Do you love horse riding? Let's talk about it.

[AutumnHeart]

Hey everyone!

How many riders we have on the arena? Does anyone professionally trained equestrian and take part in competitions (for example, reining or trail)? I would love to see some yours pictures with horses. 

I add a photo of myself on xo mare. A few months ago I started to learn horse riding. I chose a western style. If you are interested, I can add more pics

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[pixieponies]

me, i own 2 horses we mostly just plod around the English countryside but when i can get transport we go showjumping and cross country

these are my babies, Tigger a 15hh, 10yr old gelding
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and Ethel a 13.2hh 5yr old mare
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together at our last show (my friend borrowed Ethel for the day)
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sorry for the picture overload, i like to show off my babies 

[AutumnHeart]

Wow, I wish I could own a horse.
Your horses are beautiful. Ethel is cutie! I admire that you are not afraid to take part in cross country: D

[pixieponies]

lol, since having kids im terrified. im lucky that with Tigger i just hold on and steer

[AutumnHeart]

Experienced and calm horse is a real treasure.

[unicornprincess]

What such pretty horse's. I wish I owned a horse. Last time I rode a horse I was like around 7 and the horse belonged to a friend of mine.

[kaoskat]

I love riding but have never had much access to a horse.

[Katika]

I've been riding mostly for pleasure since I was 7.  I'm totally one of those girls that was born with the horse bug and never grew out of it.  Although I've always dreamed of competing on a fairly large scene, I've lacked the nerve and currently lack the resources (living very middle of nowhere in the Midwest and, despite having three horses, still can't seem to convince my husband that we *need* a truck and trailer...) to do so.  The closest I got was the last six months that I lived in Florida where I trained with a very successful eventer.  I'm not much for jumping, but my mare had an absolute BLAST under that trainer, and it was very sad to have to move away.

I consider myself pretty much a life-long student of horsemanship, and my goals are to ride as classically as possible (a la Steinbrecht, Podhajsky and the like) and to manage my horses as naturally as possible.  I very much so believe that my horses are my partners more than pets or sources of recreation, and the rewards that I've received from them by working in this way are incredible.  I'm carefully working on creating a program that will be focused towards military and their dependents (because that's what I know and what I'm going to be close to for a long time still) to teach correct and classical horsemanship, but it's been difficult to start up, due to injuries to myself, my horses and my husband's work schedule.  All things in good time, though, right?

I've known MANY horses in my time, but have only had four that I could legitimately consider my own.  The three I currently have on my property are my main mare, Crystal, my semi-retired Arab gelding, Star, and the OTTB mare that my farrier is free leasing to me, Jet.  I've also included a pic of Bill, my late, great Quarter Horse gelding.

Star - I think he's 22 this year, but I could be wrong.  He was trained under the guidance of Dr. Thomas Ritter and is confirmed through second level dressage, as well as piaffe (and I'm assuming passage, but I've never asked it of him) and a beautiful levade.  He's the kind of horse that needs to be ridden with an invisible contact and educated seat and he will NOT stand for anything else.  He spent several years as a mounted shooting horse with his previous owner who said that if only she could shoot as fast as he ran, she'd have never lost a meet.  At my place, he's semi-retired, but we hack out every now and then and sometimes play around with speed drills just for fun.  He's also who I ride when I feel that I need to work on myself some - this horse is BRUTALLY honest and makes you fix yourself
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Crystal - Crysmare is 8 years old and my Friesian/QH mare.  I loved Bill with all of my heart and soul, but I'm pretty sure that Crystal is my actual equine soul mate.  She's got the old, war-horse type heart, where she'll tolerate a lot of people, but seems to only *try* for me.  There were days when my old trainer would tell me to go hide in the barn during their lessons together because Crystal would naturally gravitate towards me if she could see me.  She's supposed to be my competition mare, if I had a way to get to competitions, and eventually I'd like a foal or two out of her.  She's typically brave and steady, though can pull out the mare card faster than any other horse I've known.
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Bill - Billers was my first horse that we lost due to heart failure in 2011.  In his time, he'd worked at a camp for troubled/abused youths, been a very successful roping horse (header) and an even more successful barrel/pole horse.  He was retired around age 20, then found his home with me at 23, where he lived out his days riding trails and putting up with my antics (such as dressing him up like a pirate ship.  Yes, that is a mast and sail on his back).  He was truly a saint, and I miss him every day.
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My camera is not connecting to the computer today for some reason, so I can't post a pic of Jet.  I'm not really sure if she's "my" horse or not, but my farrier rescued her from another client and then realized that she just didn't have the time or proper facilities for her (Jet's the kind that needs a stall to sleep in at night to keep from worrying her weight off), so she came to me.  I believe that she's 13 now, she raced for a few years then spent about eight years doing NOTHING before coming to me as (get this!) a lesson prospect.  So far, she's been very looky, but honest, but I'm still working on trying to bring her real personality out.  I think she's one of those cases that she spent so long being an "object" that she doesn't know that she's allowed to have her own opinions. 

