Your Horse Background

UnfilteredCowgirl

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What caused you to get into horses? How long have you been around horses? What have you done with horses? Share your story with us!

My story is rather long, but I will try and simplify it as much as possible!

I have always loved horses for as long as I can remember, but I guess that I first formed my deep love for them, in 2013 when we moved to the farm. I was 8, and thought that we should have a horse. I mean, what kind of farm doesn't have a horse!? I begged and begged and begged for years to be allowed a horse. The answer was always, "no, we aren't set up for one". I couldn't understand why my parents wouldn't let me have a horse. They knew I loved them, and sure mum is allergic, but I could change my clothing when I come in, or we could get a hypoallergenic horse!!
The years went by, and I was never allowed a horse. Instead I continued to beg and beg, and I would search through on Kijiji and find my perfect horse, and the answer would always be no. I began reading any book I could that had a horse in it. Whether that was a novel, or an instructional book, it didn't matter. I have seriously read every single horse book available in both our libraries in town lol!
In 2018 we went on vacation and we rode a horse on the beach in Mexico. That was the first time I had ever been on a horse. I was so happy! The ride was maybe 20 minutes, and I could have just ridden all day, it was amazing. Looking back on it, I was terrible lol! And i would love to redo that ride now, but in the moment, I couldn't have been happier.
We came home and I began asking for riding lessons. Maybe my parents would let me do that? I began asking every day, and the only things I would have on christmas/birthday lists, would be a horse, and riding lessons. That probably made it hard for my parents to actually know what I wanted, but that was what I really wanted lol!
Well, mid-2019, mum runs into a friend that used to be dad's secretary. They chat, and somehow it comes out that I love horses. Well they get talking, and turns out the friend has 3 horses! Only one of them are broke to ride, but she doesn't get out to ride her very much, and she said she would love it if I would come out and ride her once or twice a week for her!!! Mum told me this and I was stoked!! I wanted to go out the next day! But of course, I had girls camp that week, so I couldn't go out until I got back the following week. I wanted to just skip the camp, and go ride horses. There were no horses at camp, and it was super boring. (i am a very outdoorsy person, i love hunting and skinning animals and all that kinda stuff, and the rest of the group, including the leaders, are all prissy princesses that go 'glamping' :rolleyes:) All I could think about the whole time, was getting back home, and riding her horse.
Finally! The long week ended, and I went out to meet Tessa. She was amazing! The friends trainer came out and we watched her lunge Tessa, and then I got to lead her back and groom her. I must have spent close to an hour just loving on her, and grooming every inch of her body.
Eventually, I was told to put her away, so I did, and then the friends' trainer, said that we should go out and look at her horses! She has 3 of them, and she lies only 5 minutes away from the friends house. So we all drove down to her house, and her horses were just as awesome! She pulled one out of the pen, O'Malley. And we brought him over to the barn. He was amazing!! She could walk (well, like, bend in half, and walk sideways) underneath him! And bump his belly with her back as she went under!! It was so cool! He didn't even flick an ear! After that, I groomed him, and then she let me get on him bareback, and she led me around the yard. It was awesome! Then she showed me another awesome thing O'Malley did. He let you slide off his butt onto the ground. So I scooted back until I got onto his hips, and then I slid off. He was so cool! As I was leading him around the yard, he stepped on a pop can, and I flinched more than he did lol!
The trainer proceeded to tell us that she had stopped teaching lessons a couple years back, but she was willing to teach me!!! I was so excited! Mum began talking with dad about it, and they decided that no, I wouldn't be able to get lessons from her. She was too far away from us. She lived on the other side of town, an hour away, and she could only teach in the evenings cause she had daycare throughout the day. I was devastated. This was gonna be so perfect! I really wished it would work out! The only thing I have ever really asked for, has been a horse, and I've never got it.
Eventually over the summer of 2019, mum met a guy that also had horses. Again, she told him that I wanted a horse, and he said to come out to him, cause he taught lessons! Well then mum forgot about him, of course. And then she was looking through her contacts for a different number, and found his instead! She texted him, and in Sep, I went out to meet him and the horses. They were all so amazing!! He had 3 horses, Quinn, Storm, and Janice. I rode all of them at one point. He was so awesome! He pushed me just hard enough, and told me what I was doing wrong, but unless I asked, he would let me figure out what I should be doing. He was amazing! I first started out on Quinn, I had probably 2 lessons with him, and he was great. He was super solid, very broke, and very lazy lol! He was great though, and totally put up with all my mistakes. Then came Storm, I only got one lesson on him, but he was awesome! He was a big paint, and he was the first horse I had ever lunged before. That was so cool! Then there was Janice. She was a little 4yo greenbroke mare. I hated her. She took so much work to ride! I had to lunge her before I rode so she wouldn't have as much energy, I had to constantly check her, and make sure she was listening to me, she would give little crowhops when I wouldn't let her go faster, and she was just so annoying!! That's what I thought of her on my first lesson with her anyways. As time went by, and I had a couple more lessons with her, I grew to love her. She was great! My mindset totally shifted over, and it was great! I began to see her, as an awesome little 4yo, who was super willing, and wanted to please me, but didn't know how. We began to really fast track out bonding, and I eventually didn't have to lunge her before getting on, cause I had gotten used to her, and could control the pent up energy. She was great, she only tried bucking me off once, and i stayed on!! We were going up a hill, so that probably helped lol! Eventually, we got so good together, I loved riding her! I loved my lessons, and they were so awesome! I got another lesson on Quinn, and I used him to run figure eights around two barrels, that was amazing! He is who taught me how to use spurs for the first time, how to switch leads, how to stop square, and how to back up. We were expert backer uppers lol! We would back up for feet at a time, all in a straight line, and facing forwards the whole time, I loved backing up with Quinn lol!
Eventually, it began to snow, and we couldn't continue because of the ice. He only has an outdoor round pen. We stopped lesson then, after only having 10 with him, and we were going to start up again last spring. He was going to help get me ready, and he was going to enter me in a show last summer, it was going to be great! Then Covid....I haven't gotten lessons with him since then. That was the fall of 2019, and I still miss him, and I think of him and the horses all the time. Maybe one day I will be able to go back and get more lessons with him, cause he taught me so much!!
 

