is it "in the blood" ?

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Megibo

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have often wondered if horses are in the blood. so to speak! like do you have horses because you're parents did? did you just get interested in them as a kid etc?

alot of people have always said no matter how long the break from riding they'll always go back to it-so can horses be "in you"? :rolleyes:

like part of what makes you, you...
i think they're designed that way ;) riding horses is like being a bike you don't forget how and obviously the reason for that is so you can pick it up again should you want to come back to it :p (just a theory ;))
 
My mum has always been into horses and had a break to have us children. Her first ride back she said it was like "sitting in your favourite armchair" as it was so natural to be back in the saddle :)

I blame my mum for my obsession with all things equine :p
 
Totally blame my mum for my being into horses!! She was horse mad as a kid and then went to Porlock to become an instructor in the 1950s and then ran a small riding school, although she did have a break when she got married and lived abroad for a while but then took it back after returning to England - yup I totally blame my mum!!
 
ISHmad said:
Nobody in my family was remotely horsey but I couldn't imagine life without them.
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this - first time i sat on a horse was in primary school when they arranged lessons for us - i was hooked for life and fulfilled my lifelong ambition ie bought my first horse aged 43 :D
 
Neither my mum or dad rode, or were into horses at all- my dad is still fairly unhorsey although he is a fab steward/ boot polisher/ mucker out! He also volunteers as night watchman at PC camp every year.

We just started lessons at a local riding school because we'd moved to the countryside from a city and it seemed a nice way to keep us doing stuff. We progressed very quickly, and after 2 years (and lots of horsey friends in the village) we got our first pony. 10 years later my sister is trying to become an eventer and horses are entrenched in our life!
 
For me, I don't think horses are "in the blood" in a passed-on-from-parents sort of way, because I am the only horseperson in my family and I didn't start riding til I was 17. But they have definitely wormed their way into my blood since I started working with them 6 years ago - horses are what I "do", it's what I'm good at and it's what makes me who I am! Without this passion I would be nothing...
 
My parents are utterly un-horsey. Mum tolerates them because 3 of her kids like them and will stroke them etc but not hold or anything..my father despises them pretty much :P Really does not like horses..I don't think he's even seen mine!
 
My mum has 2 horses, my nan & grandad have 3 which 2 of them they drive, my aunty and cousin have 3 between them and my other cousin has a horse as did her parents, apparently my great great grandad was a coach driver and his father a groom, so erm yeah it certainly is in my family :D although my sister has never gotton back into it and my children don't seem bothered by them. YET!!
:D

I have 3 :o
 
hmm-interesting!

I'm so thoroughly into horses I don't want do anything but!

hence why I'm doing a two year level 3 in horse care at college and also want to work in a racing yard before becoming an equine physiotherapist :o

I've even ruled out marriage and kids as that would just get in my way!!
 
Nobody in my family had ever ridden before I did and nobody I knew at school rode either. I just always had an interest in horses and read books about them so I begged to learn to ride and despite my parents thinking it was too dangerous they eventually caved when I was about 7 :)
My family still has little interest in horses! Riding is my thing so my parents support me but they don't ride themselves and they have no interest to haha!

That's been the same with every sport I've ever done though. I'm the only person in my family to ski and board too.
 
I totally blame mum - I was riding as a 8month Bump.
I cant live a week without them - Ask the OH!!!!

The only time i have ever been hysterical - was when the doctor told me after dislocating my knee (blo0dy tennis!) - That i couldnt ride for 3 weeks!
The poor doctor thought I was in pain - Mum had to explain it was the news, not the knee!
 
My paternal Grandfather was in the cavalry in WWI, We found a photo of him on horseback, in his uniform a few years ago, but I dunno where it is at the mo.

Both parents were born and raised on farms in the days when they'd plough horses or a pony and trap.

Neither of them was in the least bit interested in horses, and both were extremely miffed that I was.

Actually come to think I'm about the only person in my [extended] family who's interested in horses!
 
Interesting stuff :rolleyes:

as far as I know in my family- my grandparents used to sit on the heavy horses whilst they ploughed the fields.
My auntie was in a class in primary school where her teacher had horses so she started going to the stables and my mum had to go too. They got a pony etc and then whereas my auntie dropped the hobby my mum continued with it and had quite a few horses.
When I was four and my sister six she bought us both ponies and sold them cause all we wanted to do was stare at em in the field. Of course we then wanted horses again and now we have a few :D
If I ever do have a child it'll only be one and it will be plonked on my horse as soon as it can sit up on my mare who will then be in her late teens! :p

I think my auntie still likes horses and she rode mine last year but I don't think she'd take it up as a full hobby again
 
My parents weren't horsey but my Grandfather who I didn't know was in the Royal Horse Artillery so maybe it is in the blood !
 
Well I lead some children that are family of a jockey who rides for Sheikh Mohammad, and they have ridden 3 times and have immaculate positions, can do rising trot and it's like everything comes so naturally to them. Yet I lead other children with unhorsey parents who take about 3 months to grasp what these kids learnt in 3 lessons.. I think it's in the blood :)
 
yes. If you look back through my family history everyone has ridden, both sides, even my stepdad.

