How long did you wait before buying your first horse/pony?

I found mine at 17/18 and he is still with me (he has come all the way from Canada to be with me). Was looking for another horse to partboard as didnt have the funds to own. A lady answered my post. I tried said horse. Did not like him one bit. And so I ended up with him 🤣

(He was a baby and didnt know any better but he decided to be quite cheeky. Nothing dangerous. It wasnt until I was untacking him and he cuddled into my hip that my heart and mind changed. 2 people were there and said they had never seen him do that. I ended up partboarding him and working with him. I was then given part ownership and then full ownership).
 
I was 21, I'd been riding for 14 years, I'd had a brief stint of working on a yard and equine collage, devoured every horsey book (before the internet was even thought of!) but nothing prepares you for actually being wholly responsible for keeping one safe and alive!
 
Cloball said:
Age 32 😅
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Same. But if I'd got one earlier I wouldn't have found Sadie so it all happened as it was meant to.

I had my weekly riding lesson from I was 7, had no support do to anything else, stopped at 24. Started lessons again at 30. Volunteered at an equine rescue for 2 years. Would recommend that, not for fun but lessons in getting your heart broken a bit do you good. Probably.
 
I had 2 part loans from 13 to 16 break for a levels when I had regular lessons at helped at a stables. Went to uni for 6 years where I rode with the riding club, exercised 3 horses for people and worked on a showjumping yard plus working abroad in the summers at different yards. After uni I worked shifts and insane hours and lived in residences or in the middle of a city so horses took a back seat apart from holidays. Went back to lessons in my late 20s and travelled a bit
before moving for work somewhere more rural and horse friendly, then covid hit. Bought a house which dented my savings before finally feeling comfortable to buy a horse.
 
I got my first at 13 (Thank you, Grandad!), I'd been riding since I was 5 or 6. I'd been helping out a neighbour with her ponies since I was about 10 and she use to allow me to hack out on my own a well. Luckily, my pony and my sisters pony were pretty solid and a good introduction to horse owning. We had one emergency call out for each in the five years we had them: Mine for a cut in his belly that needed stitching (never did find out what he cut himself on) and my sister's for an allergic reaction to an insect sting or bite. The were also good loaders, which we hadn't even thought to ask before buying them!
 
I was 18 when I bought my own, grew up on RS ponies since 4. Parents both involved in horses and firmly believed that the variety of ponies in an RS would make me a better rider than buying me my own (also much less hassle for them!!)
 
I started rding aged 61 and planned to buy but 24 years later I still havent bought a horse of my own because I havent needed to. Ihave ridden shares instead.

After about 2 years riding with lessons and hacks on which I normaly led, our RI offered me the share of her old lesson horse and I hacked her solo till she retired. I then auditioned for a share at another yard and hacked in a group until one day there was no staff to take me out and once again I rode out alone. That is what I still do.
By sharing, I ride a horse that is well exercised the rest of the week. Plus the mare likes hacking., She loves to go out and to look around her and see what is going on.
It really depends what you want to do. I want to hack and to have safe canters on a riding track. But before Covid struck, I also had weekly lessons and rode dressage tests in a large dressage school. Historically, dressage was a means to an end, to train horses for war and I still regard dressage and riding my share in a school as preparation for safe hacking. If I have a fall or a fright, I alwys ride in the school the next week.
My plan was to buy a Connie but when one has ridden the same horse for years and feels really safe on her and she does what one asks, it seems silly to take the risk. And a further warning that if one rides the same horse for some years one becimes attached to that horse. One builds up a rapport and a shared history that ties one to that animal even if it isnt the breed and height that one dreamed of.
 
My parents weren't in a position to buy, but I was lucky enough that they could do own a pony days/ pony camp holidays with borrowed horses for me, and I was about 17 when I got my first horse x

My first adult paycheck went on two things - buying Baggs my first horse and my first rent payment 😆

At that point I had helped at the riding school for many years, part loaned a few horses, upped it to a more consistent commitment and then after having to watch my beloved loan pony suffer because his owner couldn't make the call to PTS, I decided that I never wanted to be in that position again, and I went down the path of looking for my own x

I now have 2, am merrily resigned to the fact that any money will nearly always go on them, my social life is non existent (not got many friends outside the yard anyways!) and that I am the happiest I have ever been x
 
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I was 44 when I got Dave. I had looked after various horses & ponies all through childhood / early adult & then fell away from horses altogether for about 15 years, the I got the chance of a part loan, finally 10 years ago, I felt right to have my own.
As @smolmaus said, if I had got one earlier, I would have missed out on Dave, and that doesn't bear thinking about.
 