UnfilteredCowgirl

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I tried posting this with the original message, but when I hit post, it said that I could only post a max of 1,000 words, so I had to copy and paste the last half of my post, sorry! This is the rest of it....


So then we had no lessons, I didn't get to see any horses, I was horse deprived for a year lol! Then I took an Equine Studies class this year for school, and one of the assignments was to volunteer, or get lessons for 20 hours, and record what you learned. Well I couldn't get lessons, so volunteer work it was! I began looking around, and I remembered that the animal rescue place had horses, cause they had come out to buy piglets from us the year before, and they said something about having horses. So I found their email on their website, and sent them an email, asking if I could volunteer at get my hours. She said yes, and I came out the next week. I was stoked! That was Oct. 03 2020, and I've been there ever since, pretty much every single week. I may have missed two weeks just cause something came up, but otherwise I've been there. And I have loved it there! The owner, and the horses, they have all taught me so much! With those horses, they taught me so many things that I never would have learned otherwise.
I can now say, between my lessons, and the rescue riding, I can now say I am confident on pretty much any horse at a walk, I can post the trot on either diagonal, I can lope on most horses confidently, I can ride out a buck, and a spook with ease. I can gallop on a smoother horse. I can't sit the trot, but we're working on it. I can back up, and turn on a dime. I can saddle up, and actually get the girth tight enough lol! I can bridle up, but I do have a couple problems getting situated lol! It takes me a while cause I always feel like my hand aren't big enough to hold the bit, and keep the chin strap out of the way, and stick a finger in their mouth, all with the same hand! It takes a while, but I can do it. I can also lead just about any horse, I can lead a horse past something scary that they're afraid of, I can halter every single horse I have come in contact with, I can lunge, and I can pick out hooves.
So that is my limited experience, I can't do too much, but I love horses and I just want to keep improving every day. I read anything I can, and I work with my donkeys and I learn different training techniques, and I try and look inside myself, and I try and make myself someone a horse would want to come to. I'm sure it helps that I always have treats with me lol!


