to ride as a teenager. I planned to hack out and got my horse and a friend's horse ready.

Luckily for me the owner of the horse was on hand when my pal arrived because it took two of us to get her on board. She couldn't get on from the mounting block so we had to give her a leg up, but it was like legging up a sack of potatoes. She climbed on the horse, who stood like a rock. I abandoned any plans of hacking out together and took her on a lead rope in the school and then round the block.

My pals horse was 'suitable for a novice rider' because he was a star, didn't budge when being climbed on and behaved perfectly.

I have also ridden schoolmaster type horses in Spain and they are not for the novice rider. They will only do what you are actually properly asking for, so if your weight is wrong then you won't even get walk in a straight line. But if you ask correctly for something they will do it perfectly.

A huge difference.
 
I would class my ponio as suitable for a novice rider. He is perfectly behaved for complete beginners, will listen to what they ask for, and will slow down if he feels them coming off balance. He can be a bit more challenging if you ask more of him, or if you're cocky he'll test you out. But generally he is safe, predictable and not spooky and I'm happy to let complete beginners have a go on him because I trust him too behave for them.
 
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