How Your Riding Level Effects Your Horse Purchase

Summary: Knowing your riding level will help you determine what age horses you should be looking at along with how well trained they should be. In general, if you are inexperienced you need an older more experienced horse.

One of the trainer's jobs will be helping determine what level rider you are. And that is really important to know in advance because it has a major impact in determining which horses you should look at. It can be hard to define the level of rider, but I like to think of it like this. quick quid

The first riding level is a novice rider or a "real beginner". If you're a novice rider, you're still learning how to sit balanced at the walk, trot and canter. You're not real comfortable in the trot and canter yet, but you're learning how to ride them. Somebody who is this novice or "green" a rider generally is going to be looking for an older school master type horse. Maybe a horse 9 or 10 years old, or older. An older horse that is really confident in what it knows and has the patience help you learn how to walk, trot, canter and get that balanced seat. As opposed to a young horse that has no patience for somebody loosing their balance, wiggling around, accidentally jerking on the reins or things like that. Innovative photovoltaic systems

The next level is an intermediate rider. Riders at this level are pretty secure at the walk, trot and canter. They can stay with the horse, not interfere too much with the horse. And they're starting to learn how to coordinate their aids; to use their legs and their hands independently. They may be beginning to do some lateral work some leg yield type work. Maybe a little bit of connecting the horse to the bit. This rider doesn't need to have such a school master horse. They might be able to take a really well broke horse. But now they have enough balance that they won't bother the horse with their seat. So they can take a horse that's maybe eight years old. A horse that's got it's full training. It's got some years of experience. But it still maybe entering the prime of its show career.

The next level is the strong intermediate rider. If you're at this level, you've got your walk, trot, canter. You've got your lateral work. You've got your independent aids. Now you're ready for a horse that's been broke to ride and maybe you can teach the horse all the upper level stuff. You have independent use of your seat, your hands, your aids and you can school the horse through. You're probably a rider that just doesn't know how to start a horse because that's a whole different level of expertise. That sort of person might be looking at a horse that's five or six years old depending on how much training the horse has.

Another level is the professional minded amateur. This is an amateur rider that rides like a professional. They have ridden lots of horses. They have started their own horses. They're going to be looking at ads, and maybe looking for a horse that hasn't even been ridden yet. They're the type that might look at two and three year old horses knowing that they're going to start the horse themselves and train the horse in the discipline that they're interested in.

That gives an idea of some of the levels of riding. The better you are, the less professional help you might need. But in general any of these people would be better off having a trainer help them find that right horse.