the last word
When a horse or pony has ‘been there, done it all, got the T-shirt and made the video’, then qualification as a schoolmaster is assured, but not all schoolmasters will be suited to an inexperienced or nervous rider, about which, as the owner of a successful riding school in Cumbria, John Collier BHSI is well qualified to have...
... the last word The schoolmaster
A schoolmaster I recently bought for the school was described as ‘a dope on a rope’, but with the benefit of hindsight, as I was holding the pony at the time, I think the vendor was describing me. The pony should have been called Hoover, as he went around the school with his head on the floor, and yes he was fast against the clock, setting a new lap record for a school horse. I’m starting to doubt my judgement, as the last schoolmaster horse I bought was also perfect. He had a week’s trial and couldn’t have been more perfect, so I paid for him on the Friday and by Saturday, he had fired off three members of staff - and amazingly when I spoke to that vendor, he had never done that before, and no I couldn’t have my money back. The biggest problem with schoolmaster ponies is that they usually achieve the level of being a schoolmaster at the exact moment the child becomes too big to ride the pony. When I see
www.theequinesite.co.uk
a small child and pony gallop round a show jumping course, out of control, I start to wonder why parents spend so much money bringing up a child and then want to spend quality time sitting in casualty with them. I am being unkind though, as there is a role for schoolmasters, but running a riding school I do have severe reservations about having many of them, as very few horses that have been around Badminton settle to a riding school routine and in addition, I don’t feel that life in a riding school is a well deserved retirement. It is also very unfair to be put on one for an exam and to be expected to honestly assess it. The assessor wants to hear wonderful things about the horse a top eventer used to ride, but it’s now nineteen, stiff as you’d expect and somewhat sour. And if horses could write, there would be a dire review on trip adviser about life as a schoolmaster - in fact I recall passing my stage
four exam by making the sound of a hunting horn and hounds just to get the horse into trot, is that what they mean by showmanship when you’re riding a horse? I rather think not! I do love show jumpers that are deemed schoolmasters though; my first recollection was of a client’s boyfriend having a first riding lesson, on her horse, and having no sooner got on, he found himself going at speed towards an oxer in the middle of the school. It was a harsh test of their relationship, which didn’t last. It still brings a smile to my face too, when a horse first deposits the new jockey then jumps round the entire course of fences by themselves. I’m sure horses sometimes have a wry smile on their face. Dressage riders don’t always fare too well either, entering at collected canter and then executing the perfect piaffe in a riding club test where the test sheet says halt. See - you can’t always buy
success, and a little talent or a few lessons goes a long way! I do think though that hunting schoolmasters are in a different league, a super league; they know their job and love it. They seem to have a real adrenaline rush, so it’s no wonder hunting as it is now is so good for young event horses and for giving school horses a party time to go out and enjoy themselves. Anyhow, I’ll finish with some good news for competitors who won’t part with their ponies and who are too old to compete in ponies, and also good news for those children too young to compete horses competitively. I’m going to allow it, but it will be a separate section in the class - after years of criticism I hope to come to a solution, but now we have that problem of a weight limit for adults on ponies. I’ve thought about that too, so providing you’re doing ballet, you’re fine to ride ponies. I’ve just enrolled, so Billy Elliott watch out!
Equine Page 19
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