Why oh why do people lie about their ability to ride?

Bettyboo1976

Bettyboo1976

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I had a potential sharer come try our horse today...

I'd chatted with her a few times about her experience and ability to ride. She answered all the questions I asked..

I'm not looking for a pro to school him, just a happy hacker to take him out a few times a week and have fun..

Well she turned up, couldn't lead/ tack up, I gave her the benefit of the doubt and after daughter had ridden let her get on...

My last question I asked was are you confident to walk trot canter him she said "oh yes, no problem"

She got on.. Just... And couldn't walk.. Daughter had to lead him round... I asked her if she wanted to trot.. Her face turned white!

She got off and I explained nicely why I thought she wasn't suited to him.. She agreed saying he was rather large 15'2 and that she was used to her friends horse who was 14'4 (not a typo)

Thankfully my boy will happily accept a beginner on his back but.. If he was a naught boy it could have ended badly!!

The girl left saying she wanted a horse if her own soon....

I nearly told her to use her share money and go get some proper lessons...

Such a waste of a day... :(
 
I think people over judge their own ability :( Sounds like a lucky escape for all involved , good luck in finding someone who suits you both :)
 
I don't think they lie, I think they are just deluded and think they are better than they are! I have a friend who often makes comments like after she's ridden other peoples horses when they've said "oh he goes so much better for you, its because you know what you're doing" when I see her as a very basic rider, she can walk trot and canter but that's about as good as it gets!!
 
Perhaps she felt she had to try for her daughter? Next time when you get that nagging doubt when they can't use a headcollar - listern to that doubt and suggest they have some horse care/ management lessons before coming back to try him again (I promise they won't !!) Groundwork confidence is the same for people as it is for horses, if they can handle on the ground they can usually happy hack!
 
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I meant my daughter had ridden, sorry.. I didn't go down the field with my daughter to bring in, it was only later after she had left that she said that she couldn't put headcollar on. (Have now advised daughter to speak up lol)

It just concerned me that the poor girl could have been seriously hurt..
 
I know how you feel, I am always very truthful about my cob as he isn't the easiest and I have turned people away over the phone just because I can tell they are not confident enough to ride him. Saying that a young girl arrived to ride him who I had spoken to and she was very confident and had ridden for a few years on a horse I knew was difficult so I tacked up ready for her and she hacked him out with a friend of mine who was very impressed with her riding and her ability to handle my cob. She rode out a few times after that always with company and was doing really well but I always tacked up for her. She was early one day and I asked her if she wanted to tack him up, she didn't have a clue. :frown3: She had no idea how to put a bridle on and put the saddle so far up his neck the girth would have gone infront of his legs!!
 
As a sharer who took on a new share a few months back I can only say that it's a bit nerve wracking meeting a new ( bigger) horse. But that said it shouldn't make you forget how to tack up or ride.
Pointless and dangerous to lie about riding ability and even if the owner doesn't suss you out the horse soon will. :O

Just to add. I wasn't used to martingales, grackle and tendon boots etc. previous horse had basic tack and although I had put on a martingale before somehow my mind went blank. I Think it was the amount of equipment she put on the horse completely threw me. Sad thing is the saddle fitted really badly and the bit was an inch too large- hence the grackle!
 
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I don' think they're lying either. Just think that perhaps by the standards of the people they were riding with before they WERE experienced. But it causes a lot of time wasting, and can be downright dangerous. Imagine my relief when a new 'young married' in the village came for a test spin on my cob. From the moment she picked up the hoof pick I could see that she knew what she was doing. She handles my forward going mare beautifully, rides with confidence and kindness - and the mare now whickers when she sees her. Oh the relief.
 
