HELLO?! Calling all horse folk!!!

[TikusMom]

Originally Posted by red192

I currently don't own horses but grew up on a farm where we had them. My first was a Welch Pony named Pokey. My father traded a tractor for that pony for me when I was only 3 yrs old. I was a horse lover at that age. Pokey died of old age that winter. The following summer we got Pumpkin. Another Welch. By the time I was 8 my dad bought me retired barrell racer, her name was Smokey and she was beautiful! After I turned 17 and was working full time my dad sold her to my cousins who had her til 5 years ago. She died of old age. She was well taken care of and loved! I miss riding and I go at every chance I get with friends!

I can relate to being a horse lover from the time I understood what they were...about the same age you were!
Welsh ponies make the BEST first pony in my opinion! They're usually a little more reliable and steady and not nearly as stubborn as Shetland ponies can be (just my opinion here...I know some of you guys have had great memories with Shetlands).
If you don't mind, please tell us more about your past horse and ponies!

[KDK241]

I loved horses since I was born. My mom had saddlebreds as a kid and she didn't sell her last one until I was 2. I had lots of neighbors and people that had horses though so I got to be around them and ride.
I woud have to say the Belgian I rode was probably the one I had the most fun on. She was owned by the caretakers of the barn and they asked me if I would be interested in riding her cuz she was about 700 pounds overweight and I looked at them like they were CRAZY!!! It didn't help that they said she was spooky when on the trail by herself and she was BIG (she was actually only a little over 16 hands so small for a draft horse) but she weighed about 2500 pounds when I started riding her.
I started riding her in the indoor arena while he was cleaning the barn. She would spook and buck like a bronco but I NEVER fell off of her (I was waayyy too scared, lol). Eventually I started riding her when no one was there and one day got brave enough to take her out on the trail. She was a nervous wreck and every twig she stepped on she would jump. Eventually she started to calm down and not freak out too bad. The funniest thing that happened was we were going down a field road and a tractor went by, she moved off to the side and walked me into a branch I couldn't duck under and I fell off. She turned around and started walking back to the barn but couldn't find the trail entrance on the road (she wasn't the brightest). Everytime I would get close to her she would trot off a few steps and eat. Finally a woman with a mini van and 3 kids stopped (the field road led to a neighborhood) and asked if I needed help. I hopped in the van with the door open and she drove up ahead of Tea so I could jump out and catch her, lol.
We used to take her and the other horses to the state parks and ride and after riding her so much she started to want to be at the head of the pack instead of following everyone else. The owners were so surprised at how calm and different she was. The problem was that it was the wife's horse and she didn't like the fact that I was doing such a great job with her and her husband wouldn't stop saying how fantastic I was doing with her. She used to buck if you tried to ride double on her, she stopped doing that with me as well. They always rode her with a curb bit with double reins. The top reins were for controlling her and the bottom were for when she would be at a canter or gallop to stop her. I never had to use the bottom reins, ever.
We were at a park riding one day and the trail went by a golf course and a rail road track. A train came and her owner told me to grab the bottom reins so she wouldn't take off into the golf course. Her husband told her not to worry about it and let me handle her. I showed her the train (tracks were only about 40 feet away) and she stood shaking. Then the train blew it's horn and she spun around, went about 5 feet and stopped when I told her to. She stood perfectly still the whole time the train went by. His wife was sooo mad!
Another time we went riding in the winter and there was a huge snow drift where the trail crossed the road from the plows. We had no idea how deep the snow actually was and since Tea was the big horse he said I should have her go first to make a path for the little horses. She went right into the snow (which was up to her shoulders) and pushed her way all the way through until we got to the road. It was a step down onto the road and she couldn't see that so she tripped and fell forward. I rolled off her and jumped up and she was standing there bleeding from the mouth. She had bit her tounge and I felt HORRIBLE! All he could say was how much she trusted me cuz she didn't even hesitate to do what I asked even though she had no idea how deep the snow was. She was the greatest, best, sweetest horse ever and she was my Piggy. It got to where I would ride her around the yard and down the road in a halter and lead rope bareback (yep, everyone thought I was nuts, lol). I miss her as much as I miss Atara. I wish things could have ended differently with them. If they would have I would still be riding her today, I just know it. They even talked about getting a place of their own and breeding her and giving me one of her foals. I wish I knew where they were now!

Ok, sorry for another long one, lol. I have a TON of horse stories, lol. I used to go riding for about 6 hours every day.