But that's my tragic tale of woe, and still, no horse. But hopefully this summer! Dad said that I can get one over the summer, I just have to come up with the money to buy it, and that's been a problem, of course, I bought my girls like a month before dad said that. If he had said that before I bought them, I never would have bought them, and I would have saved up, but now I am inbetween a rock and hard place, and I can't decide if it's worth it to sell the girls, to get the money to buy a horse. I just don't know. I am hoping that maybe dad will spot me the money and buy the horse, and then I will pay for the farrier, vet, and everything else. And then when the girls foal out, I will sell the foals, and pay dad back. Hopefully he will agree with all of that! Lol! I'm not sure though. I want to adopt one from the rescue, and their fee is usually around $1,500 which is totally reasonable! I also have a friend that is selling a horse, and she said that she would sell her to me, but I haevn't talked to dad about it yet, so I haven't even met her. But yeah, I just need to find the money somewhere. It's hard cause we live so far out of town, I can't just walk, or take a bus to work. Right now I work at the Farmers Market every Saturday, and mum goes in to sell the meat anyways, so I just drive in with her, but I only get like $160/month, and I have to put half of it away in a college fund. So I keep $80/month, and I need $100 every other month for the girls, so in 2 months, I keep $60!! Yay! It will take me 25 months of saving $60/month, until I can finally buy a $1,500 horse. Gonna need more than that...I do get paid for helping on the farm, but only if dad has the money, cause I get like another $80/month from that as well, so I am really keeping $160/month, but that's only when dad pays me. I am going to start helping my neighbour on her farm, but she can only pay me $50/week, but that's okay I guess. So now that is $260/month. That would only take me 5 months, but that assumes that I don't have to pay for the farrier for the girls, or any tack for the horse, or anything else like that. Ugh. Sorry, y'all probably don't care about my financial woes lol!

What is your story? How did you get started with horses?
 

Flame_

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You sound really passionate about horses and I'm sure one day you will manage to have a horse and it will be wonderful! I enjoyed reading your story.

Mine is far shorter... I'm not from a horsey/ farming/ countryside family. When I was in primary school, aged about 5 or 6, one of the other mums told my Mum that she was taking her kids pony riding and asked if my sister and I would fancy going too. We did, I loved it and I never really wanted to do anything else since. We got our first ponies about five years later. My sister eventually grew up and lost interest, I am now 41 with two horses and have never had a break of more than about 3 months, and that is only when I have sold or lost a horse and it's taken a while to find the next one.
 

Quigleyandme

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We lived in Hong Kong so I wouldn’t have known what a horse was. One afternoon as we left church a film was being made and there were two grey horses involved. I was mesmerised. One of the Sikh actors swung me onto a horse‘s back and 55 years later I can still recall as if it were yesterday how it dipped below me as it shifted it’s weight to rest a leg and how it smelt. It was love at first sight.
 

Batgirl

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I was about 20, a friend wanted to go on a pony trek on a holiday in Scotland so I asked a friend to 'teach me to hang onto a horse' before hand. Rode for about 5 times before the holiday and had a blast.

Started the old weekly lessons at a riding school and 6 months later that wasn't enough, bought a horse!
Teddy ex riding school 14'2 Section D kept for a year before I went back to Uni
then Batman 17hh ISH on loan for a few years.
then bought Arnie my epic big ginge who I had for 5 years before I had to retire him.
Now have my amazing Tully.

On the journey discovered that I hated jumping and love Dressage and Hacking :)
 

scats

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No real story. First rode on a day out at about 2 (plonked on a Shetland at some farm). A few years later, my friend went for a riding lesson and told me about it so I tagged along the next week. I was instantly hooked, became completely obsessed and rode twice a week. I was very lucky to get my first pony a few years after that. Parents weren’t horsey but extremely supportive. I’ve had horses ever since, with no breaks. I’ll be 37 this year.
 

blitznbobs

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I guess im one of the lucky ones - i don’t actually remember a time i didn’t ride, mum loved them, i loved them and when a friend was selling a pony club veteran he came to us... the rest is history, as a teenager i wanted to event but my trusty sec d used to be in the lead after dressage and dump me in the cross country... it was either do dressage or sell him , selling hom was not an option and thus begun a 30 year love affair with dressage.
 

smolmaus

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You're only getting started OP! You've the whole of the rest of your life yet!

