Horseback Riding, Anyone? :d

[PoptartShop]

Hey, everyone.
Do any of you horseback ride? Or have ridden a horse?
I do, I've been riding since I was about 8 years old (I'm almost 16 now); & I love it!
I have a horse, too.
What about you?

~PS~

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Used to do a lot of horse riding in the past, did it from about the age of 5years old to 16 years old, but i ended up giving it up when i went to college.
In the years since then, i haven't done any horse riding, not enough money or time to spare even though i thoroughly enjoyed horse riding in the past. Now my life is more settled down and running smoother and i am beginning to save up money again, i am thinking about getting back into horse riding and introducing my fiance to it too (he seems pretty interested in it) at some point maybe in the near future .

 

[PoptartShop]

Oh that's good!
Yeah, I can imagine how busy someone would be with college, so yeah I understand.
I hope you do get back into it when you can! That's cool you started when you were 5!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Oh that's good!
Yeah, I can imagine how busy someone would be with college, so yeah I understand.
I hope you do get back into it when you can! That's cool you started when you were 5!

Thanks .

I'm looking forward to getting back into horse riding at some point in the future, horses have to be some of my favorite animals and i also simply just enjoy doing stuff like just gently riding a horse through a woodland in autum/fall time when the woodland floor is carpeted in golden leaves, the sunlight warming my back, feeling at peace with the horse, the chilled air against my skin...Wonderful days .
I did some more competetive horse hiding when i was much younger like jumping and dressage, i did enjoy it and was quite good at it but it was never something that i was massively into anything like that, more than anything i just loved to spend time with horses when i was younger, whatever sort of work or horse riding i was doing with them .

 

[PoptartShop]

No problem!
Yeah, I love the feeling of being with/on a horse; it's relaxing & fun!
Yeah, the fall is like the best time to go riding, especially trail riding!
You did dressage & jumping? That's cool, I've done a little dressage but nothing major.
I ride Western, though; did you ride English? I might try some English someday, but I'm really used to Western, LOL!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Yep i always rode with an english style saddle, did try a western style saddle once or twice but i found it really weird lol .

Did bareback horse riding at certain points too as well at my first riding school which i went to for about 5 or 6 years, that was really weird and a bit nerve racking but overal it was a good experience and made me a lot more aware about my balance on the horse, your legs get knackered after a while from bareback horse riding as you gotta grip the horses sides an aweful lot more when there's no saddle as the fur is not easy to grip.

When i was about 15 or 16 years old, i did a lot of helping a friend of mine look after her horses (riding them, keeping stables and fields tidy and clean etc), those were some of the best years of my horse riding days- she was a lovely woman and had great horses (2 dark bay coloured thoroughbreds and a little grey pony).
Before i started looking after her horses with her, horse riding had been kinda depressing for a while before then- for a few years i went to this one horse riding school in particular (they also bred horses and it was also a farm too), this horse riding school was terrible. I had little choice but to go to it as i was at full time boarding school at the time and it was my only option, but the place was horrible, they neglected their horses a great deal and the whole places was falling apart. These two miserable old ugly ladies ran the place, everything was for profit and the horses ended up not getting treated well at all there at all.

I tried to make a difference there while i was there, but it was a lost cause really, when i finally stopped going to the place i felt quite disheartened about horse riding and horse riding schools in general. But when i meet up with this lady (Sue) in my village who had connections with my mums farm, we struck up a friendship and she encouraged me to get back into horse riding and thats when i started to help her look her horses .
Unfortunately though when i went to college i had to give the whole horse riding thing, it was a shame but it had to be done as i had little time or money back then to indulge in it, so i gave it up altogether.

And so yeah...Almost 6 years on i am thinking about getting back into horse riding now my life will allow it again .



How did you first get into horse riding and has your horse riding experiences always been positive ?

 

[PoptartShop]

Wow; that's quite a story!
Yeah, it's sad how some stables take care of their horses...
I have yet to come upon one, thank goodness.
But yeah, bareback riding is also fun; I do that sometimes too, especially when I need to work on my balance.
Hehe yeah, it can be kinda tricky sometimes!
Yeah, I hope you do get back into it!

 

[monica]

Hah! I was waiting for this post!
I love horseback riding. Its so fun and relaxing. Been doing it for err... 5-6 years now. I do not own a horse myself, but I do competitive jumping. But mostly just enjoy the relaxing part of riding. I am not a total fan of the stress of shows
What is your horse's name?
I ride english, I have tried dressage and western (seperately lol) once or twice, but my heart is truly in jumping
Horse are pretty much my life. I am pretty lucky. My barn takes care of their horses better than the people, and we have 2 floors, and LOTS of staff. Bareback is my second favourite. But the pulling in your legs... ouch.... especially those horses with super bony backs, and those spines you can feel every inch of (though that was only one).
Do you guys have any pictures?

 

[PoptartShop]

Woops sorry I let this topic die!
Anyway my horse's name is Lexi! I ride English now & am starting jumping!
Doing really well with it, too! Aw that's good!

Here are 3 pics of her, made into a collage!

 

[Esfa]

I have two horses, I don't ride then though, i find it boring.

 

[monica]

How high have you reached jumping?
I cannot imagine someone finding riding Boring...
I learned that I will be leasing a horse in just a little while. So excited!
Lovely horse Lexi is.

 

[Mikaila31]

I use to lease horses a lot, but the horses kept leaving the stables, so after a couple switches I called it quits for a while. I love riding english. The place I leased had no trails and only a tiny area outside. A lot of the horse got very skittish when riding outside. Going around in a indoor area gets boring after a while. I keep going back to the stables then quiting again, I haven't ridden in about 6+ months. But I could get up on a horse and rip around a field no problem. I just won't be able to walk the next couple days . A lot of the horses I rode where Arabians, which was fun but they misbehave a lot. I broke my arm falling off a horse when I was 6-7, now 17 I have only fallen off twice total. The collage I am going to next year has lots of horse courses, which I am sure I will take .

 

[kj23502]

We used to have 3 horses. 1 appy&quarter horse mixed name Joker(all black), 1 brown/black regisstered Paint(Rose), one brown and white registered paint(Crystal). I miss them! I especially miss Joker. He was my first horse and misbehaved just enough to give me some good lessons. I could almost cry about missing them!

Here's some pics.

Joker with my son Austin on him! (Austin was about 1.5 or 2yrs old. He's now 5 1/2).

Rose

Crystal. She was my sister's horse. The other two were mine.

It's really a sad story! It started out really good. Moving to SD from Ohio to get closer to family. (The only hard part was moving right before my Junior year of high school). Dad knew how my sister and I always wanted horses and my parents bought 29 acres! About 4 years after we got the acreage my mom got Leukemia. She passed away 11 months later, (in 2004) 3 weeks after my daughter emilee was born. That was in september. Then the following year my dad put the acreage up for sale and I had to sell the horses. One of the hardest decsions of my life. We really couldn't afford to board Joker (or the other two) in the long run and had no where else to keep them.
I really, really miss him! To make it worse, we had bought Joker from our cousins who had raised him from a foal. He was truly a family horse. They didn't have horses anymore and had no where to put him so they couldn't buy him back.
I vow to have horses again someday!