lets start a discussion!

[lotte]

hi guys, ;D

lets talk..... to start a hopefully successful thread I thought it would be interesting to find out about everyones horsey experiences and hopefully that will get peeps talking!

so.....please share any experiences you have had...good or bad...that have really stuck in your head and influence the way you live to day. Think riding or horse care/past ponies that you miss/inspirations-people or horses.

lets make this thread the biggest on the site!!!!

lotte x x x x

[rosiehannah]

past experiences hmmm...

well the first horse i really remember caring for (aged 10, so not so far ago lol) was a chesnut mare called nina, me and another girl were her 'aunties' bearing in mind that she was ill and died about 6 weeks later, but she was a horse that 'i' was looking after, and when she was pts i was given a 13.1hh bay mare called lady who gave me confidence. she taught me how to dodge teeth and back feet ;D. sadly she died 3 months ago monday aged at least 35 and i was lucky enough to have her on loan for nearly two years.

probably the most upsetting experience was when my mum's little pony had to be pts aged 16. he had really bad arthritis all over his body and was on bute almost everyday and it wouldn't have been fair to have kept him and he would never have coped if he was rehomed. my mum had rescued him as a yearling as he was one of many who had been rounded up from the dartmoor or exmoor area and he was going to be sold for meat. he was put to sleep two days after my birthday along with two other old ponies. it was a hard time around then, as we had to have several other ponies pts around then.

then there is todays experience...took my nutcase to a show. we did the same show last year as my first show with him. it was only inhand but it was fantastic. he has a bit of attitude when it comes to loading and i was allowed to load him for the first time and he walked straight on. and when we were in the ring i managed to get a really nice trot out of him for once and we came 5th in the welsh c&d ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D and i was really pleased with him and the judge wanted to take him home ;D. in our second class he got excited in the trot bit and i couldnt keep and the photographer caught him but he was really good ;D and i had FUN and enjoyed it which is what i think its all about...

well this seems to have become an essay lol

hannah ;D xxx

[september]

ummm I've had soooo many
I suppose I have a thing about people not wearing helmets, especially out on the roads as when I was 11 my pony bolted and fall ,leaving me waking up in hospital with a fractured skull luckily I was wearing my helmet otherwise I would of died.
The very saddest experience was having Ginny pts after an accident in the field.We'd had her 10yrs,she was our dream horse. and it still hurts now.She was/still is an amazing horse.
I've had alot of good experiences.One is having Tigs from a wild colt foal,he was full of worms & lice,totally untouched being sold for meat and now he's all grow up.Having him was one of the best things I ever did ;D
Competition wise,being picked for interclub on Misty,Lady winning inhand(total shock )jumping class jumping against the adults on Ginny.Senna getting 3rd in most appealing pony ;DIt took us nearly 2hrs to walk to the show.
I could ramble on and on but I'll stop now ;)lol

[september]

Well done Rosiehannah for having a brilliant day at the show ;D

Oh another experience,more of an achievement really, is getting Senna really,really sparkling clean & white,which we have never really done before as we have no stables,no running water and we have to walk to shows, so usually end up covered in mud ;D He got his best placing inhand that day.He came 5th out of 8 so was very chuffed ;D

[welsh gurl hj]

ok well my biggest and most rewarding bt upseting experience was buying lady.
when i bought lady she wasnt even fit 4 dog meat she was skin and bone, scared to look at ppl incase she got hit and when the ppl asked if i wanted to ride her i went crazy i couldnt believe they were gunna let this poor mare take a persons weight on her crippled bac! she was lame, had hardly any fur on her body and well wat can i say....i wouldnt even feed her to my dog!!!
so we bought her and she didnt even hav the energy to lift her poor lil legs to walk... we had to litrally lift her onto the box... all i could do was cry n get even more angry wen the person sed 'now u take care of this special horse' i wen crazy agen
neway we got her bac to our yard n started to build her up slowely bt surely she was improving n wat a beautiful mare we saw appearing before our eyes
the farrier couldnt believe his eyes wen he saw the state of her hooves
months past n she started to trust me a lil bit so wen i thort she was strong enuf i tacked her up n she excepted the tack so sweetly n i slowly got on her and she freaked out (i excpected it) so i carried on walkin her slowly around the skool n she would throw in the occational buck n rear bt she seemed 2 b gettin betta! ;D until one day i wen into the stable to tack her up n she refused the bit, so i thort o she mst b avin an off day bt the off day carreid on for weeks so i got the dentist out n she also was shocked
i can rememba wat she sed like it was yesday....
'Hannah, i cn tell u this mare aint ad it easy.... she has three old fractures which means she will only eva use 1 side of her mouth.... if lady had carried on bein mis treated like this she would hav died 4 sure.'
from that day to now me n lady hav had a really strong relationship i luv her n i think she luvs me!!
sadly lady has recently gone up on long term loan.... i will miss that mare like mad but the thort of gettin her bac 1 day is the only thing that is keepin me goin ;D
anyway ill shut up now coz i could rant on bout her all day

thanx 4 startin this thread lotte tis well wkd lol

xxxxxxx

[lotte]

hey guys, thanks, hearing about peoples experiences is really interesting. so hannah, lady is out on loan-sure she is having fun.

so, guess i should put a bit in aswell.....
well i think the first real horsey memory was when i strted having riding lessons at this school-which now i look back at it was rubbish! but i wanted to help out and would ask to be dropped off at 7am work all morning and ride in the afternoon. i rode this pony called santa, he was about 27 and was rwally sweet to ride but soooooo stubborn. I was up there one day and it was so cold i couldnt feel my toes....luckily......santa stormed past me while i was grooming him-he had untied himself and stood on my foot on the way out!!!!!!!!

i dont know why but that has always stuck with me! i think santa got to old to ride and i started to ride lady!!!!!! another pony who looked so much like santa--tho she was good to ride if you went in the stable she started trying to bite and kick!

