My Grand Prix dressage horse was given to me because he bucked his owner off lots of times. Not once did he ever buck, spook, or anything else under saddle. He was an angel. But we never forced him into a frame, either. He was naturally athletic and balanced. I trusted him completely. But a couple of other people who rode him (i gave them permission) got bucked off big time. This guy could buck halfway to the rafters of my indoor arena, yet he was always kind to me. And he’s the one that taught me how to ride advanced dressage movements (along with the help of an instructor, of course), so he was also forgiving of me.
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The same story but a medium trained dressage mare who was way out of work. She was brought for the riding school by the A Grade showjumper and bucked him off so spectacularly that the Grand Prix Dressage Rider said she would never go into the school. She started competing on her when her horse went lame.
I was told when I bought her after working with her for a few weeks that the Grand Prix rider used to come to a rearing halt and hand the reins to the staff and say take this horse away I can’t ride her.
I brought her back into work and learned so much from her. She never reared and never bucked under saddle, but gave me a full session of bucking once when I hopped on bareback - and kept going until I slid down her shoulder with a handful of mane. THAT cured me from ever riding bareback again!
She was the perfect horse, even taking beginners out for trail rides.
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When I got my first horse almost 50 years ago I did not know I had MS though, looking back, it had been affecting me badly for years.
My first horse was 5 yrs. old, green-broke (3 weeks of formal training) just gelded Anglo-Arab gelding. WAY too much horse for my riding abilities. I kept him though I did not have much money (I couldn’t afford a car so we hitchhiked to the stable), I did not have enough money to pay for further training of my horse, I only had group riding lessons since they were included in my board, and I was adrift.
Luckily I ended up at Kay Russell’s North Fork School of Equitation for one week of lessons. She burned my ears off. The most frequent comment on my riding was “YOU ARE ABUSING YOUR HORSE!!!”. She introduced me to riding Forward Seat, instead of just reading about it, and after that week I was on my way to actually becoming a horseman instead of just a rider.
She taught me how not to abuse the horse I’m riding.
I was not perfect, far from it. After several more months my WAY too much horse for me started cooperating with me. He had his limits, and as long as I stayed within those limits we were fine. Those limits? Only limited abuse was allowed. He gave me leeway, but he expected me to work on improving. At that time I could not afford lessons, I could not afford a trainer, I could barely afford my horse.
The next horses were weanlings when I bought them. I could not afford to buy a decently conformed quality horse unless I bought them right after weaning, halter broke. Weanling COLT. A weanling colts who was feeling the first stirrings of his stallion-hood. Then a weanling filly, then my parents gave me their ruined (bolting/balking inverted mess mare). Each of these horses was WAY too much for me.
When I learned I had MS I stopped buying horses. I eventually ended up, after most of my elderly horses had died, riding school horses.
With my MS EVERY horse is too much for me.
But, during the 50 years I learned how to handle the horses so I did not abuse them. I like spirited horses. If I end up riding a dead-head-gaping holes in training-horse for my lessons I work on giving them space to feel pride in themselves, a horse that is proud of himself is a little bit more spirited horse. I may only walk and trot for 30 minutes but I take every opportunity to praise the horse I ride, even now on the “thrown-away” supremely ugly, badly conformed dun QH I ride now. When we started out he was a dedicated balker/back up rapidly horse, not much trying to bolt but horribly hard mouthed when he wanted to go somewhere else.
I had to teach this horse what praise was. I had to teach this horse that the praise was linked to something he did. Once he learned that he turned into a praise junkie. He is turning into a pretty neat riding horse.
I am always scared the first time I get up on a horse. It is up to me to train the horse so that the horse is no longer too much for me. This usually works for me, often quite well, for riding in the ring at a walk and trot.
Anyone who can’t take their horse out, alone, on a trail ride is out-horsed.
I was afraid of my first horse, who was also an OTTB. I rehomed him mainly due to soundness issues. But I knew I needed a horse that made me feel safe the second time around after being constantly terrified and anxious about riding my own horse.
