Where did you learn to ride?

[Sheep]

Obviously we are all constantly learning but where did your riding 'career' start?

 

[Ranyhyn]

Me mammy bought me my first pony when I was 6 I have been failing to be able to ride since then

 

[Sheep]

I started having lessons when I was about 4. Changed to a different yard when I was about 8 or 9; had lessons there on the riding school horses. Then when I was about 13 or so I started hanging about there on Saturdays, mucking out a few stables in exchange for free rides. Of course, it meant riding the absolute nutcases / very green babies that nobody else really wanted to ride.. it was a good experience!

I was very lucky then in that I had access to a few privately owned horses at the same yard (it did lessons and livery)- so I was able to ride some of those ones as well, and compete in RC things on a variety of different horses. So, I would say I got the basics in lessons, and fine tuned them on the better schooled horses owned by friends.

 

[Lolo]

Age 7 in a riding school, as did my sister's at the same time (she was 5). She used to hold the pommel and sob the whole time as it was too fast and too scary... She got her first pony when she was 6, and I did when I was nearly 10. I've almost stopped now, but Al is still going very strong and I think if you asked her she would say she started to ride properly at the start of 2011 when she started lessons with her current instructor.

Sometimes, when she's making me video/ photograph her jumping enormous fences I long for the child who would cry non-stop...!

 

[Captain Bridget]

I learnt in a brilliant riding school which sadly closed to just RDA after being there a few years. After then my riding didn't improve very well or as quickly as I had been. I wish I'd been able to stay there a bit longer. I then ended up at another riding school which was alright but I had a fall there and didn't trust the horses particularly. Had some time off and then found a new riding school where I part loaned a lovely horse for a bit but again had a bad fall, totally lost my confidence and wouldn't canter. Turned out they didn't have planning permission for a riding school so got shut down, it always seemed a bit of a dodgy deal! Had some more time off and then ended up at a reputable riding school, got on pretty well there and improved. Especially with lessons from the owner/head instructor. Then went to equine college which was a bit better than a riding school with different horses but again, lost my confidence, wouldn't canter. It did get better by the end of the year though, I jumped 90cm for the first time, rode some trickier horses and really enjoyed myself. Finally when I came back I found a share horse, then when he injured himself had some time off and then found another share. And then I moved and I'm currently not riding!

But I am a riding schooler through and through!

 

[blood_magik]

I was 8 when I started at Jebel Ali EC in dubai
I had a new instructor pretty much every year so didn't really get much further than learning how to bring my then loan horse back into work but I didn't care
my first horse was stabled there until he was PTS in 2006.

my dad moved his horse to the polo club and I had a few jumping lessons on his school master when I was out on holiday.
jerry came to live with me in 2010 and he brought my jumping on leaps and bounds
we've moved for what I hope is the last time and we're concentrating on bringing our flatwork on with the aim of doing our first dressage test in the summer
our flatwork has deffo improved since we moved

 

[flying solo]

I learned to 'hang on' at a riding school called Tower Farm when i was 7 then went to another RS called Silverknowes at 9 because I hadn't really learned much considering I had 2 lessons per week. At Silverknowes I bought my first pony and I've been riding ponies ever since! For some strange reason I've never had a horse.

 

[Enfys]

Started off somewhere in Bristol back in the mists of time, then it was on the school syllabus, at the same time at an RS and good old AVHPC, then WP somewhere else, and Porlock, and Talland, then at a dressage barn in Munster.

After that back to being a complete novice when I started working at racing yards where they really didn't give a stuff about your hard earned position only the fact that you had decent hands, and the ability to sit on a 2 year old as it buggered off at 30mph ("I don't give a cuss what you did before, if you fall off today DO NOT let go of it!! That horse is worth more than my house")

Then a few years ago I gave up riding English altogether and achieved complete and utter novice status - again

 

[hunting mad]

Plomked on at home.Father one end of a lane and grand father the other end,so horse couldnt go any where,and told to hold tight!!!
Hence why im so rubbish now!!!

 

[debsg]

My mum started me off, then I had lessons at the local RS for 3 years, got my first pony when I was 10. Did my AI at 18, worked with SJ'ers for years, then gave up totally for a long time. Got back into it 6.5 yrs ago, now have 2 of my own again. xx

 

[touchstone]

My dad and grandad spent hours dragging me around on a lead rein on various ponies and horses. They often bought and sold horses so there were plenty of different types to try I also had my own ponies, a couple of shetlands and a lovely 14hh palomino mare. I was a useful size and weight for initial backing too. I started having 'proper' lessons at twelve and did my AI as a working pupil at 18.

