I’ve known my mare since she was five, and been in love ever since. I finally purchased her in February. Sorry, but she’s my treat horse. She takes care of me, and is always a dream. So, selfishly, I don’t let anyone else ride her. I eaned her, she’s mine to ride. Now, my Barn Owner I offered to let ride her. She’s a very good friend, a great rider and horseperson, and was short a horse for a trail ride. She didn’t wind up riding her but that offer’s always open. But she’s the only one with an invite.
no one else rides my horse because i’ve learned my lesson there. i got him because he dumped everyone before me, and he’s dumped everyone since then other than me, oh and my mother who rode him at a walk.
personally, even if he was an easy ride, i wouldnt let anyone near him without me there instructing. call me over protective or ocd, but that’s how i feel
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I think it is a very nice thing to have a horse who can go well for different riders, and good for them also as it gives them a wider choice of potential owners. Liability definitely does rear its head nowadays, and some riders do exagerate just a touch regarding their skill level.
Since I don’t own a horse right now I think it is probably a moot point.
I have a finicky sensitive 6yo gelding who was only broke as a LATE 4 yo. He is HARD to ride and still green; even my trainer admits he is one of the most difficult horses she has ever worked with. For the most part, only she and I ride him. He doesn’t really spook or shy; it’s other things! In the off season occasionally she will have someone else ride him if they need humbling 
He doesn’t much enjoy it and I don’t either, because I know there will be residue from the past ride when I get on him. Not so great.
When I had my old mare, who was schooled, sweet, broke, and thoughtful, I loved having other people ride her. They all loved riding her and it was a huge compliment to me that when they got off they would exclaim over how nice she was to ride. (I trained her from scratch.) I had a kid show her (kid had no $ and wanted to show soooo bad - you know the drill) that loved her to bits and that was so cool. It was also nice seeing someone else ride her!
I have a 20 year old who I don’t let other people ride. I keep her at home so the only people wanting to ride are children. She needs at least an intermediate rider or she will bolt with them and will sometimes spook.
If I knew someone who could handle her, I wouldn’t mind. For now, I just occassionally lead one little girl around now and then.
LOL! :lol:
A few people have mentioned the liability involved in letting someone else ride your horse. Does a hold harmless not cover that? How about the Equine Liability Act in many states?
If you DO let others ride your horse(s) and you are not the barn owner, how do you CYA? I always make people sign the barn’s hold harmless, though I’m not sure that covers ME per se…same with the ELA. Is there anyone more familiar with this stuff who can chime in?
I have 2 rules on who can ride on our farm.
1 horse is mine - no one has ever ridden him, and no one probably ever will, I started him myself. - Reason: - he’s my horse:)
the rest of my horses are ridden by me and my children. no one else
reason :they are my horses:)
I don’t feel that to be a bad thing, I pay for the horses and their upkeep, that means I decide who gets to ride them - it’s pretty basic.
Hahahaha, if I had a $100K horse my Mother’s monkey should be able to ride it, or drive it in my case!
Of my 4, anybody can ride the 3 mares any time they want. The stallion I won’t share because that’s a liability I just don’t need. He would undoubtedly be just fine, but if something “did” happen, I’d be at fault and I don’t need that. There is a teen guy who rides one of my mares all the time, and the other day he rode my endurance horse on a trail ride. I don’t see what the big deal is unless you just don’t want the liability, which is definitely understandable. I think it’s silly to get into the “my horse me me me mine mine” business and not let anyone else ride. Who cares. I love it when other people ride my horses because then I can see things that I can’t see when I’m onboard.
I have a few horsey loving friends who don’t own horses and it would be a shame to be so selfish that I wouldn’t let these people ride with me on one of my horses. We have great times together. They pitch in for fuel money, and take on the responsibility of the other horse when I bring one along for them. We have great times together that wouldn’t be had if I were too selfish.
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I’m going back to the no one else rides my horse posse. After having the leaser from you-know-where and a trainer who thought nothing of throwing a minor on her without asking permission, it is time for us to go back and have some mommy and me time.
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I have had my horse for ten years. During the first year I had him only two others
got on him. One rode him for about two minutes the other for about ten.
Since then NO ONE other than myself has ridden my horse and no one ever will.
I am very selective as to whom I let ride my daughters horse too.
Only two other people ride my mare - and that’s the people that I trust! She is deceptive in the paddock as she is quite a quiet mare and doesnt look like the large moving horse she actually is under saddle. She has fooled a couple of trainers and I dont like her getting socked in the gob by people when she responds to their driving aids.
My husband’s horse is the one anyone can hop on for a “pony” ride.
My 3’6" jumper mare is who I let the more “skilled” riders try english and SOMETIMES small jumping on. She’s very safe and packer-ish. I’ve retrained her off the track and had her 5 years.
My retired 20 yr old is a no no to EVERYONE. I don’t even ride him anymore, but when he was ridden, I just flat out didn’t let people ride him. He has always been crazy haha
My up and coming superstar gelding, who is cocky and knows his job ‘better than me’ haha…I only let people equal to or more skilled than me ride him. He’s a good boy, but a VERY tough ride and a strong horse. He easily intimidates folks and then once he ‘gets’ you…you’re screwed haha
And basically, my ranch is not a dude ranch. If people ask to come ride…I have to consider what they want to do, what their skill level is and how much I like them HAHA
Maybe I’m a control freak too But I REALLY have trouble watching someone on my horse NOT riding them how I do. I don’t like watching the horse struggle with not getting the correct cues…being confused. And I REALLY get peeved if they start hitting the back a lil hard or being a lil rough with the mouth (even in a learning situation).
