equestrienne!

[EricaR]

Do you have horses? Or just ride? Or or or...!

I rode dressage up until about two years ago when I ripped up my shoulder. I miss that horsey smell, and the little whinney my horse made when he heard my car pulling into the barn, and the feel of sinking my face into a warm fuzzy neck on a cold winter day, and, well, I could go on and on and on. At some point I''m determined to get back on a horse.

 

[Mannequin]

Hi Erica!

I was always one of those horse crazy kids. My uncle gave me a riding lesson as a birthday present at age 12 and things just snowballed from there.

I have ridden and trained in dressage for many years, and have had quite a few horses of my own. My current horse Chance is semi-retired. Once school gets in session each year, I don''t get out to ride him as much as I''d like.

Chance is 18 and he''s a grey TB (former rescue case). I''ll try to get a pic posted for you soon - I think most of my previous pics aren''t working now.

 

[EricaR]

I would love to see photos!!!

As for me, well, I got an early start!

 

[EricaR]

And this is a very very pathetic attempt at riding my first dressage test when I was 14. Notice the looped reins, the horse so far off the bit his head is probably in another county, and my less than stellar equitation (could my shoulder be leaning any more forward?!).

But I was determined! At least Clown''s ears are nice and perky and you can see he was paying attention to me.

 

[Lorelei]

Another horse owner here

I hope you can get back into horses again soon Erica.

 

[Mannequin]

Here''s a shot of my pal Chance this past summer.

 

[Mannequin]

And here is my first pony ride ever!

 

[Mannequin]

I love your cute pics, Erica! Always nice to meet a fellow horsewoman, especially a dressage nut.

I hope you''re able to get back into horses again soon. My mother is actually doing more with her horse now than I am, and it drives me nuts that I can''t get out to ride with her often. She''s working with her 19 year old Paint named Luke on Western Trail and Pleasure, and she just loves him. He''s the masked fella in the back of Chance in my first posted pic.

 

[EricaR]

Awww, your guys are so cute! I want to kiss the pink spot on Chase's nose! How adorable.

I'm hoping to be able to ride again in maybe another year or two. I tore a huge hole in my rotator cuff and had to have it surgically fixed up and the whole thing is still pretty painful. Before that happened I had been riding a friend's appaloosa and was showing 2nd level and schooling 4th (tempis, walk pirouettes, etc). Unfortunately, I don't have any good pictures on this computer. I miss riding, but I think I miss just being around horses more. I have friends about an hour from here so maybe I'll call them and ask if I can get a horsey fix this coming weekend. I love that thick and fluffy winter coat they have this time of year...!

 

[Samantha Red]

Hi Guys

Another horse nut here! If I can ever work out how to post a picture I will post one of my lovely mare Bewitched. We started to do a little bit of dressage at local shows last year; the very basic prelim stuff and it was ok as long as I remembered my tests! My favourite thing is to just go on lovely hacks though - like yesterday my god daughter and I went riding for a couple in Sherwood Forest, Robin Hood country - total bliss

 

[bee*]

Add me to the horsie list too! I have a pony named Raffles who has been my big baby for the past nearly fourteen years. He''s 34 now and has been retired for the past four years. I''ll have to get a photo of him onto my pc and I''ll post it on here. He''s absolutely gorgeous-but so so cheeky. I bought him a new outdoor rug a couple of weeks ago and had it folded on the stable door while I went to get a brush. When I came back literally two minutes later, he had dragged it into the stable and had peed on it!

His face was so funny as he was over the other side of the stable pretending if it wasn''t him that did it.

 

[Delster]

I rode for years as a child, all very easy dressage and some gentle cross country hiking. The riding school was super careful of the horses and the kiddies - no jumping and it was a huge treat for us to get to canter, they only let us do it about once a month! Riding stopped in my teens as my Dad set up his own business and we just couldn't afford the lessons any more.

I took it up again when I got my first job and they told me all those years of trotting in figure eight's had done wonders for my seat, ha ha! Anyway I went regularly for about a year, did some more dressage, and frightened the bejaysus out of the poor BF by taking a huge shine to jumping, cross-country galloping, and a general fearlessness around off-the-horse-tumbling that I think surprised the poor guy. And I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT

Now that I'm a student again I can't afford lessons but I've sworn to myself to go back and one day to have my own horse. Horse riding just makes my heart sing. I'm so jealous of all you ladies who get to ride regularly!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 1/7/2008 5:00:06 AM
Author: bee*
Add me to the horsie list too! I have a pony named Raffles who has been my big baby for the past nearly fourteen years. He''s 34 now and has been retired for the past four years. I''ll have to get a photo of him onto my pc and I''ll post it on here. He''s absolutely gorgeous-but so so cheeky. I bought him a new outdoor rug a couple of weeks ago and had it folded on the stable door while I went to get a brush. When I came back literally two minutes later, he had dragged it into the stable and had peed on it!