[Aflame]

i love horse riding but dont have my own horse so only get to go ocasionaly would like to go more but dont have the money ,but i love hacking out and jumping

[AutumnHeart]

Kaokat, I hope some day you start to ride regularly.


Katika, beautiful post. I like how you describe stories of your horses. Crystal really has Frisian blood? It is completely white. Too bad that Bill left ... AQH are a wonderful breed. He had to be really wonderful horse.
You wrote about the fact, that you can have a soulmate in horse. I hope that someday I will meet a soulmate horse. I love Alder (she is on photo with me), but I'm not sure we have soul contact... for now I know too little about horses and horsemanship.

Soon I started to train on AQH mare named Grace. I would like to train trail, maybe reining.

[ashes]

I love riding - I took lessons for about 4 years when I was younger, but my love of art slightly outweighed my love of riding, so I chose to keep pursuing art classes (since my parents couldn't afford to keep paying for both for me - around here riding lessons are extremely expensive).  But horses were the first thing I learned how to draw, so I still got my horse fix, so to speak!

But I did take horseback riding as a PE class in college - the perks of attending a large university with a full animal husbandry and vet programs!  It was a lot of fun, and I only wish I was able to take more.

[NovelNerd]

I grew up on a cattle farm, but I was another little girl with the need to have a horse. I got a pony when I was six, and we've had horse ever since. Family raised paints and QH for. Good while before the economy got in such a fix. I barrel raced an went to lots of riding clinics till I went to college. I've slowed down now being older and heavier I don't think my butt could take a nasty fall anymore.

I don't have pics on my phone, but I currently have four horses. The mare in my dp I raised in junior high, and she is my broodmare. I have her last foal that is now a two year old gelding I'm training, my old retired barrel horse still hangs around. I got him and started working with him when he was six, and he is now seventeen.

The one horse I really ride anymore is my large draftxpaint mix, and I use him strictly for trail riding. I'm easy going anymore. Might add a new horse this weekend if the price is right. Found a pretty red roan QH trail riding mare. Hehe, I'm kinda horse crazy and do a bit of everything, but it's a hobby not a professional thing for me.

[pixieponies]

this is my first pony Masie, when i was younger my mum brought me up as a single parent so money was tight. i made do with helping at the local stables for rides and borrowing friends ponies, so when i left home at 17 i took out a bank loan and bought me a pony. she was only 12.2hh but as i never had a childhood pony i didnt want a big horse. i had her 4 years but had to sell her in 2009 due to my husband (then fiance) loosing his job. i have been told she is now showjumping in Ireland
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[nessa16]

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Here is my baby Cherokee. She is a registered 16.2 hh Paint mare.  She turned 24 this year.  I have had her since she was 12.  I mainly do riding around home with a trail ride every now and then even though I haven't been able to ride her much for the last few years since I went to college out of state and she developed laminitis and white line disease.  We get out when she's feeling well enough but right now I am just enjoying her company mostly. We did barrel racing and pole bending when I was in high school. I would love to get another horse just like her. She has quirks now and then but she's the best horse I could ask for.  I have been around horses my whole life and started riding by myself on my grandparent's Shetland pony when I was 9. Me and my cousin rode that pony almost every day around the farm.

[pixieponies]

nessa she is gorgeous