Back in the saddle again!

kirsten

O.G.
May 9, 2006
7,385
104
After a long 2 year break from riding, last night I rode again. I sadly had to sell my horse Elliot about 2 years ago and missed riding and bonding with a horse SO much! I have been riding and owning for around 15 years. It was just a lot easier when I lived at home and my parents paid for it. lol. After being financial “on my own” I am finally able to afford riding again. I can’t own a horse again at this time so I have been looking into leasing a horse. I found two horses at the barn I used to ride at for lease.

Last night I went down and rode one of the horses. His name is Bootz. He is so gigantic and wide, but was a lot of fun to ride. He is only 4 so he is still on the greener side, but he is very mellow and willing so his greenness isn’t too big of an issue. He is actually like a slug and my legs are so sore today from getting him going.

Tomorrow I am trying out the other horse who is a Hanoverian mare. She is 8-9ish and has a lot more training to her. I’m told little girls ride her all the time and she just packs them around. She is a really cute bright bay with 4 socks and a stripe. I have just visited her in her stall and she is very sweet, gentle and talkative. She was nickering up a storm. I’m really excited to ride her tomorrow.

I’m sure this is going to be a really hard decision to make. :sweatdrop:
Sorry I just wanted to share my excitement and I know there are some horse lovers out there in tPF land.

Here are some crappy phone pictures of me and Bootz from yesterday.

bootz2.jpg


bootz3.jpg


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^DH checking Bootz out. lol.
 
Gosh I am so envious! I showed (western) for many many years. I am also from OC, and the pics look a lot like a place in HB..hmm.
Good for you. On almost a daily basis I miss riding. Those were the best times in my life, going to shows, riding daily, gosh.
 
Gosh I am so envious! I showed (western) for many many years. I am also from OC, and the pics look a lot like a place in HB..hmm.
Good for you. On almost a daily basis I miss riding. Those were the best times in my life, going to shows, riding daily, gosh.

I have showed at few times at the HB stable! I showed western too, years ago, when I first started riding. Me and my little Morgan horse did not do too well, because well in the western world it’s all about the Quarter Horse. I then started riding him English because his movement was way more suited. Sunny, the little Morgan who taught me how to ride is now 24 years old. My mom still owns him. He’s her little trail pony now. I can ride him whenever but he is definitely so bonded with my mom.

I now ride at Sycamore in San Juan Capistrano. You should look into leasing a horse if you have the time. Or if you go down to a local stable you can probably find some horse you and groom and turn out for free or have owners pay you. Just write a craigslist ad. ;)
 
I have showed at few times at the HB stable! I showed western too, years ago, when I first started riding. Me and my little Morgan horse did not do too well, because well in the western world it’s all about the Quarter Horse. I then started riding him English because his movement was way more suited. Sunny, the little Morgan who taught me how to ride is now 24 years old. My mom still owns him. He’s her little trail pony now. I can ride him whenever but he is definitely so bonded with my mom.

I now ride at Sycamore in San Juan Capistrano. You should look into leasing a horse if you have the time. Or if you go down to a local stable you can probably find some horse you and groom and turn out for free or have owners pay you. Just write a craigslist ad. ;)

You are so sweet to suggest that, I almost cried at the thought!:crybaby:Yep, I showed QH for many years, reining and all that, I loved it but really semi stopped after juniors, did some amateur/owner stuff for a while. It was so great to be able to travel up and down the west coast chasing points every weekend. I actually think it kept me out of trouble in my youth as I really hung out with my show friends a lot and we simply did not have the time to party. Plus, oddly, my trainer was big on his students maintaining a good GPA as he knew that the majority of us were going on to college and horses would be traded for careers, KWIM?
Anyway, thanks for listening. Keep posting the pics.
 
You are so sweet to suggest that, I almost cried at the thought!:crybaby:Yep, I showed QH for many years, reining and all that, I loved it but really semi stopped after juniors, did some amateur/owner stuff for a while. It was so great to be able to travel up and down the west coast chasing points every weekend. I actually think it kept me out of trouble in my youth as I really hung out with my show friends a lot and we simply did not have the time to party. Plus, oddly, my trainer was big on his students maintaining a good GPA as he knew that the majority of us were going on to college and horses would be traded for careers, KWIM?
Anyway, thanks for listening. Keep posting the pics.

Oh yeah horses definitely kept me out of trouble too, well for the most part. A big chunk out of my youth was pretty much revolved around horses. My room was a ribbon shrine! Instead of going to the local hangouts my schoolmates were going, my best friend and I sat at my house cleaning our tack all night long. We had a lot of fun “tack cleaning parties.” Then there were those mornings where we’d wake up at such ungodly hours in the morning to trailer our horse to a show and spend all day preparing for our classes. It was so much fun! I did pony club for many years too. I really miss that a lot. Once I was able to drive a car though, that’s when I started getting out of horses and really just wanting to be a rebellious teenager. About 3 years later (after getting the teenage streak out of me) I found myself back into horses and purchased another horse. I think if you are able to have the time to be around horses again, you will feel as if you never stopped. It’s just in your blood.
 
Oh wow! Good to see you are going back to the riding world! I would love to be able to get a horse on loan here in the UK but it's so hard to find one that's local to where I am. My horse is now retired and I can't afford the upkeep for 2 horses! But one day I hope to follow in your footsteps! Keep us posted on your decision and update us on how everything goes!