I also used to help out at a miniature horse stud thats where i had my first fall-off a regular sized horse tho! i landed on my head and was lucky not to break my neck!

anyway, i will shut up now, guys try to get others involved tooo-lets really make this thread huge!!!! if we could do that this thread cold be the one that new members come to find out about us.

lotts x x x x

[rosiehannah]

thanks september ;D someone asked me if he was a stallion and it was umm...does he look like one?!

i have lots more experiences too many lol. when i was 8 i fell off of a young pony onto a wooden filler as one of the older horses scared him and broke my upper arm . sadly i broke my right arm and im left handed . another time i fell off of a pony who hated being in lessons twice...within an hour! fisrt time fell on my backside and the second time on my head luckily it was in the sand school and i had my hat on. i was taken out of the lesson after the second time, but i cant remember why or how i fell off lol

anyway lets keep this thread going lol


hannah ;D xxx

[jayne]

I' ve got some many stories to tell about my experiences with horses and ponies i'd be here all night. I've worked with horses for 10 years now and thier have been so many highs and lows over the years. I always say you sweat blood and tears over your beloved ponies and horses.
I first saw a pony at the age of 5. His name was Bimbo a welsh sect A that my cousin owned. I think we must have travelled miles 2 up across the fens on that pony. I loved it.
The present I have seen foals being born and horses having to be put down and even though i do not own alot of them i spend so much time with them that i love them as my own, i train them, i teach others to ride, and they have taught me a few things in return. Like fabiene (or bullock brain as we call her) wont give birth in front of us but is scared of needles hates being wormed and will roll her eyes at anything. When we used to tack her up it involved carrots to open her mouth and running from one side to the other just to get the bridle on because her brain couldnt cope with you being on one side but touching the other. As for putting the saddle on, many of us learnt the hard way to stand at least half a meter away, if you could throw it on her (preferably from the stable door) it would have been safer as many a set of toes has been squished by her. But still i love her shes a brilliant brood mare and has taught all our youngsters.

[fizzbw]

I think one of the most humbling things is how much horses teach us if we are willing to learn, its a never ending thing so so wonderful!

I bought my Connemara Cirrus as a 2 month old foal - he came to me on weaning - he has always been a challenge despite being gelded on him mum. I've had to think outside the box nearly everyday with him. I've had semi-professionals refuse to look after him, and professionals be beaten by him in a stubborn match. But the day I got seriously ill he changed his attitude with me totally and became, in general, an angel to deal with. H'e so fantastic. He did a suspensory when he was 4 and I was now long term ill - he's been broken and hacked out a bit before he injured himself, but after 9 months inside (huge box last 3) I just got back on him despite being very fragile myself. Over the last 4 years while I have been struggling with my health, and having 4 brain op's he has been a godsend - he's green but is fine to just pop a saddle on and take out when ever I can - which can be 3 time a week or 2 in 6 months! Obviously we just potter about.

The day we had our first canter out hacking last summer - I'd had a good phase so he was fit enough, was the best feeling in the whole world! He was so balanced and forward and safe and special.

I have had to find different ways to do things - clicker training has been great, as in fight I would loose - so I have to think of ways to circumvent a fight and do things in a positive way.

I bought him to do M&M showing and WHP on - he's grown overheight (15hh) and has severe sweet itch (vaccine helping!) and at rising 8 has done very little - and because of my circumstances changing so dramatically 4 years ago all those dreams are now not happening - but instead I have dreams of hacking out, of starting to jump, of learning so much more from my very special chap!

My old pony Fizz is pretty darn special as well - I am just so lucky that I have a great family and land at home so I have been able to keep then despite not being able to work!

Here they are! Cirrus aka Braemar Bright and Breezy (Churchway Daybreak by Spinway Comet out of a Abbeylix Owen mare)



Fizz - Welsh sect b x arab (?) 35 yrs old.



Sorry for the essay cum introduction!!!

Niki xxx

[september]

Your cirrus certainly does look a character-lol,
Fizz is an absolute beauty. ;D
I never fight/force my ponies either,I like them to want to do things for me,so I always try different ways of dealing with problems.
Not that I have problems with my ponies they're little saints
I wish -he he ;D

[fizzbw]

Fizz's rug is a disgrace!! He now has carabina's in front - rug has done 10 years though!!

Thanks for the nice comments on them! They are special boys.

Niki x

[rosiehannah]

they are lovely ;D cirrus is gorgeous and fizz is in fantasic shape for 35 ;D looks much younger ;D

i have been told and think there is a pic of it somewhere that i was first 'sat' up in front of my god mother on a horse at 3 months not that i can remember it

hannah x