[TikusMom]

Are you kidding? Don't apologize! That was GREAT!
I remember the absolute LAST time I was ever brave enough to ride bareback with just a halter and lead rope. It was on my huntseat gelding and I was out for a hack...we came to a small ditch and Joe stopped to sniff at it, which I let him do...then out of no where he launched himself over it, and I went off the side and ended up breaking my left collar bone in half....Joe took one look at me and said....SEE YA! and took off back to the barn! ROFLOL! I was soooo mad at him at the time, but you know, it was entirely my fault for being reckless. Otherwise Joe was bomb proof and I spent seven years of fun times on him.
I'll tell you about some of our adventures in the future!
Thanks for sharing that great story about your "Belgian adventures"!

[Tom Lawless]

I love horses. I used to ride. I was even in a few shows/cross country events. The problem is that if the horse refused the jump, I didn't. I ended up moving away from the area where I used to ride and then entered seminary so it has been too many years since I've been on a horse. I miss it. I miss being in a horse barn. Isn't that the best? I would love to start riding again. I think I'd work on dressage and if I felt that really got me balanced maybe move back into jumping again.

[KDK241]

I used to ride a Morgan in English but was never too crazy about it. I prefer Western instead. I love to watch dressage and Freckles had some dressage training and it was a lot of fun to do with him. I miss riding so much. It's been about 11 years since I have gone. I even miss the smell of the barn, lol. I'm really hoping that next spring I can afford to get a horse. I want to get a 2 year old or younger and train it myself, I have always liked training. Either that or I'm considering adopting a mustang from the wild. I have nothing but patience when it comes to animals. People on the other hand...
The only bones I ever broke were from Tea and that was my little toe/side of my foot. We had just unloaded them from the trailer and I had her tied in the stall to brush her off. She liked to lean on you when she was tired (I know, a person holding up a 2,000lb horse) only this time she had stepped on the side of my foot and THEN leaned on me. I was trying to push her over and the more I pushed the more she leaned into me! I finally jabbed her in the side with my elbow and she moved. I got her out in the pasture and had to drive myself home before I got my boot off. My whole foot was black and blue and the size of a baseball on that side. I went to the ER and I had broken my toe and cracked some of the bones in my foot. Needless to say I made sure her big feet were far away from mine after that! I'm just thankful we were in the stall instead of the concrete aisle where she normally would have been. I never broke bones when I fell off, I got concussions instead, lol.

I would love to hear more about your horses!

[birdlover912]

I have a quarter horse/paint 14 year old gelding named Scotch, and a arabian/pinto 10 year old gelding named Patches. I don't ride anymore because of all of the injuries I lived thru, so I just groom them and do ground work stuff.

[SallyQZ]

I don't know too many people who haven't been hurt by their horses, LOL! It's truly a hazardous hobby. Myself, I've had by hip dislocated, cracked two ribs, and broke my back in 2000. I figure I've got one more good fall in me before I quit jumping.

I'll attempt to add pics, but I've never done this before so it might not work...

Yay, I think it worked! This is Cordini when we surprised my daughter by purchasing him.

[SallyQZ]

And this is my baby, Courage!

[SallyQZ]

And these pics are Cordini when he was a breeding stallion and doing the big jumpers!

[TikusMom]

NICE Sally! Both these boys are extremely scopey! Not to mention GORGEOUS!!! I can't remember how to work this confounded machine for posting more pics of my hoof-kids, but I have lots of pics of them in my photo album.

KDK...my foot HURTS just thinking about that big ol' gal stepping on it!!! YEEEOOOOOUUUUUCCCCHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! And here I thought it hurt when my 1500 pound stud steps on my toes! LOL! Yeah, he gets shoes put on on Monday 'cause he's tender footed (big sissy is what it is) on the gravel road. Hopefully he won't step on my feet with those on!

Tom, when I was younger and doing huntseat, I dreamt of one day doing Olympic cross country.....Now my idea of cross country is saddling up and taking off down the road and being gone all day! LOL!

birdlover, I can relate to the injury thing. I've had my collar bone broken in half (my fault), been fallen on twice (my fault on those instances too), been stepped on, drug, kicked, bit, and had my ribs severly bruised when a horse I was schooling (not one of mine) decided she would stop with her front end on one side of the fence we were schooling over and threw me up on her neck. The fun part was she was extremely head shy and when I ended up between her ears she came unglued and I smashed right down on the jump with my rib cage. I simply got up, checked her over, hopped back on and finished schooling her, but boy was I sore! LOL! Now I have arthritis pretty much everywhere from it all. Aaaah, gettin' old is just great!


Okay Tom, Sally, and birdlover: Let's hear some of your adventures!!!!
KDK...tell us more !!!!!!!