I think its more than just enjoying riding, i feel right on a horse, its the best feeling ever.
 
sometimes i think it is but then other times i think not!
i have 4 siblings, we were all raised the same way, in fact my older siblings had more time around the horses with my mum than i did, my mother had her own trekking stables so we were all pretty much born in the saddle.
my eldest sister still appreciates horses, she tries to get back in with them but her husband won't allow her at all as it would mean she would have a life away from him, he's a control freak and she is scared of him so accepts she can't have another horse.

my next elder sister turned her back on them, she thinks they are dirty and smelly to the point she criticised me bringing my kids up around horses and said it was unhealthy!

my older brother doesn't care much for them either but helps my mother with the few that she now has.

my younger brother has ridden my horse a few times but isn't really keen on it as it is too much like hard work.

i've always been with horses, it's all i've ever known and they have been the one consistent thing in my life. when my parents split up i was given the choice of who i wanted to live with, i chose my mother as it meant i could keep the horses, i was placed in foster care and given a choice of either a working farm or a riding school, guess which one i chose! lol. every decision i've made has revolved around horses so for me personally i'd say it is in my blood. :D
 
I blame my dad :)

Although he didn't have any when we where young, he had a farm horse he looked after when he was a child.

Although my mother was terrified of horses, when I begged for one my dad could never say no - he just kept quiet :)

BUT in the end it was my mother who came home sobbing from work - threw a envelope at my dad then ran upstairs :confused: In it was a picture of a pony and a lone agreement :eek:
 
I think you are either born loving horses or you aren't.
Take my mum, she came from a very non horsey family but she just loved them, she would cycle for miles in the rain to the local riding school just to look at them.
Then she had myself and my sister, we both grew up in a very horsey family as my mum by this point had several horses and my dad would ride too.
Myself and my sister had ponies, went through pony club ect. Me I'm like my mum, they are just such a passion, I live and breathe them. My sister isn't like that. Yes she likes them but she's not that into them, she gave up riding at about 14 and is only just sort of getting back into it now (aged 27), she doesn't have the same passion or drive to do it though. I
think if she was in a non horsey family she would never have given a passing though to horses.
So yes, I think anyone can like horses but to be like us and be obsessed by the bloody things, I think you have to be born with the horsey gene :D.
 
My parents and sister are totally non-horsey. My Great-Great Grandad was a horse dealer though - reckon the equine gene skipped a couple of generations. The family legend is he got plastered one night at the local inn and was placed upon his steed for the journey home but never made it.:eek: Still, worse ways you could go.
 
I don't think that they are in your blood. My parents aren't horsey at all. I blame the farmer next door, who bred palominos and used to put his foals in the next field to us for me to drool over as a child. My first love were palomino ponies - my first pony was one.

Also, I know a lot of horsey women who have bought ponies for their daughters when they were small, and gone off to PC etc, but the kids have not really been interested, and have given up.

What I do think is that horses get under your skin, and once they have, they are always there! I had a 12year break from horses, but as soon as I started again, it all came flooding back, and now I'm skint, dirty and knackered like I was before!
 
I like the term 'in the blood'

I actually think that you are born with the qualities that make you a horsey person, the same as I believe that you are born to be a nurse or to teacher of be an athlete. Where, I know I could not be any of this things.

My Grandfather and his father before worked horses on the farm. My Dad hates the 'money pits', and my mum is very horsey with non horsey parents and had to earn and beg for every lesson and then went on to work at a stud.

I crave horses, I too took a break to have my children and i wouldn't change it, but I know i'm a much easier person to be around now i have the horses back in my life.

My brother would not call himself horsey but he naturally rides beautifully (arrgghh :mad:) but he ride maybe once or twice a year and really can take it or leave it :confused:

I love the topic of nature v nurture - fascinating!
 
Def in the blood, even if it skips a few generations. My mum likes horses, but not to an extent further than hacking a bit as a child & patting mine.

My Gran however was very horsey, in fact she was named after one!!! It's because of her that I am so keen in them I think.

Have also found out that my grandads grandad ran a livery stable, and a portrait of his Dad, (getting into 3x great to me now) has him in full riding kit!! :D

Def have 'horsey' roots :D
 
My mothers side of the family have always had horses. My dad used to call them walking s t machines but the odd ocassion he did get on one he was a natural. The first time he ever sat on a horse he was cantering round and jumping with only a little wobble - not bad for someone with only 1 arm and spent the rest of his life on a boat!

My sister used to ride and she doesn't mind patting the ponies but she won't get on one anymore.

I now have more beasts than you can shake a stick at - literally - and work with horses as a job.

As much as it may be "in the blood" I sometimes wish it would get out of my blood in the winter when I get up to feed my lot at 6am then go to work to ride all day before getting back and mucking out, turning out etc. my lot, most of the time not finishing till gone 9om at night. But then the summer more than makes up for the naff winters!
 
Hmm, really interesting individual 'case stories' from everyone. It sounds like you're either born horsey into a horsey family or you're born to like them and will be the first in your family!

My younger brother is 12 and has a really natural seat on a horse but has no interest in riding :mad:

that might be his saving grace-means he gets lie in's in the winter and a limited supply of colds! :rolleyes::D
 
The engine hasn't been around that long, so it stands to reason that every single one of us has a family history connected with horses, whoever you are and where ever your from.
 
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