"Intermediate Rider Preferred" In Classifieds

"Intermediate Rider Preferred."
"Needs Experienced Rider."

What in the world does this mean!?

I'm not ready for a horse right now but still cannot help looking at classifieds and dreaming. Many mention that their horse is suitable for beginner/intermediate/experienced levels but few explain why. It's obvious what beginner safe means, but what doyou personally interpret as a horse suitable for an "intermediate" or "experienced" rider?

Sorry if this is an annoying question, but I did a light search and couldn't find anything similar aside from the "what level rider am I" questions... and I'm not asking that.

I would interpret that as meaning one or more of the following:
*horse has really bad ground manners
*horse is very pushy
*horse is "hot"
*horse has poor manners under saddle
*horse is not properly trained/needs additional major training
*horse is dangerous - rears, bucks, etc.

It COULD mean horse is ultra-sensitive to the aids and gets confused by beginning riders, but I'm more inclined to interpret it as meaning that the horse is a problem for some reason.

I would interpret those two statements differently.

Intermediate Rider Preferred - Horse needs someone who can ride and not just be a passenger. Some issues will come up that will have to be corrected with a quick thinker. Probably a 5-6 on the termperment scale.

Needs Experienced Rider - Hot horse. Might buck, bolt or rear. Probably talented but comes with some major tricks up his sleeve. Rider must double as trainer and have a good seat. Probably pushing 8-9 on the termperment scale.

If it's intermediate rider needed, then to me that means that horse will have bad behavior if the rider does not have the self confidence to require good behavior, but horse will respond well to a moderately self confident rider.

For expert level, horse needs rider who can deal with above typical level of behavor probelms, such as bucking or rearing and bolting.

Here's the thing, guys...from what I've seen, classified ads for horses usually paint the brightest possible picture of the horse, using the most glowing language available. I know there are some people who are totally honest about the horse they are selling, but there seem to be quite as many, if not more, people who are unrealistically optimistic about the horse, its behavior, its prospects. Horse selling is *known* for this very kind of thing.

So if a friend, or a trainer, tells me that their horse needs an intermediate or experienced rider, I'm going to interpret that like MyBoyPuck and TinyLiny do.

If a random stranger posting on Craigslist or equine.com states that their horse needs an intermediate or experienced rider, I'm going to interpret that as meaning this horse is some kind of problem.

While I would not consider the latter type of horse, one that states an intermediate rider is usually a very nice horse that a rider with some degree of skill and confidence can grow into. It's kind of what I did, get something a little out of my league and force me to improve my riding. The trick is to get one with a good mind.

To me it means the horse is not suitable for beginners. It will test, it will rely heavily on its rider for confidence, and it will take a rider who knows what they're doing to push the right buttons and get the horse working properly.

I prefer they say intermediate than "oh he's totally beginner safe" and have that horse then buck them off or bolt on them.

When all else fails, read the ad of what the horse does and ask yourself could you see yourself riding this horse successfully? Would your ride benifit the horse. I look at certain ads for certain types of horses but there are many posts about the level I rider .. You can be experienced but compared to who??

When you do get more serious about looking you can find what you want a lot easier when you narrow it down. A 3yo just broke needing an experienced rider is obvious on why, a level 2 dressage horse or showjumper needing an experienced rider is more for the success of the horse. Make sense? It really depends on te training exc. You have people with more money than brains looking at high level horses who have no business riding them so the ad would have experienced / advanced/ intermediate rider

When I have made Ads with such wording I think more about the rider ability I know from inquiries I have had on my own horses{which have all been younger horses} I seem to get alot of newbie horse owners or people looking for their child. A horse can have a good foundation of training & be quiet/well mannered but if rider knows very little & aren't skilled enough they are not going to effectively ride the horse & are likely to undo alot of training the horse has.They need to be a RIDER not a passenger have some "confidence" & "know how" in use of proper use of leg & rein cues.
Not always but most often,If it is a problem horse that is requiring the more experience then you can very often tell by other wording in ad,place it advertised,price etc. the situation it may be coming from.

I have an ad on here right now that says the horse requires and expert horseperson. She's just starting her second 30 days of training, is going WTC under saddle but she's only 3 and she's very green and has been sheltered all her life so everything is very new to her. She doesn't bolt, buck, rear or do anything nasty but she needs someone to lean on for a while yet. I would say that an intermediate/advanced rider with a good seat and soft hands and aids could ride her, but if she gets scared and stiffens up and someone grabs her face, you might get a rodeo. She hasn't yet and hasn't even offered to, but that's my gut feeling about her. She'll be an excellent show horse project for someone and has the potential to take someone to the top, if they want to go.

So that's my criteria for the kind of rider she needs.