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Riding now vs. riding as a kid; do you do the same thing?
Topic Started: Apr 3 2007, 12:57 PM (778 Views)
Fish Cheeks
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For those of you who rode as kids...is what you are doing now similar to what you did as a child, or totally different?

Like, did you grow up in a show barn and still show, or did you grow up with ponies in the back yard and now you show, or vice versa?

I grew up riding lesson horses and taking lessons and playing around - a little bit of showing here and there but not much. Over 20 years later and I'm still doing the piddling around and lessons and a little bit of shows, but I have three horses that I keep at home, which pleases me mightily!! :clap:
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twhrider13
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We're on a bridge, Chaaaaaaaaarlie!
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When I was really little, I just played around on the backyard QH-types that my family had. When I was about 11, I started riding at a TWH show barn. I've been showing Walking Horses for 12 years now, and I haven't looked back. Though I'd love to try out a lot more disciplines, I could never see myself leaving the TWH shows.
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snaffle
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When I was little and first started riding, I had a large pony and showed a lot in Rhode Island. Then we moved to Pennsylvania and the pony became a backyard pony and I didn't show much.

Then we moved to Connecticut and I did a ton of trail riding and joined pony club for a year. (Same pony.)

Then we moved, again!, to upstate New York. I joined 4-H because that's what my friends did. I didn't show much at all and really missed it. Mostly I did trail riding. Still had the same pony! He was a one of a kind...the love of my life. I still miss him and I still dream about him fairly often. :wub:

Now, I'm at a fancy schmancy show barn with my fancy pants horse. I try to show as much as my budget will allow. I absolutely love the showing. But I definitely miss trail riding!
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spicy
Schooling
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I rode western as a kid, and did the small local shows. Mostly I dinked around bareback and rode all over town on my trusty little QH. She could spin on a dime and had a mighty crowhop :teehee: . There was a race track where we boarded so I would pretend she was a TB and race my friends. It was fun but I longed to jump more than trail logs.

Now I ride h/j and finally have my TB horse that can jump and go to rated shows. But I'm still trying to get higher than trail logs! He has shark whithers and so I rarely go bareback. and he's a princess on the trails so it seems a lifetime ago that I would be so carefree to go gallop trails in little more than shorts and flipflops.

but on my days when I feel too chicken, i do hop on bareback still, just because. I might not go on a deathwish trail ride bareback, but I'll still wtc and jump a small x.

I miss those long summer days though with your pals, swimming in the ponds and chasing after hay crew boys and double daring each other to try riding tricks and laughing about falls. The land isnt open any more, and no-one wants to be silly - riding is so serious now and too many rules. wow that sounds old.
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Painted Lady
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I haven't really been riding long, and I consider myself a kid at age 20. So its an odd question for me to answer. So I'll tell you where I am now, and where I plan to be in the future.

Currently I am riding three horses in a backyard type place. I love a lot about it. The rules are made by me, the horse/barn owner could care less about what I do. As long as I am not reckless of course! I can bring out friends to ride. I can ride at any time of the day, there are no days where the barn is closed. Even though I don't own the horses I can train them to do whatever I want. The owner has em for me. Its pretty d*mn nice. But I would eventually like to be at a bigger barn with other riders. Mostly I want an arena (for winter) and lessons! I've wanted lessons for a long long time. I want to show. But I'm very committed to university and two jobs right now. So time is the biggest issue. Eventually you'll see me sweeping the show ring by storm, look out! I'm coming for yeah :one:
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mintyfresh
I Visited Candy Mountain and All I Got Was This Lousy Incision
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I started out riding western as a kid. I did western pleasure first but this was back when the peanut rollers were out in full force and there was no way my horse was doing that. Not without some majorly rough riding anyway.

So locally and regionally we did well in western pleasure, nationally we did nothing. I started to focus more on western horsemanship (a pattern class) and trail. Those we did very well in and they were a lot more fun then western pleasure.

Then I started riding english and jumping and that was a blast. My horse could do all of it but wasn't really built for it so that was more fun for me. He did like it, but we never really pinned anywhere worth mentioning.

Somewhere in the midst of all that we did reining, team penning, and gymkhanas also.

Then I moved him to a dressage barn and started taking lessons there. Not to long after that I became pregnant and that started a 5 year break while my guy was used for lessons. He probably knows more about dressage than I do :).

I started riding again and got a few good months in on my guy and then he started coughing and having trouble breathing. Had him go to the clinic and it was heaves.

So he was semi-retired while I looked for a younger mount. I decided that I had always enjoyed the hunter/jumper stuff best and looked for a horse to move over to that full time. I found a very nice hunter prospect 2yr old and that's where I am now. Showing USEF instead of AQHA for the first time and trying to keep all the rule differences straight. It was really a gradual change over time but from where I first started (AQHA western pleasure) it's basically a complete 180.

