whay did you do with your horses when you were young but wouldnt do now?

Used to take the ponies from.my friends house and ride thebareback in the dark round the village or the fields.
Jumping over my friends who acted as fillers
Went for really long hacks that took at least 4 hours as q standard hack, no sore bums in old English saddles! Used to regularly hack under subways and across dual carriageways when they built it across the bridleway though was quieter then!
Attempt getting off at walk trot and canter to end my lessons
Get the riding scho horses in bareback from the field at full pelt.
Get on lazy stubborn horse when laying down in field then gallop back to farm totack up.
Galloped everywhere, cantered uphill on roads as pony wouldn't trot anywhere!
Lots really!
 
abitodd said:
happened across some ponies in a secluded field........so we decided to ride them,just assuming they were backed,safe,sound etc.
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Um yup I did that too - tho I blame my friend who egged me on, and she got on first! :o

He was a piebald cobby type, we nicknamed him Tony Pony and rode him loads - no idea who he belonged to, his age, background etc - we just plodded round the field atop of him! No headcollar or leadrope!

Also took some shetties I had been allowed to walk out into my parents house just for a laugh - thank god they didnt wee or poo in the living room! I was about 12 I think.

Apart from that it was the usual galloping around like a loon with not a scrap of high viz to be seen..

I do remember cantering sideways up a main road once aged about 13 (me) - it wasn't on purpose, I just didn't know how to stop!

Quite a few years older now, tiny bit wiser - as in I only ride the horse I actually own, not just random ones that take my fancy, wear high viz and a hat all the time, and can prevent sideways road cantering... just about :p
 
A yard owner told me as a child her pony was kept in parkland in herd and one day went along and caught the pony went to a show (not sure if she won anything) but on returning the pony had taken the wrong one. Even worse (or good) the pony she took was meant to be un catchable etc. I do believe her brilliant horsewoman.
 
Playing tig & stuff like stuck in the mud, hide & seek etc I still do now. And not only cos my daughter likes it. It's suprising how many adults will choose to hack with us knowing we play tig a lot. And also taught daughter to do stuff like jumping off, getting on whilst pony moving, lying over trotting ponies backs etc.
Another we used to do was all around the world on hacks. However first one back facing forwards would race off, leaving people sideways, backwards or on the floor.
 
kerrieberry2 said:
i wonder what ever happened? all these amazing ponies that everyone use to have??? and now people really struggle to find a nice little pony for their kids!
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Well, my parents had NO IDEA what I was up to on those jollies (the ones where the tack came off and the ponies went in the fishing lake or we galloped over farm fields knowing full well he was bellowing at us from the barn, or jumping bareback over post and rail fencing or riding over the motorway bridge instead of getting off and leading. Did I mention hacking over the golf course as a shortcut to the local show?).

The thing is, the little ponies with kids too young to do this kind of thing are never given the opportunity. It's when we get a little bit older and are allowed to go out hacking all weekend with friends that these things are trialled and tested!

I honestly think those outings were the highlight of my teens. Wouldn't dream of doing it now but back then, once I knew my pony would do absolutely anything I asked of him, he was game for anything and so was I! I'd bet my last penny there are thousands of kids out there doing exactly what we used to do, they're just not daft enough to admit it to "sensible" folk like us :D
 
Umm, I used to hack my pony out bareback in a headcollar (not even a dually just plain headcollar with 2 knotted leadropes) Now I put a bridle on. And I haven't rode bareback through fields for a while.
I think I'm getting my 2nd wind actually, the last few years I've been a health and safety ninny, this year I've remembered how much fun bareback is, vaulting on my pony (original from childhood) to ride him in from the field. Can't vault on my cob cos she's 15h and huge, need a gate for that. Today I was doing bareback trotting poles with no reins! Next challenge is bareback jumping, never done that before but we'll take that slow because she's new to jumping too.
 
Jumping drainage ditches, oh yes, little pony loves that and big cob is just realising she can pick her feet up not fall into them ;)
 
Bombing back from the field bareback, no hat and just a head collar. Taking my pony swimming in a quarry which was out of bounds as was too dangerous. Hacking for literally hours, and putting unsuspecting friends up on another friends cob.

Then making hunting horn noises and watch him take off....

Oh and get on anything and I mean anything that had 4 legs and resembled a horse. Fresh, unknown quantity, or just mad. Would NOT do that now!
 