This reminds me so much of a mare we sold a few months back when we were tight on money and space. The mare was 16.2hh so too big for me (Im only 14) and her big paces hurt my Mum's back. This lady rang up, sounded amazing on the phone asking all these questions and said she had her bhs stage 2. We were like "wow she sounds perfect" So this lady arrived, new 2000euro saddle in the jeep and telling us all about these fancy people and dressage celebrities she knew. Looked in the mares mouth and said she had all kinds of problems in there, but saw her ridden anyways. The mare was a 8 year old who was broken as a 4 year old then had 3 foals, so the training of a 4\5 year old. Me there as nervous thinking this woman was some super star. Got up, walked trotted cantered, jumped upto a 90 oxer, with alot in an outline (any small people will know getting a 16.2hh BIG Irish Sports Horse mare into an outline takes alot of strength!) Then this woman got on in her fancy saddle and spurs, got on, and the horse refused to move. Would not budge one inch! When she did get her going with Mum's help, she then tried to pull her out to the outside track (instead of pushing with her leg) and only had about 4 strides of trot! Surprisingly she bought her, and the only reason we let her go was because we were tight on money and space, and we had a "spy" (this lady's 'enemy' is good friends with my mum) tell us she'd be sent away to a top trainers place and then sat as a field ornament!
A few days before they came to pick her up, a brand new rug, shead collar, 3 creams for her sore mouth and 2 bottles of stuff for her mud fever (both non-excistant!) were sent down!
If only she'd spent a bit more money on riding lessons than bloody horse gear - Or just got a slow plot of a cob! XD
 
I think a lot of the time they just aren't aware of how much they don't know/ how much they have to learn. There does seem to have been a big increase in inexperienced riders buying in recent years, partly I think because people these days have to be coddled and ego's massaged, in the good old days novice riders would be told in no uncertain terms by instructors that they are not yet competent.
Also of course there's the potential for milk cash from these buyers who pay big money for too much horse and then have to have lessons, re-school, pay saddle fitters, physios, horse whisperers and whatever the latest voodoo miracle is. Not that I'm cynical of course :D
 
It's easy for people to convince themselves that they're great riders when they've only ever pony trek types. I thought ours were quiet (and by private horse standards they are). Recently rode at a tourist place in France, and was reminded just how 'sparky' ours are by comparison. Not that their ponies were slugs - they knew their job, and were push button.

Same for tacking up, leading etc. - they may have only ever ridden pre-tacked riding school types. It's surprising how muggles assume that horses tack themselves, and automatically walk to heel like a dog!
 
I agree with lastchancer and pennyturner with a variation! When you learn to ride nowadays, everything is in a school, so you could have had lessons on a schoolmaster in a school every week for 5 years and be really good at that - doesnt mean you can get on someone's forward going cob out on a hack and stand a chance. I think there is a lot of people getting the sizzle without the sausage in terms of riding, nowadays. (eg they look pretty but are not really very safe). Also I was horrified when I went to try new horses recently, having had my mare for 3 years, as I struggled to ride anything with a big stride, (probably not even that big by most people's standards) and my jumping was absolute pants. I am not a very good rider, but I am better than I looked most of the time on a brand new horse!
 
Definitely true that RS teach to ride only. Horses are presented tacked up and taken away afterwards. However after a year of riding lessons I was taught the basics of tacking and grooming by a friend who had a horse. Funnily enough now that I know how to do it and am confident handling horses I get left with the untacking and sorting of the RS horse I've had my lesson on if I have time to do so after my lesson. So no they never taught me to but now that I know how to I get left to it. I suppose its not always down to the RS. Adults come along and want to learn to ride a horse. They may not want to pay to learn the tacking up etc so the RI does exactly what she's paid to do ; riding.
One would assume though that any sensible person would understand that the riding part is only a small part of the whole and that they'd need to learn the care side and tacking up before embarking on ownership. Actually I'm constantly amazed how little some people think they need to know. Knowledge is free so no excuse to remain uninformed.
 
Hey, poster is 14 year old child, if you want to be constructive and nicely explain outline is not about strength that would be great but don't start ganging up and bitching. Her Post might be odd in your mind but if poster is only a child then don't expect mature adult thinking. For heaven sake don't degenerate the thread into a public hanging.
 
Gluttonforpunishment said:
Hey, poster is 14 year old child, if you want to be constructive and nicely explain outline is not about strength that would be great but don't start ganging up and bitching. Her Post might be odd in your mind but if poster is only a child then don't expect mature adult thinking. For heaven sake don't degenerate the thread into a public hanging.
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Ah 14, didn't notice her age.. Oops, sorry kid.
 
Going back to the main topic - ie how do people get a false idea of their ability...

