gypsy fly:For our riding stable operations, we use the standards defined by the Certified Horsemanship Association. Each rider has to show profiency at a certain CHA level before they can take out a particular horse.
So, perhaps the CHA standards can help match the rider to the horse. I don't know dressage, but from what I gather, a Level 1 rider would probably mess up a Level 2 horse. Unless the Level 2 horse knows how to school a Level 1 rider up to a Level 2
Gypsy fly, where can I find those standards?
Just FYI, there's not all that much danger in a level 1 rider schooling a level 2 horse. The differences are actually rather small, mostly having to do with collection and extension and impulsion, which are mostly about the horse's ability to perform those actions. The girl about whose big horse I posted regarding stall size is an advanced beginner English eq rider with a 2nd level dressage horse. They're doing fine at local shows in English pleasure and eq classes. If she actually wanted to take tests on him at 2nd level or higher, she'd have to have serious instruction, but I can hop on him and ask, and he'll give me the 2nd level movements.
An aside: An advanced dressage rider recently tried out my big Paint, Zip, on whom I basically screw around, and she announced that he's ready to debut at 2nd level next year. Imagine my surprise! I'm the only owner he's ever had, and I'm riding at level negative-3. LOL
CowgirlforChrist, I'm thinkig that the problem lies partly in communication. If the buyer and seller are both honest (that's a big "if", but what the heck?), but have different definitions for their terms, it gets to be a real struggle to figure out where the horse really stands.
For example, I'm an experienced rider, and my daughter is a certified trainer who was running a beginner lesson program. We called a local dealer who we both know personally and asked if she had anything suitable for very young (7 years old and up) beginner-beginner riders. We needed something with a smooth trot-to-canter transition so the kids wouldn't freak like they did when the Arab pony leaped into his canter. She said she had something perfect for us. The something she showed us was 17hh (can you imagine a small child being launched from that height?--or imagine me lifting a kid that high!), a huge-barrelled draft/QH cross, only went western (the lessons were strictly English), and had only one canter lead (not great for a lesson horse). He was quiet enough, but he'd only been ridden on trails by an elderly man, so he only went in a straight line. Bending wasn't in his program. Some of those things could have been worked through, but we needed a made horse to start immediately, not a year down the road. The seller wasn't trying to put one over on us; she just had different requirements for a lesson horse.
Language. Unless there are empirical standards, it all comes down to the language.