 

[stencilface]

Couldn't have lessons til I was six. Mum used to pick me up on her horse form playschool - one day I fell off quite spectacularly and had a nice sleep in a coma for an evening

I started at the riding school when I was 6, first ride on Tarby, and second one on Trigger. I went to a riding week there where I had a 4yo pony called Strawberry. When I went back 10 years later to do work experience, strawberry was still there having a great time. Its a fab riding school, where you used to go on real hacks, and regularly get tanked off with, especially if you were riding wurzel (a pony the instructors couldn't stop) They take clients hunting on the school horses too, lucky horses have a good life

I rode the village pony Monty who used to be kept in someones backgarden. He would tank off down every stubble field and stop dead at the end to eat the grass, my mum and my sister howling with laughter. Got first pony aged 7 called Lucky for the princely sum of £200, minimum age 27ish

 

[JustKickOn]

Shoved on the back of my auntie's ponies at the age of two months, had my first lesson at a riding school aged 3, was there till about 15, rode friends ponies and then got my first loan. Did a riding module in my first year of uni at Moreton Morrell. Got my current loan horse in July, and in the past 6 months I think I have improved more than over the past 15/16 years or so!!

 

[Chestersmummy]

Had lessons at Markfield Equestrian Centre at 10, after my gran and some of her work mates went there for a few lessons. At 12 got my 1st loan pony and carried on since then.
Mum was convinced it would be a phase like everything else I did back then. Nearly 18 years on she's still trying to convince herself that its a phase I will grow out of!

 

[Moggy in Manolos]

I simply taught myself. My parents initially took on two local trekking ponies over winter as a trial on if we wanted our own and how we coped and I taught myself to ride on a welsh section C.
Although before that i did ride donkeys as i used to help out with some local ones who walked up and down the beach

 

[JFTDWS]

Had lessons at an RS till I got my cob when I was 12...

Ashtree Eq in Chelmsford, if anyone else was there

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I learned at an excellent RS, where the owners were very well-respected members of the local horse community and the horses & ponies were well-schooled, competed by the owners children and PC/hunted regularly.
I also had a friend who looked after 3 which I rode in the school holidays. I have to say that RI who was very safety conscious would have had a fit if she'd seen the way we carried on, cantering every time our hooves struck a blade of grass, racing through the woods etc. Between them though they certainly taught me to stay on ( I can literally count the number of times I've come off in the last 30 yrs) and the RS taught me to improve a horse's way of going and to recognise a good horse.
Then I went away to college and went to a couple of other RS, which were ok but not as good as 1st one.
I got my first horse to share with my sister after about 5 yrs at RS. Over the years I've gone to a few RS while we've had our own horses but never found one as good as 1st. Unfortunately although RIs still own a RS, they relocated and don't actually teach now.

 

[Paddy Irish]

Started lessons at Chiverton RS , near Truro when i was about 8 ( now 42 ) , and then really got my experience - good and bad - at a small family run stables near Helston , they were the best days of my life , with the highlights being the donkey derbys which certainly taught you how to stay on!!

 

[Tammytoo]

Same as Moggy, I had beach ponies over the winter and taught myself to ride, firstly on an Exmoor and then on a Fell pony who bolted everytime she saw a vehicle! I had my first lesson at 21 when I joined the local Riding Club with an ex.racer as that was all I could afford to buy at the time!

 

[Marydoll]

Volunteered to be plonked onto the man at the end of the roads shetland that he got for his grandaughter, but she was to scared to ride when i was 7, he was a bisum, but i loved him
Was taught on him by a 17 yo who was training at a very good rs, where i then became a pupil for a few years, visiting instructors were of the Richard Meade calibre and rode lots of different ponies and horses there.
I had access to different ponies of relatives and rode them, then stopped when the ponies were sold, then my dad died when i was 12 and we couldnt afford lessons any more .
I came back to riding at 30 which was 20 yrs ago and have rode lots of different horses when i was liveried on a dealing yard, used to go with the staff to try horses, or try them when they came in for trade, helped school to sell.
Have had my own, backed and kept, also helped others with their problem horses which strangely i enjoy. I am still learning, and have regular coaching sessions, i get a bigger thrill from schooling and bringing on than competing

 

[monkeybum13]

I first started at a riding school but didn't stay long before my mum bought me a lead rein pony and she taught me everything, thanks mum!

