Why do people exaggerate their riding ability?

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Because there trainers want to keep them happy and paying ££££ so won't tell them the truth
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my yard the clients see what there instructor has rated them as on a form!

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How true! I've been on yards where a really good, well respected instructor has been booked to do regular clinics. Everyone gets very exctied and has a lesson with new instructor but after 1 or 2 lessons of not being told how fab they are/their horses are and learning that they need to actually work hard to improve, they soon switch back to the faithful "oooh marvelous, brilliant, haven't you improved" instructor
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Give me constructive criitisism anyday - I can get my mum up to tell me how wonderful I am but she doesn't charge me for it!
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I dont exaggerate, but since i began riding i have always been able to feel whats right (not often haha) and what was wrong. In my lesson, i know straightaway when ive done something cr*p, and i say 'that was shi*e'. I do often get told that im better than i think i am, but i am scared to ride horses other than my own, and i dont do riding in massive fields.
 
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'Experienced' in RS terms means can kick, pull and saw

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Not where I work!! I think the thing to bear in mind is the quality of the RS that people are coming from - not the fact that people ride at a RS - I can fairly guarantee that some of my RS clients can ride a darn sight better than a lot of horse-owners - sharp horses or not! This is probably because they have regular lessons, and are not allowed to develop bad habits!!
 
I've got to agree with MizElz and Ezme. I've been riding for 16 years (can't believe it's that long, strange when you write it down), and owned my first pony (and subsequent others) for 12 years. My current riding mare I've owned for 7 years so we know each other really well. She doesn't have a wicked bone in her body but is a bit of a nutter, she's very brave, but a bit scatty and strong. I like to think I'm very confident with her, we do schooling, hacking, jumping and the occasional x-country, but I haven't had a lesson since I was a kid so I doubt I'm that good!

To repeat what has been said by others, I'm very competent with Saffron, but if you stuck me on one that bucks, or a horse that's very laid back I probably would get on very well. I think Saf has made me lazy as she's so forward going.
 
I will admit I get scared if I have to get on another horse because Pete is very good with me and my son. It's actually quite interesting to watch othe people ride him as he will be very careful if he thinks you are nervous bless him
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, but if he thinks you are confident well he's up for a bit of fun
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as my friend Nemlin found out when he took off with her one day
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Not where I work!! I think the thing to bear in mind is the quality of the RS that people are coming from - not the fact that people ride at a RS - I can fairly guarantee that some of my RS clients can ride a darn sight better than a lot of horse-owners - sharp horses or not! This is probably because they have regular lessons, and are not allowed to develop bad habits!!

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^^ This!!
 
It is funny the quality of RS argument. I went to a fab one in north devon that I learnt masses from but did my yr11 work experience at another and they told me that they often got bussiness from people who had been to the former but complained the horses were too "sharp" what they didn't really get was (although they had a couple of the traditional RS plod saints) they were "propper" horses! They all did a varity of activities including regular competitions.
 
Agree with the RS comments. I had lessons for years and thought I was pretty good (rode some of the more difficult horses and rode them well). Then I got on a polo pony and realised just how cr*p I really was! Developed my riding on polo ponies, thought I was pretty good again, then rode "proper" horses and realised I was still cr*p.

I can only ride my own horse. I don't always look "pretty" or correct, but I can get a nice tune out of her. Sadly she's now retired and I'm back to riding school horses - with the opposite problem - I can sit and look fairly pretty but can't ride one side of them lol.

I tend to describe my riding as "can walk/trot/canter/pop a small fence in balance, but lacking confidence and needs tidying up". My RS instructor agrees and leaves me to get on with things so my confidence develops - once the confidence is back, I'm sure she'll be shouting at me "HANDS" (my worst fault lol).

OH is the opposite - only ever ridden RS horses, thinks he's gods gift because he's stayed on some difficult ones, has no fear/self preservation/common sense. His position is basically there, just needs some fine tuning, but he has no control over the horse and thinks it's fun. What do I do with him????
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lol Don't tempt me! If he got paid sick pay I might just do that lol, but I can't afford for him to be properly injured (just some dented pride would be fine).

Thing is, he got p*55ed off with last time - little RS coblet squealed and took off across the field. OH still thought it was funny! What does a horse have to do to make him see sense??
 
You can't generalise every riding school! the one I work at and keep Pickle on working livery at has some RS clients who I would consider genuinely experienced, we have a mix of the plods everyone talks about, however we also have fiesty TB's, ponies that love a good gallop and need holding and some definetly more complicated rides! The more experienced riders ride the more complicated horses and could easily ride a lot of privately owned horses in my opinion!
 
Not sure if I've missed someone mention this but there are lots of people who under sell themselves, which I think is sad. God knows when we've had B advertised as an extremely green pony looking for an experienced and quiet rider we've had all sorts turn up!

I have to agree with the RS stereotype I'm afraid, although I do think there are exceptions. When I first rode F he had a horrible habit of sticking his head between his knees during transitions, a result of a "typical RS rider" holding on to his mouth.

Like many others here I can get a decent tune out of my own, not sure about anything else these days! My instructors have always concentrated on how well the horse is going, maybe because I have ridden green horses for a long time, but as a result I haven't a clue what (for example) my own position is like; I presume it merely doesn't had an adverse effect on the horse, or my instructor would have corrected it - doesn't mean its brilliant at all!! One instructor 10 years ago once told me "let's concentrate on getting your horse going well: then we'll refine and worry about you." Since then I have owned/loaned on and off 3 different green horses; I presume I'm still at stage 1!!
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Sorry - have to clarify - my RS uses the babies to teach the lessons of subtlety which really has to be a good thing, I think it's a great RS.

