Saturday, March 7, 2015

Do you share well?

Love this horse!!


Who do you let ride your horse... or are you the only one who rides your horse? Does only your trainer ride your horse? Or are you ok with just anyone riding your horse?

Then to build upon that, if you let others ride your horse- are they riding to just hack around and have fun or seriously jumping/schooling your horse?

I don't share well and I will be the first to admit that.. ha!

I think it's because of all the hard work I have put into Henry (big thanks to my trainer for pushing me no matter what ha and J for riding Henry once in a while to keep him moving higher with jumps when I am too chicken to jump 4 ft lol) and now that he is where he is, I want to enjoy him! A horse only has so many years in them and I don't want to miss out on any of that or use it up prematurely.

I'd love to hear what you think of the above.. do share!!

18 comments:

  1. I have in the past - he's been a Pony Club horse for lessons, and I had a friend who enjoyed hacking him out. He's been used in lessons a handful of times.

    Right now, I keep him to myself. He's not in the right physical shape to be a lesson horse anymore. Sometimes the barn manager will call and ask if a working student can bring him on a short trail ride - usually when she needs to ride a very difficult horse outside. He's a good babysitter.

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  2. I'm happy to let anyone ride my horses: Johnny's slew of relatives, lesson kids, friends. I think that's because my horses are old and relatively harmless and I'm not afraid of anyone messing them up.

    Currently, Moe is ridden exclusively by lesson kids and Gina is ridden by me and a few kids. I don't mind sharing, as the kids are all competent and closely supervised!

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  3. I'm happy to let anyone ride my horses: Johnny's slew of relatives, lesson kids, friends. I think that's because my horses are old and relatively harmless and I'm not afraid of anyone messing them up.

    Currently, Moe is ridden exclusively by lesson kids and Gina is ridden by me and a few kids. I don't mind sharing, as the kids are all competent and closely supervised!

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  4. I rarely share Kika as I've worked so hard to get back on the same page as her and break a truly awful habit that I don't ever want her to think she can go back to that nor have her potentially scare or harm someone else.
    I'm more generous with Nancy although often I prefer to ride her first for arena work, but for strolls in the woods she's golden and so much braver than Kika

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  5. I don't share well...but its for everyone's own good. Pong is safe provided you know what you're doing so for the few people besides me that's been on him they've all been trainers I respect and/or good riders who I know will do no harm if that makes sense.

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  6. With Rico, I never really let anyone on him unless they were my trainer. And then after his injuries, no one but me rode him for 3 years until I let my last trainer on him twice. I'd let boyfriend or my mom sit on him for trails or short hacks, but anything more than walking around was always done by me.

    The new baby is only being ridden by me and occasionally by another trainer at the barn (who gets him when I'm not around). Eventually, I plan on putting a friend and all of my students on him because the plan is to sell him as an amateur's horse and so he needs to be good for everyone- not just me.

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  7. In the past, horrible sharer. But want to improve. Can't really let anyone on my horse currently, but in future I would like an educated rider to get on see what they think of him and all I've done.

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  8. I like to share. That doesn't mean I will let just anyone on my horse but I'm also not too worried about having others ride him. I also don't think horses are that easy to mess up! :)

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  9. I don't mind letting just about anyone get on take Miles for a spin once in a while, but the only people who ride and train Miles are myself and my trainers working student.

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  10. It doesn't happen much other than trainer or assistant trainer, but I would love for people to ride Felix. I think the experience/exposure is really great and my trainer would never put anyone on him that would do any harm. I love for him to get attention and I am really only able to 3x a week personally.

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  11. 2 of mine are currently leased out and I would lease nilla as well, but I don't get much response to her ads. Shasta's stifle injury means she has to be ridden nearly daily to stay in shape and we don't want to go every single day. Dijon doesn't need to be leased but I actually did the one lease as a favor to the guy who was being kicked out if his previous lease by our barns sole source is drama.

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  12. i can be a tad possessive about my horses - except, um, i've never owned my own so i don't really get to make that decision! i suspect i'd let friends ride my eventual horse every now and then... but probably it would just be me

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  13. I don't like sharing....but for one or two friends I would :)

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  14. Right now I'm the only one that rides my horses. I think trainer has been on baby 3 times. I'm not opposed to letting someone ride them but I'm tired of offering andbeing blown off.

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  15. I don't, I would let my coach of course. Mostly because my horses are all difficult, except Parker, and I sometimes let people on him once in a while.

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  16. P has the ability to match himself to someone's level. He gives pony rides while putting on a face of determination to figure out what a little body is asking him to do. He will be solid for an older adult to do a light hack on. He will still provide me with a challenge. I love sharing him for pony rides but otherwise I always feel like the person I'm sharing him with needs to be deserving and willing to follow my rules for his care. At his age there are only so many rides left and I don't want to waste them!
    Stampede is pretty much my beast. Somehow most of my friends are really short and after my best friend fell off of him a few years ago while I was out of town I just haven't felt comfortable. While I think he's fairly steady and well trained, he will do the spin and run spook if you aren't supporting him near something scary. I think most people are afraid of him anyways, as I never get people saying they would love to ride him sometime like I do with P, lol. Also with his back issues I have a very specific way of riding him. Sadly I don't like the way my trainer rides him, although she was great early on when we struggled with relaxation. Let's just hope I get him back in action sometime soon!

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  17. I don't love to share but I have a group of barn friends that I ask to hack Ellie when I'm out of town. I trust them and know there's not going to be any "joining in of jumping lessons." And it's really just weekends when the trainers are teaching. During the week it's either myself or a trainer.
    I pick up a ride for my friend on Fridays with her horse, Jinx, because she can't make it out after work. Love that horse and appreciate that she trusts me to ride him!

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  18. I use to let anybody that wanted to ride Skye, sometimes with less than desirable results. With Sydney I am much more selective. Now more than ever with her PSSM diagnosis.

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Henry and I love to hear from you guys! Leave us comments!!! :)