My current horse is about as safe and sane as they come while still being a horse. She is limited in dressage by a previous injury and her conformation. But she made me a better rider by being simultaneously sensitive and safe. The only time she gets super nervous is in heavily wooded areas.
In the years to come my challenge will be finding another horse who makes me feel as safe but is more athletic (and I don’t have endless $$$).
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The US does not have many riding stables that have lesson horses, so beginners buy horses to learn on. Without guidance many buy inappropriate horses. Some green riders buy green horses, a version of too much horse. Of course, then some buy horses that are too difficult for their level of experience. I would say almost everyone experiences a version of this. Some are stuck in the situation for financial reasons, or think it will get better.
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Even the just backed 4 year old horse?
What about the horse with insecurities alone, but is completely dependable with a buddy?
What if the rider is insecure alone on a trail, but completely comfortable with another horse/rider?
Yes, even the green 4yr old.
And if your horse is barn sour/buddy sour…that’s a training issue that you are unable to resolve. So, yes, of course…you’re outhorsed in this aspect.
Rider is insecure on the trail alone? Well, you actually answered your own question, you said the word, (insecure.) If you can’t depend on your horse, you are outhorsed.
Honestly I find that to be a ridiculous statement. If you don’t have moments riding a horse where there isn’t some challenge or insecurity then you are never going to get better. And if you don’t have the skills to fix every problem yourself than that is what a trainer is for- to show you how to teach that skill and make you and the horse better. By your definition we should all be riding deadheaded plugs that never do anything unpredictable. or horses that are veteran trail horses.
Plus you may think trail riding is a generic skill but it’s essentially a discipline like anything else and these days few barns have direct trail access. I know people who have trained their horses themselves and gotten excellent scores through grand prix who would not be comfortable hacking out alone on a real trail on said horse. Could the issue be resolved if they put work into it? I’m sure, they just don’t prioritize that which doesn’t make them “overhorsed” it just means they have a different value system than you.
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I just watched a video of Ingrid Klimke getting dumped on a trail ride by a mare that got spooked badly. I supoose she is “over horsed” and needs to go back to the geriatric dead heads. 😂
I honestly don’t get this idea that trail riding is the most basic, simpliest thing to do (ie. Any horse can do it, or else you’re overhorsed). In my experience, trail riding is HARD. You have narrow paths with sharp pointy things everywhere, no control over the environment, wild animals rampaging through, random aggro dogs, people shooting guns near by, steep banks with drop offs and poor footing to contend with, flying ATVs, AND THE D*MN TREES RANDOMLY FALL right next to you!!!
In my opinion, only well-trained horses should be on trail rides. Otherwise, all you’re saying is that your seat better be stickier than whatever that horse throws at you. And we already know olympic caliber eventers can’t even get THAT sticky ALL the time.
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I was overhorsed for 2 days but I still rode. Stil had good results and didnt fall off. He is coming back into work. When he is in work I can trail ride him and do all sorts of things.
Will I take him out today? Nope. Not until he is in work and I am no longer over horsed on the same horse.
Trail riding is a skill which takes time and effort to teach most horses. Both of my girls were trail riding alone by ride #3, though I think maybe even ride 2 for one of them. They are not typical.
We also have flatter, easier terrain. If you want to talk rocky mountain paths with ups and downs and hikers and bicyclists whizzing past, you have to put training in to educate the horse on handling that and building the ability to handle the trails. If she were fit my mom’s horse could handle that since she grew up in it, but I would not put my girls through that.
I haven’t trail ridden much in quite some time because we had so many snakes last summer which never seemed to drop in numbers. But my gelding is nearly impossible to trail ride by my trainer’s- twice my trainer has ended up on the ground, both times somewhat intentionally when he thought my horse was going down, and ended up watching him regain footing and disappear in the distance. My gelding has tons of baggage due to physical problems which we found but took time, and no amount of training will tighten the screws that loosened.
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