 

[Shantara]

Riding school. I had a few loans, but only one worked out. He soon got too old to ride He was 36 when he retired :O

I've been at various riding schools ever since. I hope to finally get my own in a couple of years.

 

[millhouse]

At Foxhill Riding Stables Whiteknights Reading.

 

[wtdnh131]

my first riding school was when i was around 7, my friend went so mom signed me up to, at the time i didnt realise it was probbaly the worst riding school in the area as i knew nothing and didnt have much to compare it too, the horses where incredibly old and should have been retired and after 3 years there all i learnt to do was trot and untack, the lessons where literally just trotting in circles week after week, i soon got bored of that so gave up for a year and just watched horses on telly and went to horse trials etc, then i went to my nans one day and she turned channel 4 racing on, watching a few races i was like wow i want to ride again (ive been obsessed with racing ever since, thank you nan and RIPXXXX)

i went back to old riding school, then i soon realised how bad it was so went to find somewhere else, i had to stick with a school about half an hour away as i couldnt find anywhere else but boy was that half an hour worth it, i learnt to jump, did xc, galloped for the first time (that was my favourite, i got the nickname AP mccoy as all i wanted to do was go on the gallops and had no idea of a collected canter) but i knew if i wanted to go weekly i had to switch, so i left the most beautiful pony and cried for a week

riding school no.3 didnt have your riding school plods, they paid attention to detail and was constantly nagging me about my short stirrups, no abilty to see a stride and no ability to collect a horse in canter, i learnt to show jump on a push button schoolmaster then moved on to a young black mare with a refusing habit, i developed some stickablity riding her! i managed that collected canter eventually but could never and still cant see a stride for the life of me

i had to leave as mom showed me my current loan pony, i cried for 2 weeks and still want to go back for a few lessons as i had a bond with a chestnut cob there who always used to nibble my boot! ive now got my current loan pony and ive learnt all the basic horse care stuff now, and discovered what hibiscrub is but still find it hard to collect, still cant see a stride and still have stirrups the length of tony mccoy, im told by the YM dont go into a dressage comp with stirrups that length as ill get laughed at

wow never knew i could write that much!!!

 

[sidesaddlegirl]

I learned to ride in FRENCH (I'm english) when I was a young teenager at a riding school in Montreal, Quebec. The school is still going strong and the horse I used to ride those 23- 24 years ago, is still alive!!! It's the very dark bay (almost black) named Poly in the middle of the page: http://www.cemicheval.com/photo-chevaux-ecole.php

 

[PuzzlePatch]

A brill riding school in London, like gold dust if you don't want to pay £100p/h It has shut down now though.

 

[Hexx]

I had my first riding lesson at a riding school near Folkestone at the age of 6. Technically they only took children from age 8, but my Mum pleaded with them! I rode a pony called Pixie.

At age 8, we moved to Sheffield, and we went to a riding school on top of the moors. During the winter we were in the indoor school and then in the summer we went hacking on the moors. I used to ride a fat grey pony, but can't remember its name, but I do remember being very cross that my sister came off the lead rein two weeks before I did!

At age 12 we moved to Beaconsfield and I went to Snowball Farm for the next 12 years - I was a "helper" there for many years, which was great because you learned a lot about stable management and got plenty of riding in. I also did my exams there.

Took a break when I got married, and then went back to riding at Meca in Wooburn when I was about 26 until the age of 34 when I finally bought my own horse.

 

[Jesstickle]

Combo of a riding school, my mother, my friends mother and the pony club

ETS: I learnt at Eden Meadows in Rocklands, Norfolk and it's still going strong

http://www.eden-meadows.co.uk/about_us.htm

Lucy taught me to ride and now owns the place

 

[tallyho!]

Dad n uncle were jockeys and I don't think he wanted me to be horsey... However, since horses were one of my first words (hodges) he thought perhaps I might have the "crackers" gene.... Anyway, I didn't as it turns out as I wasn't into racing LOL

So, I learnt to ride with my best friend and her mum who was my dads friend at cottagers plot in Lincolnshire... Ah the memories....

 

[ebonyallen]

Started at 7, Coombe Wood Stables. Very strange lady ran it, many years ago,but it gave me the ground work before I got my first pony. Happy days