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Other people riding your horse

8K views 41 replies 37 participants last post by  Eolith 
#1 ·
Well I have had my horse since Feb he is OTTB and have just started to get him going well, after injuries & winter. I have been dying to have a video of me riding him or see someone else ride him. So I asked one of the girls at my grazing to ride him, lets just say he didn't go so well for her. Went hollow, fought the bit the whole way & wouldn't even canter on the right lead. I still have moments with leads & even accepting the bit but certainly goes better than that for me. One of the other girls I ride with couldn't believe it was Mel in her words a very unhappy Mel hehe
What sort of experiences have you guys had with other people riding your horses? I thought it was a good idea but not so much now her hands were too hard for him
I have asked a friends daughter to come ride him cause I know from riding her horse that she will be the right rider so I can watch his movement etc
 
#3 ·
Yeah, same here. When I had Lexi, nobody else but me could really ride her. If someone else did, they'd have to be very advanced, & patient. Like, when I watched other people ride her (like friends sometimes)- she'd be a totally different horse! :shock: She was more of a one-person horse, I guess you could say. But yeah, now with her new owner it's still the same (her new owner is a very good rider! they are doing soo well)- only she can ride her (& me of course). ;)
 
#6 ·
My horse is trained only by me.

I have had a girl show him in the hunter/jumper over the last two years and winning Champion hunter over fences as well as winning in jumper.

Yesterday my rider got sick early in the morning and could not ride in a show he was entered in so another girl at the barn who never rode him before hopped on him at the show and got two hunter over fences placings on him.

Good training produces a ridable horse.
 
#7 ·
Spyder said:
Good training produces a ridable horse.
Oh I agree but bad riding ie/ hard hands is something a horse with soft mouth is going to react to no matter what training is done.

Plus this is the first person I have seen ride my horse since owning him, I knew him well racing I was part of his breaking in & race training. During that time I only ever saw one other track rider ride him & 2 jockeys. So Mel really has only had about 6 different people on his back
 
#8 ·
No one rides my horses. My trainer and I are the only ones to get on my horse. When it gets to the point where I want to take someone out on a trail ride and I the horse I let this person ride, I want to make sure he/she is trained enough to not rely on the rider and that won't be for yearssss to come.

So as of right now? no one gets near me horses without me there, no one gets on my horses.
 
#9 ·
PoptartShop said:
Yeah, same here. When I had Lexi, nobody else but me could really ride her. If someone else did, they'd have to be very advanced, & patient. Like, when I watched other people ride her (like friends sometimes)- she'd be a totally different horse! :shock: She was more of a one-person horse, I guess you could say. But yeah, now with her new owner it's still the same (her new owner is a very good rider! they are doing soo well)- only she can ride her (& me of course). ;)
you sold her! when! I didn't know that! do you have a new horse?
 
#10 ·
With Kai anyone could trail ride him, he is a great little trail leader, just drop the reins and he will walk and trot on the trail great. But as far as riding him in the arena and making him work, I am the only person who he works for. I was trying to get my mum going on him for when I am away but, didn't work. Kai and I are on the same level, we must have some special connection, I have had him for over 10 years... I think it must be the way I ride, and have trained him too, he was the only horses I was riding for a long while. I don't trust him with other people in the arena but on the trail I would.

Then when Com became mine as well, he used to be my sisters, We clicked pretty well straight from the start, but he is such a different ride to Kai. With my students, it takes at least 2 lessons for them to click with Com. He can be a little moody with people who only "think" they know what they are doing but he is a great teacher. He usually puts riders in their place and builds confidence :) I can trust Com to test his rider, and be a safe mount :) But I also see he appreciates when he has a rider who knows what they are doing.
 
#11 ·
i usually am the only person who rides my horse sometimes my cousin will ask to ride him, he doesnt like it but he doesnt do anything different, e puts his ears back and does whatever she tells him too but i can tell he doesnt like it lol
 
#12 ·
I have one horse that I never let anyone ride. I've had him since he was 3 and he's 24 now. I wish I had, because now he's so picky other people can't really ride him, he completely ignores their commands. he's a jerk to them... I think it's important for a rider to be able to ride many different horses, and for a horse to be able to be ridden by many riders.....
 
#13 ·
farmpony84 said:
I think it's important for a rider to be able to ride many different horses, and for a horse to be able to be ridden by many riders.....
Good point :D
 
#14 ·
I will let the more intermediate/advanced riders ride my horse(like when I go on vacation or if I can't ride that day). We don't have many of those kind of riders at our barn though. :( But since I'm usually her only rider, she doesn't go as well for them. And then both of my trainers can ride her, of course. If I'm taking horses out to pasture, I'll let little kids ride Miss Take out bareback in her halter because I know she's perfect for that.
She'll do okay if I beginner gets on her, as long as they're calm, but she'll look ugly with her head up in the air and short, choppy gaits. I don't want her untrained, so that's why I don't let beginners ride her.
 