I begged and begged and begged for riding lessons from I was no age much like you and parents wouldn't budge but a sneaky aunt and uncle bought me 10 lessons for my 7th birthday (far too extravagant in those days really) and then mum couldn't bring herself not to let me continue ?

A hours lesson a week (but nothing more, money doesn't grow on trees you know!!) from 7-24 ish? My instructor down-sized about halfway through so the last 8 or so years were just pottering about on her older ponies she couldn't bring herself to sell on and the occasional go on her very fancy but rather old dressage horses so not actually much progress made in terms of riding skill and weirdly I never really wanted my own at that stage? I guess mum had said no so often it stuck?

Anyway, took a 5 year break when I moved out to start a PhD, quit the PhD, have a mental breakdown, recover from mental breakdown, get a real job, finally learn to drive and then a friend organised a day's trekking for her birthday and I caught the bug again in a big way thanks to a wonderful round hairy cob named Harry. Now I'm basically doing my teenage horsey years at 31, working at a yard for free on the weekends much like yourself OP, saving my pennies for a pony and convincing the OH I am definitely grown up enough now to manage one (he's still not sure) ?
 

ycbm

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I had a half hour riding lesson at 7 on holiday and I was hooked. I didn't ride again until my teens when I had a riding school hack once every two weeks. It's been a lifetime love affair. After a break when i started work, I bought my first at 22, over 40 years ago.
.
 

CrimsonDivine

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For me it was when I was about 7 years old I went on a long weekend trip which had activities for blind, partially blind and deaf children such as river walking, absailing, bungee jumping, rocking climbing, cave walks, horse riding etc. Alot of the activities I wasn't keen on doing, ie the bungee jumping and rock climbing, as I'm not good with heights since I couldn't see the ground even when I was around 2-3 feet above it.. Needles to say I really enjoyed the horse riding. Admitedly at first I had an issue because my pony took advantage of me being a novice and kept putting her head down to graze. Whilst going around a brook the instructor called out "give her a good kick and she'll move!" and so I did and to my surprise rather than go around and catch up she jumped over the brook with me ontop. Fortunately I was able to stay on and yeah, it was frightening but really exciting at the same time and I explaimed "that was awwwsome!!! can I do it again?!" and of course the instructor was relentant to let me and said it was just luck that I stayed on and told me I'd need to learn how to ride properly before doing so again. Of course this simply encouraged me to want to do just that. So, when we got back to the barn I begged them to teach me and they said "How are you at getting up in the morning?" and I said "I get up for school at 7am, why?" he replied "no good, you got to be here 6am sharp! that means you get up around 5am to have breakfast, can you do that?" I nodded and said "Sure thing". Next day I get up at 5am, had breakfast, got my wellies on and adiquirt clothing, ie jeans and durable top, and went straight down and had arrived at 5:45am. They threw me a pitch fork "You're mucking out this morning kiddo" I looked around at the field wondering about this "muck" thinking muck = mud and didn't quite understand what they meant. Needless to say I soon found out when they pointed to her stall "You know those treats you gave her last night? they all came out the other end, go clean it up". And, to their surprise, I did. Once done they handed me a saddle "Tack 'er up kid, you're coming for a ride, that's your reward, well done". From that day on I've been riding and caring for that pony and got one of my own when I was in my late teens from my dad, who orginally brought him for my adopted brother who actually wasn't that interested. I read many books about horse care and training during this time, as well as some medical and biology of horses, even to the pont where my librarian at school started to ask whether I owned one, I was so obsessed by these wonderful creatures that I couldn't get enough of them. Infact my favourite toy was a horse when I was even an infant! Anyway, all the rest is pretty much history really. Im time I learned how to train horses from people like Monty Roberts and became a full fledged horseman.

Have to say that this made a massive change in my life because I was born with congenital cataracts, I also developed Amblyopia because the surgeon made my mum choose which eye he was going to operate on due to being "too busy to do both" at that point, and was led to believe I couldn't do anything. I couldn't ride a bicycle, play football, heck even run without bumping into something or someone so I honestly didn't think I'd ammount to anything nor enjoy life. So since riding and caring for horses changed my life I wanted to do so for them in return, which is part of the reason why I finally brought my own.

Anyway, that's pretty much my story.
 
