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Horseback Riding Levels

The PRE-BEGINNER rider is someone who is interested and curious, but totally inexperienced with horses and needs to learn about them from the ground up. She is learning how to lead horses, groom them, and relate to their size and movement from the ground. The pre-beginner rider has no knowledge about horse training and care. She may be timid or fearless.

The BEGINNER is learning to follow the horse's movements, move with the horse, and not interfere with the horse. The beginner rider is entering the awareness-development stage. She might have spent a total of 10 hours in the saddle, either by riding once in a while over a period of years or by taking an introductory group of lessons. She can control a quiet school horse at a walk and trot with turns and can stop the horse. The beginner rider slows down and walks if she feels she is losing her balance at the trot. She will remain a beginner until she has developed the balance and confidence to lope or canter the horse.

A NOVICE rider has basic horsemanship skills, including mounting and dismounting unassisted from the horse.  They have knowledge of the basic rein and leg aids, possess at least an aware seat, meaning they must be able to post a trot, sit a trot without bouncing excessively, and ride a short canter. Attitude is more important than aptitude at this stage.  To become a proficient novice will generally require 300 to 500 hours riding time.

The INTERMEDIATE is learning to put a trained school-horse through its paces, and can ask correctly for walk, trot, canter, and halt. They can get from the horse what someone else has put into it in terms of training and conditioning.   They are able to ask accurately for transitions between gaits and be comfortable on either lead or diagonal and be able to ask for either.  Humility and patience are the most important traits at this stage.  To become a proficient intermediate rider requires a substantial commitment of time and effort; most students at this level find that riding every day is necessary.  Generally requires 500 to 2000 hours riding time.

The ADVANCED INTERMEDIATE rider can perform variations in the gaits, turn on the forehand, turn on the hindquarters, and lateral movements on a school horse. She has the interest to ride horses other than school horses.

ADVANCED riders: can do all of the above, plus IMPROVE the horse's performance when he knows how to do something, and TEACH the horse how to do more advanced things. The only way to become an advanced rider is to totally commit to the art, either as a working student or full time horse rider as your profession.  Even then, for some, years of riding does not translate to an "Advanced" level.  It takes superior intellectual knowledge, great skill, and an indefinable quality called "feel", which requires untold thousands of hours on horseback to achieve.  The advanced rider has a well- developed sense of balance and timing. She understands sophisticated concepts of horse movement and sound principles of training and can perform the advanced maneuvers in her style of riding. When she rides it is very difficult to see the aids she is giving her horse.