# how to assess a rider's skill level



## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

I think some depends on the person, the amount of time a person gets in the saddle, their physical fitness, etc.

An older person will take longer than a young kid or teen to figure things out. An out of shape kid or adult will struggle a little bit more with balance and muscle. A timid person will always encounter mountains, etc.

Then you have the trainers... Some move there there riders from walk to canter and even into jumping at a ridiculously fast pace. I had a friend who's daughter was showing and jumping after just two or three months of lesson which, in my opinion, is very dangerous. In fact she took some serious tumbles. You also get some trainers that hold the rider back because they are so concerned about safety that they take forever to move them up.

I used to work at a riding stable on a military base where we did boarding, lessons, shows, pony rides, and trail rides. The rule of thumb we went by was... If the person said they are advanced, we gave them a beginner level horse and most of the time it worked out well.

The ones that are more honest will usually say... Beginner intermediate or intermediate. A lot of times they end up being a lot more advanced then they realize.

I have been riding for over 30 years and a horse owner for 30. I go on paid trail rides whenever I got out of town and I can tell they never believe me when I give them an experience level so I usually just say horse owner....


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

There's as many answers to these questions as there are people to answer them. 

Different teachers have very different ideas about when to introduce what. 
Not everyone has schoolmaster horses that will do the right thing no matter how many miscues they are given. 
Some people are far more athletic, or instinctive with animals, than others. 

Some people take lessons for years, on safe school horses in a familiar arena, and never go beyond that because they are afraid to. Some don't have the athletic ability, or the interest in gaining it, to progress quickly. Some people are adventurous, confident, fit, ride daily, are passionate about moving forward. 

I don't think there is or can be any real agreement at all about what a beginner or intermediate rider is. I have a rancher friend who has ridden since she could walk. She put herself through college fixing other people's problem horses, often harshly (the cowboy way). She never competed. She has never finished a horse to a high standard. How would you rank her? 

I know someone else who has been taking lessons for a decade. She looks beautiful on a horse. She can do second level dressage and has a high degree of subtlety and finesse. But she freezes and blanks out whenever anything goes even a tiny bit south. She'll let a minor startle turn into a free bolt and then she'll just fall off. How would you rank her?


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

Why overthink it? You've already said that people learn at different rates, so there's your answer right there.

People also all ride differently, and for different reasons. There is no cookie cutter, 'now you're an intermediate rider when you can do this' level. I know people who can sit a bucking horse with ease and ride for hours upon hours, but don't know the cues to make a dressage horse move.

The only ones who should be worrying about where a rider is in their training are the rider and their trainer. Anyone else's opinion is immaterial. Of course, if you're going to show then the judges' opinions also matter.


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## TXhorseman (May 29, 2014)

In order to determine skill level, you need to establish a basis for measuring those levels. Is the level of someone who lopes a horse higher than that of one who only walks and trots a horse? What if the person who walks and trots the horse knows when each of the horse's feet is stepping forward and when each of those feet is taking weight, but the rider who lopes does not? When that skill is taken into consideration, which rider's skill level is higher?

Some instructors and riders put the emphasis on learning new skills. Others put a greater emphasis on developing precision in skills one already practices. These approaches don't have to be mutually exclusive. But they tend to take on that characteristic when people begin to compare skill levels.


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## Reiningcatsanddogs (Oct 9, 2014)

For western, Balance has a lot to do with it IMO. Can the rider not only get the horse into the gait but, are they balanced when doing it. Are they constantly having to grip with their legs, grab a horn, re-adjust their seat position, hang on the reins? That is going to determine the gaits they can ride at which is completely separate IMO from knowing cues and being able to control the finer points of movement. 

Can they get the horse to change leads on the fly, pick up a correct lead, side pass, roll back...then there is how they do that, do they do it properly, with consistent cues, good timing, soft hands, ride with feel ...all three things will determine the rider's level, not just the gaits they ride.


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## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

I rode at a stable once that didn't let any of their lesson kids canter unless they were extremely advanced for liability reasons. (I assume.) In my opinion that is not a proper way to teach a student. Everyone should know how to canter and execute a one rein stop because what if a horse bolts? Again, just my opinion. Now, there is a difference between knowing how to ride at a certain gait and showing/competing/practicing at that level.

Like Speed Racer said I think this is just being overthought. In a lot of ways I would be considered an intermediate rider because I don't feel like I can do fine-tuned things like a reiner or advanced dressage rider could do, however, I know how to ride in that I can stay on a bucking horse, rearing horse, and properly control a green horse.


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## Linda G (Aug 23, 2016)

Speed Racer said:


> Why overthink it? You've already said that people learn at different rates, so there's your answer right there.
> 
> People also all ride differently, and for different reasons. There is no cookie cutter, 'now you're an intermediate rider when you can do this' level. I know people who can sit a bucking horse with ease and ride for hours upon hours, but don't know the cues to make a dressage horse move.
> 
> The only ones who should be worrying about where a rider is in their training are the rider and their trainer. Anyone else's opinion is immaterial. Of course, if you're going to show then the judges' opinions also matter.