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asmp

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I lived in Brunei as a child and one day the Sultan of Brunei bought some riding horses and they were kept at the army camp where we lived and from that day on I was smitten. A couple of the army wives then bought some ex racing ponies and my sister and I learnt to ride on them, mainly on the beach. My sister apparently remembers that I’d often fall off (nothing new there!) and she’d end on my pony.
 

CrimsonDivine

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Almost forgot to mention we named our pony Sooty as my dad said his colour was as black as soot and I loved Sooty from the TV show so I said "We should call him Sooty!" :D Sadly he wasn't with us very long, dad couldn't keep up the maintenance and I only visited every fourtnight at the time due to college and being too far away. Oh and the first pony, which I had riding lessons on, was called Sugar. Mainly because she actually stole sugar lumps that a young girl was offering her own pony.. rofl xD Not to mention she was white (grey) so it seemed fitting I guess. The school named her, not me.
 

tiahatti

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My grandad worked at a racing yard. I never knew him sadly. I remember going for walks with my granny and we used to watch the race horses being exercised. Seeing them was always so exciting. When I was around 5 I started lessons. I remember being quite scared of the lady who owned the ponies, Squirrel and Johnny.
 

Keith_Beef

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I was born in Sheffield and grew up on the north western edge of the city where two rivers meet. Most of my childhood was spent walking along one or the other of the valleys, sometimes out along one, climb up valley side and down into the next valley to walk home.

Here, on Google street view, is some typical scenery. Most of the fields hold cattle, but there are a fair few horses out there, too. Not too far away are the upland moors between Sheffield and Manchester, and we used to go walking over there among the giant sheep.

My family was not horsey, although my grandmother had some connection to a horse farm and my mum and her sister had ridden when they were young, on holiday at their aunt's house and sweet shop at Bowness.

So when out on walks I would pet horses at the gate, or in the field if a footpath went through it. And I admit I would feel sorry for a horse in a very bare field, looking longingly at the long grass just out of reach along the road, and I'd pull up big handfuls to feed to it. I wouldn't do it nowadays, but as a ten year old I knew nothing of laminitis and never imagined that the roadside grass would be polluted and maybe would have been sprayed. I know better now.

But I was never nervous or scared around animals of any kind. I used to go into the secondary school where my mum worked, and I'd help her in the animal room feeding the snakes, rabbits, mice and rats, the ferret and the occasional rescued bird of prey.

The only time I get to ride as a kid was once or very occasionally twice for an hour or two on our annual family holiday between being ten and fourteen years old (so I suppose that in those four years I got in a whole ten hours of riding, at the most). No training, no explanation, and I'm not even sure we had helmets... the only requirements I remember were "don't wear jeans, and must wear closed leather shoes with a heel". In the early years, the riding would be a gentle walk through the woods on a pony. The last couple of years I was on a full sized horse and my mum rode with me: a walk through the town down to the beach, then GALLOP! I don't know how I stayed on... My mum didn't, one day, and that was the last time she ever rode and the last time I rode for several years...

Not that I was avoiding riding, I was just at a stage in my life when I stopped going on holiday with my parents and brother, then I was living away from them, financially independent (though dirt poor), and more interested in girls, motorbikes and beer than in horses. Though I knew a few horsey girls and one of them offered me a ride on her horse in the field at the back of another friend's house... she'd already taken off the saddle, and said "try it bareback"... I did, cantered, and promptly fell off!

Fast forward: over twenty years later, married, with two kids, living in the US, and both kids away in Europe with their grandparents, I organised a weekend away for OH and me. A little guest-house in Pennsylvania, a hot air balloon ride and an all-day trek through the forest along an old logging railroad converted to a hiking and horse riding path, carrying the picnic with us in saddle bags. But this was Western, so like sitting in a La-Z-Boy with a cupholder armrest.

Then we moved back to France, living in a very horsey town, and my daughter was at that age when little girls get crazy about ponies... I hadn't yet gone back to work so I had plenty of time to take her to the yard, help tack up, help leading on a little walk through the streets or walking at the back of the line to keep an eye on motorists, and that's how my desire to take up riding came back.

