How long were you riding before you bought your first horse?

Javabb94

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Started riding aged 4, quit when I was 6 started again when i was 7 bought Charlie at 8.

My mum and gran had always has horses so I just kind of followed suit!
 

bindi

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I started riding aged 3 but I was 24 before I got my first horse, by that time I had worked with horses for a number of years and done stage 3. My first horse was 15.2hh (on her tiptoes :eek: ) a bay mare, 3/4 TB ex county level small show hunter. I had her for the rest of her life until she was pts a couple of weeks before her 24th birthday :( I now have 8 ponies between 8-14.1hh :D
Hi, was reading you had a horse called Twyford Echo, i have one of his son's in Australia. I was wondering if you have any photo's of him.
 

LaurenM

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I started lessons when I was 4 and bought my first one when I was 21. Second was bought at 22. My birthday was a few months ago so still have them both.
 

jeeve

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Became horse mad when I was 3, my parents would not buy me a pony, I was bought a donkey when I was 8, spent the next 4 years falling off, as while she was educated, I was not. First pony at 12, spent the next few years being carted around the neighbourhood, (rode 2 - 3 hours most afternoons after school, she was part arab and never wore out). Next horse at 18 and so on.
 

Dizzle

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I rode several times a week from the ages of 3 to 17 but didn't have 'proper' lessons, gave up riding at 17 and didn't take it up again until I was 22, I had a few share horses where I just used to hack and jump (usually quite badly!) at 25/26 I did my NVQ2 for fun, fell in love with a horse where I worked and eventually bought him at the ripe old age of 26, 23 years after I first started riding, although 3.5 years since returning to riding and learning to ride properly.

My mum was horsey when she was younger which is why she always refused to buy me a horse as a child as I didn't quite realise how much of a commitment it was!

My goal in life was to buy a horse before I was 30 :D


I still look at my horse and think WOW, I never dreamed I would have such a clever talented little horse as mine, he looks like the horses I used to see going round Badminton as a child, the sort of horse normal people didn't own! (He's a tb, he'll never get round Badminton but he does look like Imperial Cavalier!! :))
 

Iceni

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Started riding when I was 26 (I've just turned 29) and I'd been having lessons every week for 6/7 months. The riding school I was at wasn't very helpful with some of the fears I had (mostly being in a confined space with a horse) and so OH (who has tons of experience owning and riding horses of various breeds/types) agreed to let me get an 18 year old cob mare to have at home. She was absolutely perfect for me at the stage I was at and my confidence leapt in ways it could not have just attending the RS. I was very soon able to hack out for miles on my own without a second thought! It was definitely a brilliant move for me but only because I was lucky enough to such a experienced OH who was happy to spend his time helping me!
 

crazyhorse4727

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I only sat on afew horses at fairs. Then we moved to a yard where the man had an 3-day cart eventing hackney. Who I started riding bareback. Then when I turned 9 I got bought a 6month old skewbald cob. Who I backed and brought on myself, with a lot of blood, sweat and tears! And now 17 years later (now 26) I still have him. And would never advise anyone to buy a baby to a child, but wouldn't change my quirky beast for the world!
 

blood_magik

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I started riding at 9 and had weekly lessons. I got my first horse at 13 after getting messed about with my loan horse.
had a five year break after my first horse was pts and got my current boy last summer
 

Faithkat

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I started riding aged 6 at local riding stables. Parents not at all supportive so I had to pay for my own riding out of my pocket money. Riding was six shillings an hour and I got 1 shilling and six pence a week so all I could afford was half an hour once a fortnight (I was only 6 remember). I lived for that half hour :) As my pocket money went up I progressed to half an hour a week and then an hour a week - joy! The only concession parents ever made was to buy me a pair of jodhpurs for Christmas just after I started riding - I loved those jods so much I went to bed in them! My grandmother bought me a hacking jacket (everyone wore them for - guess what - hacking in those days) and I bought my hat out of Christmas and birthday money (still have the hat 56 years later and my son still wears it for in-hand showing as it is nice and small and doesn't make you look as though you have hydrocephalus!) I finally got my own horse (well, pony actually) when I was 45 . . . . but that's another story
 

Dizzydancer

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I first sat on a horse at 1, started riding lessons when i was 3, got my first pony when i was 7, had a horse ever since, at present i own my retired one, first pony is out on loan, and im just starting to school an ex racer for a friend. I have gone 3months without riding since i was 3...i maybe addicted i think! OH is very happy i have a horse to ride and am not driving him mad anymore :D
 

K27

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I wasn't allowed my first pony 'til i was 11, i started riding when i was 4 and went to various riding centres, but my parents didn't want to get me a pony until they were sure that it wasn't a phase that would wear out! lol! they probably wished it was a phase!

In some ways it probably did me a favour , i didn't have to go through outgroing lots of different ponies,and they one they did buy was very naughty at first due to her old owners lack of understanding her!! so she taught me heaps, i never outgrew her so she had a home for life with me for 16 years until she died.
 

c2b

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First sat on a horse when I was 47. Bought my own a year later but didn't actually get to take her on until 6 months later (she gave birth to a suprise foal before I could get her vetted so stayed with previous owners until foal was weaned).
That was 6 years ago and I am having the time of my life, still with the same mare.
I had two fantastic mentors to help me through the early days and I can't thank them enough.
My mare is worth her weight in gold. She is perfect for me. The longer I have her the more I realise just how lucky I was to find her.
 

Walrus

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About 17 years. Started riding aged 8. Was a keener kid - riding school helper, riding whatever I could beg / borrow - this carried right on until bought my first horse just over a year ago when I was 25. It was always the aim to have one before I got to 30! He wasn't quite a "by the book" purchase - first one I went to see, unbroken one for my first horse, 13.3hh when I'm 5'8"! But he is absolutely awesome and was well worth the wait. :D
 
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