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Purely4Pleasure
I Visited Candy Mountain and All I Got Was This Lousy Incision
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I'm doing essentially the same stuff, but smaller & less frequently.

As a kid, I rode lesson horses & friends horses at a "backyard-type" barn. Not really in a backyard, but pretty rustic and most of the horses lived semi-out. No clipping, and very limited riding through the winters when the ground was frozen. We showed Spring-Fall at all the local places (B & C, mostly). I was generally there 5 days a week, would ride anything, and generally jumped courses in the 2'9" - 3'3" range.

Now I'm still riding lesson horses & friends horses, but only 1-2 days a week, am much more timid about who I'll throw a leg over, and jump 2' - 2'3" (and all single jumps or lines - I'm working my way back to courses). But my barn now is a moderately fancy show barn! They go to local A shows and travel to a fair number of shows, as well. (I stand by the ring, hold martingales and rags, and cheer.)

Interestingly, my first trainer and my current trainer are very similar - both stress a lot of flat work to build suppleness and responsiveness, saying "school the flat and the fences will follow".
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AC & Ty
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Shunnnnn the unbeliever. Shunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.
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Hmmm...let's see...

My dad bought me my first pony when I was 8. I went to a few horse shows and was taking lessons and was well on my way. My mom rode also.

Fast forward about a year...

Dad and Mom divorce. I had gotten quite good at riding as a kid, and could ride my mom's horse. Mom, being the twisted, evil, bitter woman she was (and eventually got worse) then decided EVERYTHING my dad was supportive of was THE DEVIL. And since I was daddy's girl 100%...so WAS I. She never had another nice thing to say about me riding from then on. I had a fancy, beautiful large pony who did nothing but walk around the field, because now my mother refused to buy shavings for the stalls. Or grain for that matter.

I got to do some stuff because I would call my dad and he would yell at my mom and make her do it. But then my dad passed away when I was 14....

Fast forward to high school...

I begged, pleaded, crawled, and drug my way to ANYTHING that had to do with a horse. I volunteered. I screamed. I cried. I forged notes EVERY WEEK and rode the bus to the barn and worked every afternoon...because I had to work off all my lessons and show fees. (There are some people in VA who will always be my second "parents" and I will always give them the credit for who I am today). My mother would ground me or punish me and ALWAYS forget about it the next day...because she was drunk all the time. She was a bitter, hateful, resentful, miserable person until the day she died, which was almost 4 years ago. I have not been to her grave.

So today...I own 2 horses...I scrape and save to show all summer...I hit "A" shows when I can...my entire life revolves around horses (much to my fiance's chagrin). I believe in my heart of hearts that if I had not had such a hard time growing up, I may not be in horses today. I was never shown love or compassion as a kid(save for my father), but somehow I learned these things through horses and animals. If I had the horse world handed to me, I don't believe I would've stayed with it...and I don't think I would be the rider/owner I am today.

I am 32 years old, I have a college degree, I spent 8 years in the military...and I am quitting my "real" job........next week.....to go work full time....ON A FARM! :cloud9:
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JointVenture
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Shunnnnn the unbeliever. Shunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.
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When I was a kid, I primarily rode hunters but rode at a place where we dabbled in everything. The barn where I had my horses adjoined a very large local park with a big lake (like a mile long). We built our own outside course through the woods and just had a blast. Besides our local circuit horse shows (hunters and jumpers), we took our horses to hunter paces, foxhunting, eventing, dressage shows and local western schooling shows. I rode one of my horses in a parade once, too. Trail riding bareback to the lake to go swimming was always a blast. We really did every fun thing we could come up with.

Now, I keep my hot house flower of a show hunter at a show barn. I adore him and love to show, but I really miss the great outdoors beyond the arena fence. There are no trails to speak of at the barn where I board, and I don't have a trailer. So, the extent of our exploration is limited to riding in a pasture or along the driveways. :( Those big ol' outdoor expeditions have proven to be hair-raising, too.
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Ice Princess
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The biggest difference for me is that when I was little I was FEARLESS :psycho: I thought I was invincible and would ride anything and everything. Now that I am older I get scared sometimes, which I never used to. I also won't ride the crazy horses that I would have loved to get on when I was younger.
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Anyplace Farm
Shunnnnn the unbeliever. Shunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.
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I've actually recently reverted back to my days of kid-riding. When I first got my horse, because I didn't have a clue, I rode her bareback everywhere and did HOURS of trail riding. Sometimes twice a day, because she was my transportation.

Prior to owning her, I rode around on the back of my friend's little mare for a couple of years. So, riding bareback to me just seemed like the thing to do. I can say that riding at top speed bareback and jumping bareback is what made me the balanced and velcro-assed rider that I am today.