So I've now been taking lessons once a week, with extra lessons now and again, since 2013, and sometimes we take the horses from the school out in hacks through the forest with the instructor. This Sunday past we did a little internal show jumping afternoon, no timers, no PS system announcing riders and horses, just a fun afternoon with no pressure and the chance to have a go at a round of nine obstacles at an appropriate height for our ability.

I also do longer rides (half-day, full-day or even two- or three- day rides with overnight stays) with another group; in 2019 we took part in Equirando, and I hope to do it again this year. I can think of few more pleasant ways to wake up than to hear, through the thin cloth of a tent, birdsong and horses breathing and whinnying.
 
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Skib

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In the war when I was a small child, milk deliveries to the house were made by horse drawn cart every day except Sunday. My mother's father was a horseman (killed in WW1 when she was 6) and his lessons remained. Feed the horse apple or carrot with your hand flat and keep clear of the hind legs. When I learned to ride as an adult, I had to book a special lesson to teach me how to lift the feet. I am still not fond of back feet.
The milk cart horse meant that from the start I knew horses liked me and I liked them right back. One might say now that they liked me because I fed them a treat. But I have never taken treats to the yard and horses still like me.
Our RI has asked why this is and I truly dont know. It could be how I smell. I have been much influenced by John Lyons and also Mark Rashid. Both of them anthropomorphise horses. There is a conversation. You work out what the horse is thinking. And as a start, as a very little girl, the horse was thinking, that it was so glad to see me. Horses were nice to me. People were not.
I havent seen my share mare for a year due to Covid and she is riden by at least a dozen other riders each week. But inside my head I know she will know me and be pleased to see me back.
 

Birker2020

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My Grandma put me on a donkey on Woolacombe Beach 48 years ago when I was three and I loved it (I'm 51 today!) Then a friend had a pony so let me see it a couple of times and sit in front of her in the saddle, I guess I was about 8 or 9 at the time.

At 11 Mum paid for lessons for me. I then found a brilliant instructor who was a friend of the girl with the pony and it was basically a 12 acre field with a selection of jumps and a little grey pony mare called Anna. She even took her to the local riding club for me and we met her there and I did a class (jumped the jumps backwards as I hadn't the strength to hold her). We used to jump around 3ft 3 and I had no fear in those days, I fell off the once and Mum was watching from the car (I was about 15 at the time). Mum was frantic as I didn't move, but I'd winded myself rather badly. She said next time I fell off I was to hold my hand up to denote that I was alive!! :)

When I was 17 after having horses on loan for two or three years I had my first horse but she was a nightmare. I then went on to have four who I very sadly lost in relatively quick succession. This was very draining on my mental health and I really struggled for many years (and still do).

My current horse I've had since 2004. Love the bones of her. She is my total delight. She is struggling at the moment with lameness issues due to arthritis, last night she was very stiff and sore coming out of the stable but as soon as she got to the track leading to her field which had been harrowed she transformed and wasn't lame at all. She came in this morning and she was fine. I fear her time is limited and I will have to be making a decision later in the year because she is so very sore on concrete/tarmac but fine turned out but until then I'm going to enjoy her as much as I can and she's having treatment in a couple of weeks anyway.

I love horses and will never be without. When I eventually say goodnight to B I hope to have another one and do a small bit of jumping/dressage. My dream is to have a small holding in Devon, two horses, a lovely big menage, near a competition centre, 7 or 8 acres and a couple of goats and chickens.
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GreyMane

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circa 1971. Child gets first pony ride on holiday in Devon. Instantly smitten. Reads endless books, dreams endless dreams, tries to cadge more than 1 riding lesson a week but mostly there isn't the money. Very occasionally, someone lets her ride their pony.
2021. Ponies are the same. Child now has more books, fewer dreams, and grey hair. Very occasionally, someone lets her ride their pony.
 

milliepops

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Not a lot to tell, friend and I used to play with hobby horses as young tots and I always wanted a horse after that but non horsey and pretty poor parents meant it was an uphill struggle to talk them round ;) I was taken to an old skool dragon of an instructor to try and put me off, which didn't work,so eventually cashed in all savings aged 10 and they bought me a pony. They didn't know what they were doing so I had to do everything myself or they would have sold her again.