There are only a couple of people I can think of who I trust enough to take my horse out on trail without me there to supervise. One of them is a friend who also boards her horse at the same barn. Last hear she didn’t have a horse to ride and I was out of town for a long weekend, so I told her she was welcome to ride mine if she just needed to “get out” for a couple of hours. They got along very well and I’m sure he enjoyed the attention.
My boyfriend has been on my horse a couple of times; he owns two horses and is a perfectly capable rider, but I think he prefers being on his own horses most of the time. Every once in a while we “trade off” just for fun, though.
Aside from that, the only times I consider putting anyone else on my horse’s back is when my nieces are in town. And that’s just a hand-led pony ride in the arena. My main reason for not wanting to let a lot of people on my horse’s back is just that I don’t know that many people who could actually ride him. He’s not a wild man, but I’m not sure how tolerant he would be of an inexperienced rider. . .he likes to “test” every so often.:winkgrin:
There are only two people at my boarding stable that I will let ride my horse: my trainer/BO and one of her students.
Anyone else – not a chance unless I am standing right there and trainer says they’re “okay”.
She’s not an easy ride and I’ve put a lot of work into my girl. I’m not about to let anyone mess her up.
Eileen
No one rides my horse but me!
I have several reasons…
1)He’s a handful of an OTTB and it’s a huge liability.
2) God forbid he’s to get hurt, I’ll be so upset. Let him get hurt while I’m riding and I’ll have no one to blame.
3)I’m selfish and it’s much easier to say “no one rides him but me” instead of picking out who can cannot ride him.
[QUOTE=SBT;4261769]
I’ve heard this statement numerous times over the years, and in most cases, I think it’s pretty silly actually. Unless you own a rare beast whose mind truly will be blown by a different rider, or a greenie who needs a very accurate ride, OR a horse gearing up for a major competition…what is the harm in letting someone else ride? I’d imagine that for about 90% of the horses out there, an occasional ride by someone different is probably NOT a detriment. [/QUOTE]
That’s what I thought … at first.
I have one of those wonderfully kind beasts that pretty much any idiot can ride. He is great for putting beginners or non-horsey friends on for a trail ride.
Since I’ve been so busy lately, I’ve opened the door for a few trusted friends to ride him, or bring him along on trail rides with them. Now I’m starting to change my mind, and pondering how best to close the door I’ve opened.
The horse is just fine with beginners. The problem is, when I get back on him, I have to thump the sh!7 out of him to get him back to normal. I would prefer not to do that.
My horse has a lazy streak, and he’d greatly prefer to plod along and ignore the rider’s seat and body aids. Then when I get on him, it takes a bit of a heavy hand to wake him up and get him back to his normal (well-schooled and responsive) state. I ride for fun and relaxation, and I just don’t enjoy being hard on my horse to enforce my standards. Plus it’s not particularly fair to keep changing the game up.
So now I’m thinking he’s going back to being a one-rider horse. If that’s “selfish,” too bad. I own the horse; I make the call.
[QUOTE=rainechyldes;4262198]I have 2 rules on who can ride on our farm.
1 horse is mine - no one has ever ridden him, and no one probably ever will, I started him myself. - Reason: - he’s my horse:)
the rest of my horses are ridden by me and my children. no one else
reason :they are my horses:)
I don’t feel that to be a bad thing, I pay for the horses and their upkeep, that means I decide who gets to ride them - it’s pretty basic.[/QUOTE]
Exactly.
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OP, I don’t think it’s your business to tell other people what’s right for their horses. If they don’t want a lot of different people on their horse that’s their business, not yours or anyone else’s, and they don’t need to be judged by you for it. You do what you want with your horse, and leave people alone who don’t quite see it the same way as you.
“I think that’s rather silly”
“Unless it is a rare beast”
and etc on and on.
Stop being so judgemental. Thanks.
Some people find having people hop on their horse works for them, others do not.
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SBT, you would have to read your barn’s liability release to see if you are covered, but chances are, you are not. Those are usually designed to protect the barn owners from lawsuits, and that’s about it. Additionally, they are usually not iron clad, and while they sound good, they may not stop someone from suing if something goes wrong. Lawsuits arising from accidents are very stressful to the party being sued, so it is not something I put myself in the way of. If you decide to look into liability coverage, the USEF offers a $1 million policy with their membership ($40 charge).
Just curious - if you never let anyone else ride your horse and one day something happens (like it CAN happen - accident, illness, loss of job/income) and you must sell - don’t you think it will be harder to sell such a horse that is a “one person horse” or to rehome such a horse?
I ask because I once had one like that - I started her, trained her, rode her, showed her and when life happened (college and children together) and I needed to rehome her, or at least try to. Rode perfectly for me, w/t/c, auto lead changes, backed up, self loaded in trailer - all the things I never wanted anyone to “mess up”.
Well I messed up because when I needed to rehome her - I couldn’t. I had two pros and a cowboy try her (all being very nice to said horse) and she threw each of them. I sure couldn’t recommend her for anyone knowing she’d throw a bucking fit the moment someone put their foot in the stirrup. I kept that horse till she died, but it sure was hard because I couldn’t ride her, go to school, and raise twins during that four year stretch…but I couldn’t give her away or sell her either. So she was a pasture ornament for years when she could have been someone’s riding and show horse - she was awesome in the arena and always placed in the top five…but…she was hard wired to allow me to ride and no one else and that pretty much ruined her career wise.
She’s the only horse I have ever had like that and now, if someone wants to ride one of mine, I will let them provided they are reasonable and I am watching. I never want another “one person” type horse and thankfully I learned a lesson way back then. (and even back then when breeding QHs was sooo popular, she lacked a few outstanding conformational traits which I felt were necessary to pass on…so I wouldn’t lease her as a broodie either).
Just saying sometimes having a horse no one else can ride is not such a good thing - for the horse or the owner.
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