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Omg! All those things! We used to put our jeans and baseball boots in our satchels, instead of our books, get off the school bus early, and go to the stables instead. Riding hats were for carrying sweets in, after galloping double, bareback and in a halter down the verges to the shop. Galloping the wrong way up the road back, jumping paths and ditches. Catching and leading ponies by their forelocks, and hanging on even if they charged off. Riding ponies along roads to a dealers yard, after she had just bought them without knowing what they were like, then showing them to potential buyers straight away, just expecting them to jump the 4' poles I'd put up. Riding double, one forward, one backwards, bareback in a halter and jumping everything in sight. Trespassing on a local farmers fields and jumping the chicken coops on 12hh ponies, racing the lorries along the road, charging straight through a football match, carrying a bale of straw in front of me, again bareback with a halter along a road, sleeping in the stables, when all our mums thought we were staying the night at the other ones house.
I never could afford lessons, or my own pony, but, boy, could I stay on!!!!
 
whoatherejig said:
Omg! All those things!

sleeping in the stables, when all our mums thought we were staying the night at the other ones house......
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The amount of times we camped out in the barns when our parents thought we were safe and warm at a friend's house I couldn't count even if I tried. Some of those nights we tried cow tipping too, but I was never much good at that!
 
Going for gallops on main road verges, my excuse is that there were fewer cars back then but still horrifying.
Hatless/barefooted/tackless jumping big fences. Used to think I was the bees knees, now I cringe at anyone doing the same.
Jumping anything and everything out hacking... park benches, drainage ditches, gates, literally anything we found. Now I don't jump anything without thoroughly checking take off, landing etc and I only jump only purpose-built fences! (bar hedges).
Chase me charlie competitions with friends where we'd keep galloping around the school towards the fence as another friend kept putting it up... the strides we jumped off and the height we got to on our 13hh ponies sickens me now and I'm an eventer!!
Whenever I got bored out hacking I'd turn up the pace, ride without stirrups and without reins and be trotting along a main road with cars passing all the time, thought it was enormous fun trying to stay on my pony's bouncy trot!
 
hcm88 said:
Going for gallops on main road verges, my excuse is that there were fewer cars back then but still horrifying.
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Was driving down a dual carriageway last summer with a pal and she said "OMG look at those kids cantering down the verge, if one of those ponies spooks they're all as good as dead!"

I had to admit they were asking for disaster but I had to say "that was me and you on Blue and Patches fifteen years ago". And it was... the very same verge next to the very same golf course. We were both absolutely mortified!
 
Riding bareback but for a stinky old jute rug on the Highdown hill in the snow in a headcollar with a frayed rope - but at least I had a hat! Ignorance is bliss :D

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Alas I'm a now a wimp :(
 
Ahh this thread is bringing back so many memories now! Always cantering on every verge we could find, jumping anything, rounding up the farmers cows. little pony was a natural at that. Step dad was a herdsman so used to help bring in the cows for milking, racing his quad to see how fast we went. Hacking out all day with a picnic and making jumps in the woods. Spooking was never an issue, if we fell off we got back on, if pony mis behaved it got sent forward. Can't remember ever having a brakes issue cos I was always trying to get pony to go faster. Remember my first horsey job I was 18 and used to ride the owners sons little welsh pony and round up their sheep on him, haha!
 
I grew up in an area where people bought NF ponies for next to nothing @ the sales & rode them in head collars as they couldn't afford tack. When I was about 15 I took my unbroken 3yo (me on foot with him in his in his head collar & lead rope) out on a hack with people from my yard. When we got to a track where they wanted to canter, I got on (no hat or body protector) & went with them. He looked a bit surprised, but followed along as he didn't want to get left behind. I'd never consider doing anything like that now as I'm far too cautious. My kids still ride their ponies bareback & usually come up to the yard from the field at a canter with just a head collar. They do wear hats though.
 
Too many!

-Leap frogging on ponys bum

-Hand stands against pony

-Crawling under pony

-Taught pony to rear on command

-Hacking out pony in just head collar bare back on roads

-Making pony go in flooded fords

-Cantering/galloping all verges and stubble fields

-Riding aunties top show jumper without permission! :eek:

-Riding in trainers and trackky bottoms

-Cantering pony back from field with no hat and just headcollar with lead rope held as a single lead rope

-Charging kids for pony rides in the local park

-Parking up at local shop to get sweets

-Riding pony in stable

My pony Jazz was wicked! :D
 
I got my first horse when I was 14 and was quit mature for my age so I never really did anything that silly. I guess the silliest things I have done with him, would be picking up a traffic cone (in the school) and riding around with it on top of my hat, riding out to the field across open fields in just a head collar, jumping seven bounce jumps in a row with a cup of water in each hand and crawling under his belly, sliding off down his tail and untacking whilst mounted - all of which I still do now at 22! :rolleyes: :p

I think the silliest thing I did was to set up grids without knowing the striding - I used to set bounce strides longer than they are supposed to be and my poor boy would struggle to make the distances but would still try his hardest for me bless him being the star that he is! He was only just six at this this time so we were too novices learning together!!
 
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