I still struggle with asking for help because the first few years of horse ownership were very much about independence and managing stuff yourself.
Anyway, never looked back and can't imagine a time without horses in my life. realised a lifelong ambition to breed a foal last year and she is amazing :)
 

Keith_Beef

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Feed the horse apple or carrot with your hand flat and keep clear of the hind legs.

The milk cart horse meant that from the start I knew horses liked me and I liked them right back. One might say now that they liked me because I fed them a treat. But I have never taken treats to the yard and horses still like me.
Our RI has asked why this is and I truly dont know. It could be how I smell.

I used to feed from the flat of my hand, but too many greedy ponies and horses made a grab for the food, knocking the treat out of my hand, so I now feed treats from a clenched fist.

I've always found that animals like me and put it down to not being nervous around them (from small animals like chipmunks up to bigger things like horses, cows, even camels and giraffes). They pick up on body language and movement and know when another animal or a human is feeling nervous or threatened, and adopt the same attitude in preparation for fight or flight.

My Grandma put me on a donkey on Woolacombe Beach 48 years ago when I was three and I loved it (I'm 51 today!)

I'd forgotten about donkey rides at the beach!
 

Birker2020

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circa 1971. Child gets first pony ride on holiday in Devon. Instantly smitten. Reads endless books, dreams endless dreams, tries to cadge more than 1 riding lesson a week but mostly there isn't the money. Very occasionally, someone lets her ride their pony.
2021. Ponies are the same. Child now has more books, fewer dreams, and grey hair. Very occasionally, someone lets her ride their pony.
Ahh that's sad that you never realised your dreams. x
If you were near me and my horse was sound you could ride mine. I've always let people ride mine when I couldn't or when they had nothing to ride. Sadly it's never been reciprocated apart from one very kind person.
 

AUB

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I had begged for years, and finally when I was 10 my parents let me, secretly hoping I wouldn’t want to continue after the first trial lesson. Well, I loved it, so that kind of backfired on them... from that moment I only came home from the yard to eat and sleep and go to school.

When I was 13 I got my own pony and competed in both dressage and showjumping while also riding other people’s ponies.
When I was 16 and too old to compete ponies I got a horse and competed through (the Danish equivalent of) high school. I also worked for a trainer riding his young horses.
At 19 I went to Switzerland to ride professionally. Broke my back on a youngster and realised that I didn’t want to ride for a living.
At 21 I returned to Denmark to study veterinary medicine. During that I rode other people’s horses and bought a foal, that sadly got injured just as his riding career had begun.
Then I took a break from horses from 25-30 and went to law school, but loaned a horse as soon as I handed in my thesis in 2015.
In 2017 I had a child and didn’t ride much.
In 2018 I bought my mare and that brings us up to date.
 

GreyMane

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Ahh that's sad that you never realised your dreams. x
If you were near me and my horse was sound you could ride mine. I've always let people ride mine when I couldn't or when they had nothing to ride. Sadly it's never been reciprocated apart from one very kind person.
That's such a kind thought, thank you. I am sorry your past kindness has been taken for granted. Hope that changes.
 

SEL

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I can't quite remember how the addiction started but my first lesson was on a 25yo saint of a Shetland mare. I'd been on the lead rein on a school friend's Shetland before then so my parents must have decided I'd better learn to ride properly.

40 years on they are still waiting for me to grow out of the addiction.
 

indie1282

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In the war when I was a small child, milk deliveries to the house were made by horse drawn cart every day except Sunday. My mother's father was a horseman (killed in WW1 when she was 6) and his lessons remained. Feed the horse apple or carrot with your hand flat and keep clear of the hind legs. When I learned to ride as an adult, I had to book a special lesson to teach me how to lift the feet. I am still not fond of back feet.
The milk cart horse meant that from the start I knew horses liked me and I liked them right back. One might say now that they liked me because I fed them a treat. But I have never taken treats to the yard and horses still like me.
Our RI has asked why this is and I truly dont know. It could be how I smell. I have been much influenced by John Lyons and also Mark Rashid. Both of them anthropomorphise horses. There is a conversation. You work out what the horse is thinking. And as a start, as a very little girl, the horse was thinking, that it was so glad to see me. Horses were nice to me. People were not.
I havent seen my share mare for a year due to Covid and she is riden by at least a dozen other riders each week. But inside my head I know she will know me and be pleased to see me back.