His face was so funny as he was over the other side of the stable pretending if it wasn''t him that did it.

Thats hilarious!!!

 

[bee*]

Date: 1/8/2008 10:21:35 AM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 1/7/2008 5:00:06 AM

Author: bee*

Add me to the horsie list too! I have a pony named Raffles who has been my big baby for the past nearly fourteen years. He''s 34 now and has been retired for the past four years. I''ll have to get a photo of him onto my pc and I''ll post it on here. He''s absolutely gorgeous-but so so cheeky. I bought him a new outdoor rug a couple of weeks ago and had it folded on the stable door while I went to get a brush. When I came back literally two minutes later, he had dragged it into the stable and had peed on it!

His face was so funny as he was over the other side of the stable pretending if it wasn''t him that did it.

Thats hilarious!!!

Oh yeah-real funny

He just HATES his rugs, but he''s 34 and an old grandad so he needs it! I''ll have to get a photo of him-he''s just so so cheeky but gorgeous.

 

[Mannequin]

Bee- Ol'' Raffles sounds like quite a ham.

My pal Chance likes to grab the ends of push brooms while you sweep and chew them, but then makes faces and acts all offended if you ask him to knock it off.

EricaR - When I was seriously training with Chance, I was showing through First Level and schooling up to flying changes and walk pirouettes. I realized after showing him for a while that Chance HATES going to shows. It''s too stressful for him. The poor guy has always been a bit nerved up about not knowing what''s going on or if he''s doing things right, and showing just made him hypersensitive. He much prefers working in the backyard!

 

[Mannequin]

Date: 1/8/2008 10:02:29 AM
Author: Delster
I rode for years as a child, all very easy dressage and some gentle cross country hiking. The riding school was super careful of the horses and the kiddies - no jumping and it was a huge treat for us to get to canter, they only let us do it about once a month! Riding stopped in my teens as my Dad set up his own business and we just couldn''t afford the lessons any more.

I took it up again when I got my first job and they told me all those years of trotting in figure eight''s had done wonders for my seat, ha ha! Anyway I went regularly for about a year, did some more dressage, and frightened the bejaysus out of the poor BF by taking a huge shine to jumping, cross-country galloping, and a general fearlessness around off-the-horse-tumbling that I think surprised the poor guy. And I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT

Now that I''m a student again I can''t afford lessons but I''ve sworn to myself to go back and one day to have my own horse. Horse riding just makes my heart sing. I''m so jealous of all you ladies who get to ride regularly!

Del- Are you talking about vaulting? Or just falling off?

I tried vaulting at a horse camp when I was younger, on a big Belgian gelding with a back like a table. I was so sore afterwards, but I liked it a lot!

I hope you are able to get back into riding again sometime, too! I miss it so much!

 

[bee*]

Date: 1/8/2008 4:53:46 PM
Author: equestrienne
Bee- Ol'' Raffles sounds like quite a ham.

My pal Chance likes to grab the ends of push brooms while you sweep and chew them, but then makes faces and acts all offended if you ask him to knock it off.

He definitely is. I wouldn''t swap him for the world. He has so much personality.

 

[surfgirl]

Oooh, horsies! I used to ride/show the B hunter/jumper circuit in the northeast in my early teens...I went to the barn everyday, started out with a very headstrong pure Welsh pony named Brandy (Napolean''s Brandy, I have no idea why as a child, I named my pony after booze other than he was sort of that color?!?) who did whatever HE wanted to whenever HE wanted to...So trying to show him was a challenge. We did great on equitation, but forget fences. I remember my first foray showing Maiden Over Fences and we went around once no problems, but the second round he decided after the first fence he wasn''t doing anymore jumping that day. He stopped literally in his tracks at the second fence, I tried to get him to turn around so we could approach again but he ran around to the other side of the fence so I''m facing backwards to the fence and I took my crop out to get him to go where I wanted him to go and he decided to pop the fence backwards...going to wrong direction..and then that little bell rings telling you you''ve been disqualified...That was niiiiicccce...I do miss him though. He was a beautiful pony and the most handsome Welsh pony I''ve yet to see...Chestnut with white stockings and blaze and big too. From there I graduated to a TB mare, Bali (Princess Balalaika) who was really skittish and I never really competed much with her. At the barn where I boarded, the end game was always the National Horse Show at Madison Square Garden and in the end, I really dont enjoy competing. I just love riding and being around horses. I grew up very near the USET so that''s the mentality of riding where I lived. You either evented or did hunter/jumper showing.

In college I took a semester optional course of riding at a local stable and when they saw I could ride they let me exercise one of their border''s horses who was being schooled in basic dressage. I learned how to do the sideways trotting and cantering, and turning on one foot - sorry, I forget the terminology!) - and it was a lot of fun. I prefer dressage because I love the preciseness of equitation. I would love to own a horse again someday...It''s such a wonderful experience...