I had an interesting time last week. My husband and I were on holiday in wales with our horses and one afternoon after riding our own in the morning we decided to go to a trekking center in a different area to see some different scenery. Said place offered 'mountain' rides for 'experienced riders' (which in that environment we certainly are) So we arrive at said place and there are three others waiting for a ride with us. We filled out lots of paper work about our experience ticking boxes to say that we could walk, trot, canter etc and how many hours of lessons we have had (God knows much be hundreds or thousands!) I was half listening to the other clients discussing which boxes to tick and deciding to tick experienced because they had gone on several hacks previously and been told by the establishment they would be able to join the mountain rides now.

So we all get allocated horses and go off to get mounted outside and ride off. Turns out none of the other clients even had their reins the right way up! And yet they had been told they could join the experienced ride. So no wonder they thought they were experienced! The first trot we had none of them could do rising trot and one horses who was about 4 horses back shot off up the road in canter and was only stopped because he ran 'into' an oncoming car!! The trek leader just told the man to put the horses nose behind his and stay there. Later on we get to this patch of grass and leader asks if anyone wants to canter. Husband and I both said no we didn't mind (because we felt that none of the other riders would be safe at all in canter though we didn't say so of course) so the others were asked and talked into having a go. So trek leader sets off at a bone rattling trot on a grassy (downhill!) section. The horses all follow - in fact none of them cantered - I know because I went last in case I needed to pick up any bodies! But afterwards all the riders thought they had cantered and no one told them otherwise. SO next time they go riding they will tick the 'experienced' box and say they can 'canter' - but in fact they cannot hold the reins or rise to the trot - but that is not their fault really is it!?
 
I meant strength to not let her pull me out the saddle and do what she wanted, to get her working properly ... not as in strength to saw her mouth to get her in a shape :)
 
Blythe Spirit said:
Going back to the main topic - ie how do people get a false idea of their ability...

I had an interesting time last week. My husband and I were on holiday in wales with our horses and one afternoon after riding our own in the morning we decided to go to a trekking center in a different area to see some different scenery. Said place offered 'mountain' rides for 'experienced riders' (which in that environment we certainly are) So we arrive at said place and there are three others waiting for a ride with us. We filled out lots of paper work about our experience ticking boxes to say that we could walk, trot, canter etc and how many hours of lessons we have had (God knows much be hundreds or thousands!) I was half listening to the other clients discussing which boxes to tick and deciding to tick experienced because they had gone on several hacks previously and been told by the establishment they would be able to join the mountain rides now.

So we all get allocated horses and go off to get mounted outside and ride off. Turns out none of the other clients even had their reins the right way up! And yet they had been told they could join the experienced ride. So no wonder they thought they were experienced! The first trot we had none of them could do rising trot and one horses who was about 4 horses back shot off up the road in canter and was only stopped because he ran 'into' an oncoming car!! The trek leader just told the man to put the horses nose behind his and stay there. Later on we get to this patch of grass and leader asks if anyone wants to canter. Husband and I both said no we didn't mind (because we felt that none of the other riders would be safe at all in canter though we didn't say so of course) so the others were asked and talked into having a go. So trek leader sets off at a bone rattling trot on a grassy (downhill!) section. The horses all follow - in fact none of them cantered - I know because I went last in case I needed to pick up any bodies! But afterwards all the riders thought they had cantered and no one told them otherwise. SO next time they go riding they will tick the 'experienced' box and say they can 'canter' - but in fact they cannot hold the reins or rise to the trot - but that is not their fault really is it!?
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I think I know which place you're talking about here! ;)

If it's the same place, then I've had mixed experiences.The first two times I went were great as everyone was experienced, and COULD actually canter, so we all had an absolute blast on the mountains.The third time, however, around two thirds of the ride were as you described, and could barely even sit correctly on the horses, or hold the reins.Thankfully though, when the fast work came up, the 'riders' and 'non riders' were split up, so that nothing dangerous happened.It had already been slightly ruined by that point though, as it wasn't so much a mountain ride, as a road ride, with a short ride up a hill.I can't help but think that this was due to the inexperience of quite a few of the riders.

There were a couple of other issues that came up the last time that had nothing to do with the riders though.:(
 
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