Would you do this??

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I have a question for you...

My 14 year old friend has a gorgeous horse, who was apparently worth £9000 but she got it cheaper. She is always posting pictures on facebook of her friends 'riding' her horse, even though they have never ridden before and she is not exactly teaching them.

Obviously, that's her choice let her friends try and ride her horse, but would you let an inexperianced rider ride your horse?? Just wondering.... :p
 
no not personally but i am a bit cod when it comes to that only me and my mum ever rode my horse and i had him from a yearling its far easier that way in my opinion no one else to blame but me if something goes wrong etc lol :D.
 
Funny I was just talking to tilly's fieldmares owner about this tonight as she has advertised for a sharer. With Tilly I absolutely would not share her simply because her behaviour is a work in progress and I once had a sharer for my 'won't hack out on his own' TB who the first time he planted gave up and turned for home after I'd spent 6 months getting him to hack out happily on his own and we were back to square one!
 
Depends entirely on your horse. Since I have had her, my pony has been out on loan to my friend's (excellent) riding school which shows that she is tolerant of different riders of varying ability levels. I have let a friend ride her who lost her confidence completely in a bad accident years ago and hadn't even touched a horse since - my mare gave her her confidence back over a few visits. I also put her three year old grandson on for a pony ride and led him around (with a sidewalker holding him on).
Non-horsey friends are allowed to ride my horse from time to time - it's not a regular occurrence by any means and obviously they have to be light enough for her. They don't get to ride with a bit or with contact on their reins either until I know that they have enough balance not to use reins for hanging on to. She takes great care of nervous or beginning riders and knows her job well. If I had a different horse my attitude might well be different.
 
It depends really on the horse

1st horse, yes as long as not too big or heavy
2nd one, everyone rode her, any Tom dick or Harry it didn't really matter
3rd a few friends rode him, but already riding for a number of years
4th one, not broken yet, but he's really calm so hoping he will turn out like horse 2.:D
 
My last horse yes he was a 1 in a million type there are not many like him and I could trust him to look after 2 year olds who rode him etc. Current boy I used to let lots of people ride him but have become incredibly over protective now and am the only one to get on him, might let my new instructor next lesson though if I cant get what is being asked :p!! Current one had quite a few issues when I first got him and he honestly scared me which is half the reason I let others ride, however I would not ever let someone who has never ridden on him in more than a walk being led (small children for example which is hilarious as hes 17hh). Hes truly safe as houses for me now and not risking any undoing of that!
 
No - but my boy is only 4 and we are learning together!

So there are only a select few I would allow to ride him just to make sure the messages he is getting are consistent - my best friend (his previous owner - who broke him in and started him off), riding instructor (who teaches me and taught my friend), and one other friend who is taught by same instructor and owns and broke in/brought on my boy's full sister.
 
Yes to my coloured irish thing, no to my lippizaner mare! She has recently discovered her hind legs and how she can walk on them! Not a good plan for an inexperience person!
 
Again, depends on horse, with first horse, I'd let friends ride, but they wouldn't come off the lead rein until they demonstrate steering and gear changes

The other horse? Absolutely no way is anyone else riding my Princess!

Also depends on the friends, I don't like having certain non horsey types around, with their squealing and making my beasties nervous!
 
I let pretty much anyone who wants to ride BH. If they've never ridden they stay on the lead rein or the lunge but if they can do rising trot then they can do as they please. The horse is very well behaved and generous so I see no reason not to share him with people. It always makes people so happy to have a go. My 12 year old niece came and rode him recently and even had a little jump on him. People from work have ridden him, my mum rides him, one of the girls at the yard's OH rode him, my brother's gf has ridden him. Some of these people haven't ridden for years and all of them, bar my mother, have only ever ridden at riding schools.

I will teach my OH to ride on him if he ever wants to learn. If the horse doesn't care then I don't see the harm. I think it's good for him to be used to other people. He's 6 now but I rebacked him myself as a 4yo and since the basics were established he's always done pony rides. It doesn't seem to affect his ability to work 'properly' for me so I don't see any reason to stop doing it. I think he likes the break from real work sometimes :)
 
Yes, I would. I like my horses to be well adjusted and comfortable with someone unbalanced and novicey on their backs without going into melt down. I would make sure horse and 'passenger' were safe though.

I'm far more selective about letting experienced riders on them. They can do more harm than a complete beginner.
 
One of the things I liked most about Cheeky was that he could be ridden and jumped by virtually anyone as long as they didn't tell him what to do too much. He would be an angel out hacking with nervous novices, take my mum over little fences and then play silly buggers whenever I rode him because he knew how much he could push it.

I think Al's more fussy about Reg, not because he'd be unsafe (he's the most gentlemanly horse around!) but because he's a sensitive soul and would get confused and quite worried by lots of conflicting aids!
 
I have let complete novice friends ride my fell pony. She is, however, a mature bomp-proof pony who is suitable for beginner riders. And, I was always supervising.

My youngster, not a chance! But that's more because he'd probably break them than them breaking him...
 
horserider said:
Yes, I would. I like my horses to be well adjusted and comfortable with someone unbalanced and novicey on their backs without going into melt down. I would make sure horse and 'passenger' were safe though.

I'm far more selective about letting experienced riders on them. They can do more harm than a complete beginner.
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This is actually very much how I view it too. I'd rather someone novicey rode him than someone experienced that does things totally differently from me. You explained it much more succinctly than I ever could though.
 
The odd sit and plod round the school with a novice hasnt done him any harm. I wont let one friend ride him as she uses his mouth for balance but she is like the people mentioned above who think they can ride.
He has had novices of all types on him, he had a little girl I babysit for on him when she lost her confidence after being bombed off with on a RS pony, he showed her how responsive horses are to weight aids as I had her doing 10m circles without touching his mouth and walk halt transitions and her legs were hardly off the saddle. He also helped her get confident over poles after said incident and gave her her first go at riding bareback all in walk but considering she didnt want me to let go when she first got on she was doing a fab job on her own by the end and he is the biggest horse she has ever ridden *big proud grins :D*.

My cousin has also ridden him and he had never been near a horse before and for a child that is terrified of dogs he did very well with a pony and was leading him round all on his own and hopped on to the field bareback.

If any one has a pony mad helper with them he is always offered for them to cool down, he loves it as its easy and he doesnt have to stay to alert :rolleyes: and they always ask him what to do rather than get after him so he is more than happy to oblige.

It does him good to have diffrent riders on him and as long as they dont mess with his mouth then I dont see the problem, he loves being alowed to ignore the leg but knows the diffrence between those than mean it and those that dont. I can remember when being allowed to cool down some ones horse was the highlight of my day so why not repay it to another child, I trust him as much as I can and its always in an inclosed space and I normally ride first so he isnt full of energy. The only thing I wouldnt let a novice do is jump as he needs riding to a fence at the moment but if that changes in the future then I may reconsider.
 
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