Anyway, so I go to school, do IHSA, marry a rider, divorce him, teach kids to ride and just stopped doing that two years ago. I get myself all wrapped up with a horse that can't jump (racing injury) but I can trail ride him.

I have NEVER been a trail rider and used to secretly snicker at a group at an old barn that used to really get into it. I just didn't get riding without a goal.

Going out on trails has been a learning experience for my boy and he's actually taken to it quite nicely. I have finally realized that the whole goal to being with horses is just to be happy.

While I want to get back in the show ring, I will do what I'm doing until the next opportunity knocks on my door. Until then, yes, I'm having a blast riding out on trails, doing what I did when I was 12 and was really happy doing back then.
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DairyQueen2049
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Anyplace Farm
Apr 4 2007, 11:14 AM


I have NEVER been a trail rider and used to secretly snicker at a group at an old barn that used to really get into it. I just didn't get riding without a goal.

I have finally realized that the whole goal to being with horses is just to be happy.

*DQ waves at Anyplace*

The whole goal to being with horses IS being happy and having a happy horse too. :)

When I was a kid with a big strided QH mare we did very little showing - horse hated it, and really so did I.

My dream was to ride my horse across the state of MI from one shore to the other. And we did it.

Trail riding is all about fun for you and the horse, not getting lost, the skill of staying on in the wierdest predicaments and having a bold horse under you.

I still do all the things I did as a kid - but not at a canter or trot. I gait now. And the ground is a lot harder these days. I plan to stay in the saddle as much as possible now.

Showing is out - yeee aaawwwwn. I like the all for one and one for all of trail riders.
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Trialbyfire
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I only dreamed about riding as a kid! We had this great big rocking chair with a leather seat and I would "tack it up" and pack overnight saddle bags and ride it across the hardwood floors. Seriously....it takes quite a bit of strength [especially for an 8 year old] and some finesse, but you can "canter" a rocking chair. Luckily the floors were really bad to start with or I'm sure I would have been in big trouble. I won the elementary school field day "bear walk" race because of course I had taught myself to work in all 4 gaits as a young child and blew past the competition. I have a picture of me sitting on a giant land tortoise at a theme park somewhere in Florida with perfect equitation as an 11 year old, head, hip and heels in line and of course, heels down.

These are all true stories.

My parents just didn't have the money, although in retrospect it might not have been as expensive as they thought. I eventually gave up the dreams figuring I had missed my chance. But luckily found a place to ride two+ years ago when I was 35 and now found a really nice place to ride with great trainers who are really sympathetic to oldsters like me with childhood dreams! :lol:
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Heart River
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Shunnnnn the unbeliever. Shunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.
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Ice Princess
Apr 4 2007, 10:23 AM
The biggest difference for me is that when I was little I was FEARLESS :psycho: I thought I was invincible and would ride anything and everything. Now that I am older I get scared sometimes, which I never used to. I also won't ride the crazy horses that I would have loved to get on when I was younger.


Oh, yes, fearless and reckless and crazy. Then I found out how much it hurts to get hurt, and all that was over ... the thrill of being the first non-jockey to ride an OTTB had somehow faded into -- WTF am I doing here on this wingnut?

It turns out that jumping scares me, and that the solution is: (drum roll) DON'T JUMP.

I also don't smoke in the hayloft, drive the tractor barefoot while mowing the field, ride without a helmet, or experiment with riding backwards. Being a grownup has all these unexpected rewards.
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Lawndart
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Hmm, I don't know if this really applies to me, as I didn't get my first horse till I was 20 and married. Never rode more than 1/2 dozen times before that, on a friends ancient QH.

I am, and always will be a trail rider. :) I love being out in the woods with just my horse, or with a few friends. I try to avoid big trail rides, too much noise, fuss and PEOPLE.

I did the Horse Show Mom with my daughter, 4H, Rodeo, etc., and enjoyed it very much, but have never felt the urge to compete. I've done a few fun shows with my horses, at the urging of friends, but I'm just as happy volunteering so they can have fun. I know my horse is the best one on the planet, I don't need ribbons or placings to tell me that. <3 I'm probably the least competative person on horseback.

I get a lot of happiness from grooming, snuggling, and just general care of a horse, hence my pastures full of retirees. Its really the best of both worlds, people PAY me to do what I love, can you believe it? And I rarely have to deal with people!! I love each of my boarder Moms, but I'm really, really not a people person. :sigh:

Life with horses is great no matter what type of riding you do. But as I get older, the brain is starting to take away some of the enjoyment of those ripping around at a gallop moments. The little voice in my head keeps saying " If you fall, its gonna really hurt, and if you break something, who is going to do your work" :shoot: I tell to to shut up most of the time, but sometimes it just gets louder :argh:

So I guess no, I don't ride exactly like when I was 20, but its close! ;)
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