I agree about horses liking certain people. Most horses like me, i dont know if it's because i am relaxed and sensitive to their needs or if there is something else but i definitely get a 'i like you ' vibe from them. My old instructor used to say i was a natural with them but i think it goes deeper on a more subconscious level. If a horse is playing up then it usually through misunderstanding or fear and i think because i am calm and steady with them and i will take the time to read their expression they seem to know that i am there to help and thus they accept me. I also think horses really like to have someone to be 'there' for them, not necessarily as a leader or Alpha but just someone to take the decision away from them sometimes.

I have 2 horse who i have owned since foals ( 15 & 13 ) and one is always pleased to see me for a fuss but is also pleased to have attention from anyone else but my other one likes me best over anyone else. I dont know how to describe it but he is more aloof with others and distant but not with me. I know i probably sound weird but i kind of always seem to know what he's feeling..

He is my horse and i am his human.
 

Birker2020

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That's such a kind thought, thank you. I am sorry your past kindness has been taken for granted. Hope that changes.
Yes it has, the very kind person I mentioned has let me ride her horse, I've had a ride on him once a week for the past two weeks and loved it.
It's only riding around the edge of a couple of very large fields but it means such a lot to me. Hopefully I will be able to take him on some hacks in the future, the lady that owns him seems open to me doing that and I'd take such good care of him, even more so when it's someone elses. I'm lucky. I'm hoping mine gets fixed to ride but I doubt it's going to happen. She's had too many 'nine lives'.
 

Ruftysdad

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As long as I can remember I have loved horses. I came from a working class family and money was short. However at the age of 11 my parents paid for riding lessons. I had to go miles on the bus to get to the stables. but in those days the early 50s kids were allowed more freedom
At the age of 13 I bought a pony from the local riding school. She was an ex rag and bone pony who was brilliant at gymkhana. We won loads of rosettes. I have continued to ride for 60 odd years competing mainly in endurance. I still have a horse but both retired due to arthritis
I have told my husband that instead of flowers I want my riding hat and crop on the coffin. Instead of a hymn I want the Black Beauty theme
 

dorsetladette

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I was born into horses (well ponies). My parents bred welsh ponies. My uncles and grandfather worked for the local brewery delivering ale on the drays with shire horses. My surname comes from the manchester ship canals when the horses pulled the barges along the canals as thats what my family did 'in the olden days' :)
 

GreyMane

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I was born into horses (well ponies). My parents bred welsh ponies. My uncles and grandfather worked for the local brewery delivering ale on the drays with shire horses. My surname comes from the manchester ship canals when the horses pulled the barges along the canals as thats what my family did 'in the olden days' :)
I love to see family photos with working horses in them. Fascinating.
 

GreyMane

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As long as I can remember I have loved horses. I came from a working class family and money was short. However at the age of 11 my parents paid for riding lessons. I had to go miles on the bus to get to the stables. but in those days the early 50s kids were allowed more freedom
At the age of 13 I bought a pony from the local riding school. She was an ex rag and bone pony who was brilliant at gymkhana. We won loads of rosettes. I have continued to ride for 60 odd years competing mainly in endurance. I still have a horse but both retired due to arthritis
I have told my husband that instead of flowers I want my riding hat and crop on the coffin. Instead of a hymn I want the Black Beauty theme
Am tempted to have "White Horses" played when I go !
Agree that we did enjoy lots more freedom when growing up. The days of riding school kids cantering ponies to the field bareback, or kids riding miles to Pony Club rallies etc unaccompanied, are sadly over (at least in this country).
 

WineOClock

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Similar story to many I guess. Pony mad as a child but non horsey parents; finally managed to persuade them to let me have riding lessons when I was about nine. Spent my teens mucking out at local stables and scrounging rides wherever I could. Then uni and work in London got in the way and didn't ride till my early 30s when a work colleague organised for a group of us to do a day treck on exmoor. Had the day of my life and realised I finally had the time and the money (just!) to have my own horse. Bought a 4 year old TB who was the horse of a lifetime and taught me so much. He's sadly no longer with us, but I've had my own horse ever since then and now in my early sixties am looking forward to many more years playing with ponies and fulfilling my childhood dreams.
 
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