I have a part loan horse to go and look at (in my thread 'Sally')

But meanwhile I have booked myself in for my usual hour lesson (well, we get 40 min lesson and 20 min mini hack) at the riding school I have been going to for a few months.

The first time I went I had Lightning, a coloured cob. So when I booked back in each time I asked for her again as I don't like change. I now realise that was a bit of a daft thing to do as now I feel a bit nervous trying a new horse.


I fell off my friends 16.1 ID the other week. Hurt my back and nearly landed in poo (lol).
He was just back into work after being in the field as his owner hasn't had the time to rid him recently but my friend is part loaning.

Anyway I was riding him after he had been lunged and when trotting half way round the arena for the 3rd time he decided he was having a canter. And he would not stop. As we got towards the bottom end I suddenly remembered she has been told not to point him at a fence so I pulled right and he stopped and I flew off.
I didn't get straight back on as my lower back was really sore.


Now my horse that I usually have at the riding school is having a month off after suddenly going lame when she threw a shoe and it was put back on.
So they have put me down for another coloured mare who is not long back into work after having a foal. I am told she is lovely and sweet, but I am still a bit nervous!


Though I suppose, better for me to get on a new horse in an arena at a riding school with my friend there, than on a non riding school horse in a field at a farm with just the owner there.


Someone re-assure me that I will be fine!

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You'll be fine! All the cobs I've met have been lovely.

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Cara,
Owned by Fern, Heidi, Asteroid, Bubbles & Fizz
Missing Snippet, Frost, Willow & Nix


Opinions are like armpits. Everyone has them, and some stink.

I would expect you to be fine at the riding school, but unfortunately the only way to guarantee you will never fall off, is to never get on.

One little bit of advice I would give you, is if you go to ride a new privately owned horse, always make the owner/sharer get on and ride first.

If the owner says something like 'don't point him at a fence' or 'don't hang on he doesn't like it' or anything that means he has to ridden differently to any other horse and you start to get misgivings, I would politely decline the ride.

On the whole, many riding school horses know their job, are pretty quiet and are used to having lots of different riders. The not so quiet horses are kept for confident riders who have been riding a while. Riding schools don't want increases in insurance and want to keep accidents to a minimum.

Privately owned horses are usually used to one, maybe two people riding them. They don't get ridden so often and can be more quirky and forward going and less forgiving of novice riders in comparison. Riding a privately owned horse on his own in an open field can be very different from riding a riding school cob in a class lesson. Owners can think their horse is quiet and well behaved and suitable for a novice rider, until they let a novice ride their horse.

My own old horse is lovely. Very quiet and well-behaved, I'd say anyone could ride him, he never puts a foot wrong. Then I let a friend who'd been riding at a riding school take him for a few hacks. By the sixth hack he'd had enough and very politely turned around with her and trotted back home, completely ignoring anything she said or did. They came trotting back into the yard, where he very gently came to a halt and waited for her to dismount. We gave up on her riding him and I realised he's not as tolerant as I thought he was and her passenger style riding was impacting on his confidence.

She had more lessons and bought her own horse instead.

I think if you are becoming nervous, it might be better for you to build up your confidence at the riding school, riding a number of different suitable horses there and think about sharing later. I believe you haven't been riding very long yet?

It's probably still worth your going to see the new mare, but be cautious and don't let yourself be pushed into anything. Good luck.

I started riding when I was 2, but never had any lessons it was walking hacks I went on then.
In high school I had 2 friends with horses I used to ride a lot, never had any bother with confidence even when I fell off Toffee, a cob, a good few times I just got right back on - she had a really odd quirk.. and that was when cantering she would zig zag occasionally, and would throw me off balance, a few times I just toppled off the side and then there was the time she decided I should jump and not her, so she stopped while cantering, right before the jump. How I managed to land on my feet reins still in hand I will never know! Lol.

I used to help in a local stables through two summer holidays, but it was so busy I rarely got to ride.

Then I had about a 7 year break when I moved away as there just wasn't anywhere to ride near me, then I had my daughter and did not have the time.
I have been at the local riding school for a few months with lessons to refresh myself and hacks inbetween for fun


It has been a dream I have had all my life, to have my own horse but well unless I win the lottery its not looking likely, so I'm hoping this part loan is going to work out, I love going to the riding school but its just the 'go there, get on, do this now and that now, get off, go home' stuff, I want to be able to spend more time around a horse and not have to do what and when someone says Lol.

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you must always let the horse know who is boss and that is you my friend any horse you get on will try it on with you untill they now you are having none of it .
i teach people to ride horses untill 2 years ago and i would never put them on the same horse every week as you will never get better as you get to used to the horse you are riding and its not as if you are going to be buying that horse and it build your confidence up .

good luck to you and hope your confidence builds up and you find a horse

Thank you

I am not feeling so nervous about sunday now I know that the horses at the riding school will be fine (even if Pumpkin who my friend rides likes to try and take your feet out if passing a fence post!!). But it will be in an arena with an instructor and I will have Laura there to boost me confidence even further lol. I Imagine just getting on a completely different horse will help me a lot and I will soon wonder what I was feeling nervous about!

Then I just have to wait to go and meet Sally

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If every new horse you ride "try it on with you" I'd say you're doing something wrong.

How are you letting them know who is boss?

Horses are generally co-operative creatures, they want to feel comfortable, not get into a fight with everyone who rides them.

Missed that bit! I wouldn't fancy getting in a fight with something that weighs that much!
My friends loan horse does try it on a bit... but he is an irish draught and has been out in the field and not ridden for a good while so obviously a bit fresh, and I guess me getting nervous when he didn't stop didn't help.
He is bad for doing things in his own time though like when she is lunging her he will break into trot/canter without her asking him to. Looking back at this I wish I had waited until she had him a bit longer and he was more 'obedient' before getting on.


When I got on Lightning for the fist time at the riding centre I did not feel nervous I just got on with it. I just got a bit of a feel for her by gently asking her to walk on and stop a few times. She requires a bit of extra pulling power to ask her to stop sometimes and might stop a few feet past where I wanted her to stop, but she does stop.
I don't want to guarantee I am not going to fall off a horse, I just don't want a horse that doesn't stop at all when I ask it to stop, I thing quite a lot of people would find that un-nerving, especially about a horse that could clear a stock fence easily if he wanted to!

The woman that runs the riding school was sympathetic to my events of the other week and says she make sure she give me a lovey horse, I will just start off by doing a few start/stops.
I am sure I will be back on here on sunday saying it was fab

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That's what I don't like about riding school horses They're all so used up I've never met one that actually enjoyed working.
I took too long a break out of riding and don't have enough balance/confidence to ride out of a riding school situation now though, so I've screwed myself!

I'm sure you'll be fine Emma

Edit: Just to say, I've been to lots of different schools, all the same.

ive been riding all my life ive worked in racing yards ive broken horses in ive show jumped cross country hunted ect i know what im talking about i know my stuff .

also yeah i do feel sorry for riding school pony/horse as they do the same day in day out but yet again if it was not for places like them people would not be able to learn to ride ,and the school i worked at did not just work in schools they had loads of land where they could do lessons on ,and they were very well looked after and not all the horses were worked all the time .

and by letting a horse know who boss i mean not letting the horse do what it wants but what you want it to do !!!