The problem is that if you ONLY have very safe/backwards horses - which lots of smaller places do, for obvious economic reasons - then you end up with the kick, pull and saw brigade.

The majority of more experienced RS riders are far technically better than me in terms of position, but I don't think they have had a chance to develop stickability or the nouse required to problem solve issues & they also have the benefit of riding sometimes multiple horses.

I'd rather ride my horse well (well...not terribly, anyway) and have a bond than be a better rider but on horses that weren't mine.
 
In my experience a lot of people who are the worst are ones who have always had really nice, tolerant, well schooled horses and ponies. Because their saint of a horse has carted them round all sorts at a decent level without them having to do a lot more than sit and look pretty they think they are God's gift to horses. Put them on something that actually requires some riding and they're screwed pretty quickly - which is usually then blamed on the horse; as in "oh he's so difficult, a total psycho, nobody else can even sit on him etc etc"
 
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going to open a big can of worms here, but i find its the riding school people are often the worst, as they think they know it all after 1/2 years of riding lessons once a week (the type where they are starting trot by week 3/4
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All depends on the riding school though surely?
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OK...it is my opinion that you can really only learn to stick on a horse out hacking....when the unexpected may happen (spooking etc) and the horse may be a bit on his toes due to weather/carrier bags in hedges etc etc etc.

I suppose many people may be technically good riders, but if all you've ever done is ride in a safe, sterile environment on well schooled safe horses (whichh I presume most RS have, otherwise people wouldnt want to pay to ride 'challenging' horses, surely) then how can you really learn to cope with anythingwhich is not textbook?

Its a pity most RS don't hack out any more....obviously H+S and the risk of being sued is a problem...I saw a report where a woman fell off the RS horse, despite describing herself as a competent rider...and sued the RS owner...WTF! Surely to god if you are gonna get on a horse for a hobby, then at some point you should expect to hit the deck, its a living horse - not a oil-drum on wheels.....
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PS...that appeared to turn into a mini-rant- sorry bout that - I currently have hormones....
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lol!! Apparently I'm the opposite!!! I think I'm a really crap rider, totally ineffective but everyone I speak to says the opposite and the reason I have weaknesses in my riding is because I dont have any faith in myself.

That doesnt mean I'm anywhere near good enough to ride yours tho V_K!!! Lol!
 
Utterly! I have ridden at and worked at some places which are very much 'follow the tail of the horse in front' type places, where 'something exciting' means trotting to the back without stirrups. However, I have also worked at a couple of places that really are rather good. The one where I spent most of my time had SJing and XC courses, several of the 'riding school' horses went out competing in SJ, dressage and team chasing, lots of them hunted with clients, and some of them were really rather spectacular horses. Most of them were bought from sales, unseen under saddle, and some proved to have really excellent schooling! Some were bought unbroken or green, and backed / schooled by experienced riders and instructors before being used for clients. Yes, we had a pretty good selection of bombproof ponies and plods, but we also had our share of dressage, sjing and event horses, and a typical weekend day in summer might have half a dozen of the horses going hunting, another half dozen out hacking including a spin up the gallops, some beginner lessons in the school, some XC and SJing lessons in the field, and some more advanced riders working on lateral work indoors.

Anyone who has ever prepped for or taken their stage 3 and 4 knows you have to jump on a 'riding school' horse and flat work, SJ and XC it within minutes, and get a decent tune out of it to boot. Thus, places where people train and take their exams have to have horses that can do these things, with a huge variety of riders on top. People that ride at these places for their regular lessons get to take advantage of this fact, and don't spend their time riding one behind the other, but actually develop as good riders. The better riders I taught could jump decent size XC fences at a proper fast pace, could perform basic lateral movements, flying change, extension and collection, working in reasonable outlines, and work with more difficult or novicey horses to school and teach them, which in turn helped them refine their aids. The majority of the liveries at the yard who didn't bother with taking lessons, on the other hand, couldn't do such things on their own horses - yet believed them to be somehow better because they paid x amount for a horse, rather than 'just' ride hired horses. I have never got that mentality at all - I had my own horses that I had great fun with, yet I still went to another exam centre to ride some of their SJers and dressage horses to work on me - as did pretty much all the other instructors I worked with!
 
I dont think Im crap, but I'm not great either. I can ride my own horse and don't fall off (often).....I watch other riders and think well, at least I'm better than that
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....then I see some others and they just blow me away with their position and subtlety.....

...although, my son did shoot some footage on his mobile phone last year - mostly of OH bobbling around the arena- but several times I went past in canter and although I am somewhat out of focus I was shocked to see that actually - I looked pretty darned good. Thing is, if I ask his to shoot me agin and try my very bestest, I will most probably look shite
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Most riding schools assess unknown riders before letting them hack out - I've ridden at places all over the UK with friends and have never objected to being popped into the school for 5 minutes to make sure I am safe on what they have chosen for me. If the RS didn't do that, then perhaps they could be held liable.
 
Oh don't start! In my day we all hopped on ponies bareback in the fields, no hats, and you know what, none of us ever sustained an injury, and have a heck of a lot more stickability than young riders today!
 
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Oh don't start! In my day we all hopped on ponies bareback in the fields, no hats, and you know what, none of us ever sustained an injury, and have a heck of a lot more stickability than young riders today!

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Yes...absolutely....that is my point completely!

I was a bit of a sensation on my yard last year....all the saddles were stolen (Grrrr!
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) and whilst waiting for a new one, I would hop on my lad and bareback school him - canter, the lot (draw the line at jumping as its never really been my thing)......the younger lot could not believe it!
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