#15 ·
With Chloe I let anyone ride her... i wont let just anyone ride with the show bit but I will throw a snaffle in and she is good to go. Im not afraid of her being "ruined" since she is 14 already and listens to me like none other (owned her for almost 10 yrs)... i lease her out and when the other girl is showing her I have to walk back from the arena otherwise Chloe wants to be by me.... I dont let just anyone drive her though, too many things can happen there and i dont want the driver or Chloe getting hurt. If Im in the cart with them I will hand over the reins but Im always right there.

With April only 4 people have been on her.... the guy I bought her from, Me, another trainer, and a girl at my last barn. When I had my gallbladder surgery I paid a girl to ride her a few times so that she wouldnt lose her conditioning... but this girl knew what she was doing so i wasnt worried. With April she likes to pull things and I dont want anyone to get hurt.
 
#16 ·
My goal is to teach my horses to be able to be ridden by any kind of rider. Granted I only buy horses to sell them and I specialize in ponies so there's a very good chance they'll be bought by beginner kids. I actually ask the more advanced kids at my barn to get on my horses and ride them around so they'll get some kid experience but I've even let a few beginners on a well. The way I see if, if some beginner can get on and flop around and my ponies still pack them around, it tells me I'm doing my job! But I do have to say, it hurts me twice as much if someone accidentally hits him in the mouth over the fence or something!
 
#18 ·
I'm very very picky with my young mare :) so far there have been only 4 people on her and ones that I trust like my trainer. It's nice to have a horse that "anyone" can get on but on the other hand I don't have to say no to anyone because everyone knows I don't let people ride her. I actually had to stop letting my step son ride because she was learning really bad things in a very short period of time from him
 
#19 ·
Sloppy riders can make your horse less responsive and train them into bad habits, sure. That's why it's unwise to let just anyone ride your horse. But a well-trained horse should be capable of being ridden by anyone, as appropriate to their level. Obviously a beginner is not going to be leg yielding on them, but the horse should be capable of listening to a beginner as well, even if you wouldn't let one ride him regularly as it would mess up his training.

Obviously there are differences when it comes to hot-tempered or superb, top-level horses, who for example might not understand a beginner's instructions to canter because they're used to more sophisticated aids. But for the average horse, you should be capable of putting people with varying experience on them for a short while.
 
#20 ·
claireauriga said:
Sloppy riders can make your horse less responsive and train them into bad habits, sure. That's why it's unwise to let just anyone ride your horse. But a well-trained horse should be capable of being ridden by anyone, as appropriate to their level. Obviously a beginner is not going to be leg yielding on them, but the horse should be capable of listening to a beginner as well, even if you wouldn't let one ride him regularly as it would mess up his training.

Obviously there are differences when it comes to hot-tempered or superb, top-level horses, who for example might not understand a beginner's instructions to canter because they're used to more sophisticated aids. But for the average horse, you should be capable of putting people with varying experience on them for a short while.
I agree as I have already stated. My horse is actually extremely well trained. He is capalbe of jumping over 4' and is trained well into FEI dressage but as you can see by these pictures he has more than capaple of accepting a new rider.

This rider has NEVER ridden him before but my regular rider got sick on the morning of the show and the other girl in the barn just hopped on at the show grounds and did some hunter rounds. Certainly is good advertising for his abilities and good stallion temperment.




 
#21 ·
He's gorgeous Spyder!!

I'm really picky about who gets on my horse unless its a little walk around the ring with me walking beside. Simply because he's not "bombproof" and I don't want him or the rider getting hurt.

He's nervous about not knowing what to do and if anyone but me or my coach gets on his back he get very ansy.

But it's something we'll work on soon.
 
#22 ·
my horses can be and have been ridden by other people
i just don't like them to be :lol:
playboy used to be a trail horse for the place i work at, so he's pretty safe
But athena, even thought she's an awesome trail horse, is a speed demon and has a mind of her own. If you don't know how to control her she's known for taking advantage of others. lol
 
#23 ·
I wont let anyone ride my horse.
I have worked to hard to long for someone to come along and ruin it all. In saying that i have let people ride my horse before it resulting in them screwing him up and i having to start again (what a fantastic learning curve), One person rode him see saw'd to get his head down and made him flick his head all the time.

He's fine now, but never again will someone ride him.
 
#25 ·
I think from a training point of view it's probably better to have you horse be ridden by different people so they get used to different styles and ways of riding.
I think my issue is how protective I am of my horses. I have issues with a lot of other rider's ways of riding and it bothers me when I know I have spent so much time and money into a horse to get it to where it is. Seems like a waste to have someone else get on and wreck what I've done.

I like my boy.
 
#26 ·
I think it's important for a horse to be able to carry more than one rider. If for some reason, you ever needed to sel the horse, no one would ever buy it if only you could ride it. And it that case it's probably because you've taught it in correctly so it can't respond to basic aids. (This depends obviously on the rider who gets on the horses level of riding)
 
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