I started riding aged 10, loaned the perfect pony for a few years and then when perfect pony retired my amazing mum worked hard and bought me a pony at age 14 . Sadly he didn't work out as he was too much pony for me, so we sold him to a more experienced friend whose daughter competed successfully BSJA with him. They still have him happily retired.
I then loaned an ex JA pony for a couple of years until I bought my first horse at 17. Used the money I'd saved to buy my first car! Best decision I ever made though, I still have him 20 years later. He's happily retired and lives the life of riley.
 
I was 21. I had ridden since I was 6, helped out since I was 12. I had a couple of breaks during exams then got properly into it again at university. I was going to be gifted a polo pony by my university but it went wrong (long story) so my dad decided to buy me a horse after I graduated and was able to work to pay for the keep myself.
 
I was 15.

I had been riding since about 10.

We had no money really, so mum got me the cheapest ridden pony she could find. He was £900.

He was about 13 and had been out of work quite a long time. He napped and my God did he nap bad!

I used to ride along and he would be calm and absolutely fine. Then he would whip round and gallop back in the opposite direction. Honestly, if I was not terrified that my parents would deem me not ready, I would not have persevered and would have sent him back!

There were days we would come charging back into the yard where he had just done his thing and took me home, no steering and limited breaks 😅

Far more experienced riders had the same problems.

I never gave up. No way was I telling my mum and her sending him back and possibly not buying me another pony!

There came a time that I could ride him absolutely anywhere. He was a great pony once we finally gelled.
 
34 and still waiting.

I started riding lessons when I was little. Stopped for several years when I finished uni. Then came back to it just after lockdown by restarting lessons and did my first share when I was 29. Did another share since then which was wonderful and only stopped because I moved away. Had to stop riding again for about a year because I was unwell then came back to lessons again about 2 years ago.

I hope it will happen for me one day!
 
I got a foal my aunt bred when I was 2. Don't think I had been put on a horse before that, but do remember vaguely that we went on a walk with me on the pony when we were 2 and 4. He was out on loans a lot, but I had him when I was about 6/8 and then again at 10. Rode on a riding school since I was six, approximately until I was maybe 12. Had the pony at my grandmother's place with no knowledgeable person around. Then, when I was 11, we loaned the pony out again and bought my Standardbred, a spicy three year old. Had her on a livery nearby, one where you do everything yourself. Still didn't have a trainer, did everything myself and somehow none of us got severely injured in the process.

I'm now soon to turn 20 and am in the start of officially working with horses full time. Still have my Standardbred mare.
 
I was 46, had been dreaming of 1 since I was 9. Started riding lessons at 10, from 12 worked all weekend at a riding school. Stopped riding from 18 when I went to uni. My children started lessons and after watching them a few times decided I need to I needed to ride too....then managed to convince the whole family the best value for money was to buy us all a pony- still riding her 14 years later
 
I had weekly riding school lessons from the age of 5, and did own-a-pony weeks every year. When I was about 9 my dad had a beer before lunch and, while we were watching the jumping at a local agri show, he said “we should get you a horse soon… No, not yet, in a couple of years”. My mother desperately tried to convince him that he was joking, and he was having absolutely none of her waving a get-out-of-jail free card! Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory!

My parents had both owned horses before, as well.

A couple of years passed, and the search began when I was 13, and I finally got Dipstick and Saus at 15! Unfortunately, Dipstick was far too much pony for me, we tried to persevere, but it ended in a horrible accident, and it turned out that he had underlying lymphoma, he was PTS.

Just under a year after that, when I was just about to give up on looking, I got to meet Erin! She’s just the right mix of horse and hair for me, I’ve only had her 6 months but it feels like it’s been years (in a good way). We’ve had ups and downs, but we’re doing really well. It sounds very silly, but shortly after I badgered my parents into letting me get a horse at 9, I had a fantastic dream where I remember seeing a black, hairy cob mare stood in my field, looking off into the distance, and I knew that horse was mine, and now she is! It stuck with me all these years, and when I finally had her at home, it just felt right. She and Saus are now happily settled, and I have now had horses for 2 and 1/2 years.

Very convoluted, but we got there in the end!
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ladyrainicorn said:
Reading this thread is awesome.. i felt like i was behind for not having a horse yet but the range of ages here is so vast! : )
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There are many ways to be involved with horses without the commitment of buying.
My parents aren't horses, my dad thought it was excellent when other people let me ride their horses for free and that I also managed to get paid and travel. He wisely said I wouldn't have had all those experiences if he had bought me a horse 😅
 
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