Well, I don't think I am overthinking it lol, I'm just curious. "the only ones who should be worrying about where a rider is..." Well, I am the rider and I am curious where I would fit on the assessment  It is because people learn at different rates that I wondered how the assessment would be made; you wouldn't be able to assess by length of time alone. Are there certain achievements or milestones to pass that would determine if a person is a beginner or intermediate or whatever? Most things that have lessons or classes also have levels so I was wondering how the levels are determined. These are questions I ponder while having my morning tea. lol


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## Luce73 (Dec 7, 2012)

I agree that it is subjective and cant be decided just by years, or gaits, or amount of horses someone has ridden. 

I think of myself as beginner intermediate after 5 years of lessons (twice a week) and 6 months of leasing + 3 months of owning. I W/T/C comfortably, am comfortable riding out a spook, and jump up to 1 meter in training and 80cm in shows. I see a distance 3-5 strides out about 80% of the time. If I count my lessons when I was younger I have probably ridden about 50 different horses in my lifetime. 

However, I have never halfpassed, done a shoulder in or a turn on the fore/hind end. Its just not something thats trained where I'm at. I also consider myself a 'novice horseperson' on the ground since I'm at a full-board situation that includes EVERYTHING. Like, I know how to tack up but it takes me 15 minutes because I lack the everyday practice as it is done for me (not that I dont want to do it, thats just the way it is at the only barn near me). 

When I get to a trail facility I will say I am a beginner with some experience, also because I ride english and trail facilities here usually have 'gaucho style' trained horses, so riding with no contact, contact means go faster and everything is backwards LOL. Plus if I'm renting a horse for a trail ride I want to be able to enjoy it and not have to deal with a hot horse or a horse that decides to turn around and go home, or one that decides not to move out of the driveway.


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

Linda G said:


> Well, I don't think I am overthinking it lol, I'm just curious. "the only ones who should be worrying about where a rider is..." Well, I am the rider and I am curious where I would fit on the assessment  It is because people learn at different rates that I wondered how the assessment would be made; you wouldn't be able to assess by length of time alone. Are there certain achievements or milestones to pass that would determine if a person is a beginner or intermediate or whatever? Most things that have lessons or classes also have levels so I was wondering how the levels are determined. These are questions I ponder while having my morning tea. lol



Going off that... Me personally... would say...

Walk-trot is beginner

Walk-trot-canter would be beginner to intermediate beginner depending on ability. Do they know their diagonals? Can they sit the trot? Can they 2-point? Do they know the leads and how to ask for them? Can the halt and back?

Walk-trot-canter and then even adding some jumps could still be a beginner intermediate to advanced beginner....

You can also call it a novice rider...

If you are going by shows then usually they consider a beginner someone in their first year of showing and sometimes will throw in a "and have not won a blue ribbon in this division clause". That doesn't mean the first blue ribbon a rider wins in that division disqualifies them for the rest of the season, it just means the next season they are no longer eligible for that class.

an intermediate rider would be someone that could walk, trot, canter, lope, knows the diagonals and leads, can do at least a simple lead change, maybe a flying. Has good balance and is using leg yields and seat action. etc.


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## Horsef (May 1, 2014)

I think that when you see a person riding, you can tell how experienced they are. There is something in the way they move that makes it quite obvious, even to begginers like me. Even though I can do all the gaits, jump a bit, do some flying changes, leg yields and what not, you can see in my movement that I'm not at all a proficient rider.

My favorite example is a short sequence in a video by Robbie Williams, Feel. There is a bunch of cowboys riding towards the camera, along with the singer. I know nothing about Western riding but those few seconds are more than enough to see just how well they ride. And you can see that the singer can ride, but he is not even close to their skill level. They somehow look like they are a part of the horse.


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## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

Linda G said:


> When matching up a horse and rider, you need to know the rider's skill level as well as the horse. So, how do you determine if someone is a beginner, intermediate, or whatever? Do you go by how long they have been riding, or how well they execute certain gaits, or some kind of combination?


A person's experience level depends on a few different things. Sure, you could tell me you've been riding horse for 30 years, but if you don't even know what a leg cue is/means, I might still classify that person as a beginner-level rider. (Even if they think they are "advanced" because they've been riding for so many years.)

In my opinion, a beginner is someone who can get the horse to go, stop, and steer. (most of the time)




Linda G said:


> Also, I wonder why there would be such a huge difference in rate of advancement in riding lessons. *I know people are all different and learn at different rates* (my daughter learns much faster than I do ) but why would one person start loping after 3 months and another after years of lessons?


I bolded your own answer.

Everyone is different and learns at different rates.

Also, trainers teach at different rates. I love taking lessons with my English trainer from time-to-time but she progresses about as fast as molasses. Versus the reining trainer I also take lessons with who may have a horse spinning nicely and doing flying lead changes by the end of 30 days training. All trainers are different too.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

Trainers each have a different background and ideas on how to proceed, as has been mentioned.

I have a knack of being able to tell a whole bunch of how well a person can ride just watching them walk. It may come from years as a therapist, I really don't know. I do know I've never over-mounted anyone, and for that I'm glad.

I also know that the student/trainer relationship is a business arrangement on the bottom line. That means if I, as a student, don't feel I'm being challenged enough or am not really enjoying the lessons (and, yes, I hire coaches even at my advanced years) I look elsewhere. I interview them and let them know what I want from them.


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