I would think it would be ocaasionally available for a new rider to ride with an experienced rider, just not necessarily a rider whose paramount desire is to wni:). ALl experienced riders are not at the front of the pack, and so I think the issue is not about riding with an experienced rider, but a two-fold challenge -
first to FIND said rider before a ride, and
secondly, to be able to accomplish all the necessary prep for go to said ride. We have had a number of people call or email, and one very common problem is that they have no trailer, they have few trails, and live a distance away, which would necessitate our having to hook up, load up and go somewhere on a regular basis. Even for a paycheck, this is an inconvenience, but in all but oen case, newbies have assumed that this is free - that we are willing to be helpful on its own merit. True, we LOVE to do this on a limited basis to help start a new competitor/rider, but frankly, we can't afford either the time or money to take even a day a week to go somewhere for thsi purpose. When someone can get their own horse out here, where we have tons of trails, the we can accomodate this. In the end, while we have hooked up with riders who had a need to draft off of one of our horses for a good reason, we have done so. We prefer to prepare for the company of a new rider/horse, and infinitely rpefer NOT to be dragged down unnecessarily by a rider/horse who come to the rider so poorly prepared that they cannot keep their horse off our of tails.
In the end, helping, mentoring, asisting is something we are always willing to do, but it becomes so impractical and in a lot of cases impossible, here is Lo Cal, where it can take 45 minutes to go 15 miles across the valley:)! Anyone can get to Agoura, we will take you out! (In the training sense, of course:)!
