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Post by highlanderpony2002 on May 17, 2007 2:14:50 GMT 1
first one would be Troy the skewbald vanner cob I learnt to ride on 42 years ago he was about 15.2 and I was a fat but small 11 year old I loved him to bits he was at the riding school in Huntington just outside York Second would be my first horse he was an irish thoroughbred newly backed and 4 years old. He was a superb showjumper but I am ashamed to say suffered at the hands of a teenager with plenty ridden knowledge and no stable knowledge. I adored him he was my first love and was killed by a car when He jumped a 6' fence out of the field to go back to his field companions again ignorance to blaim I rode him to his new field from his old one and he tried to go back had I boxed him he might not have lost his life at such a young age Something even now I never do even if it is only a very short distance. His name was Denali it means "Home of the Sun" Third would be my Eventer He was bought from the insurance money from losing Denali He was a clydesdale x Arab by Indian King and look like a huge Arab although he was only 16hh he made up for his lack of height in being the most up horse I have ever ridden and never in his life stopped at a jump His name was After Eight after the chocolates as he had a thin stripe down his face like someone had taken a bite out of the wafer. 4th would be Minstrel She was an Unregistered Welsh Cob black with four whites only small at 14hh but tough as old boots full of it all the time and loads of fun very safe. She was very unpredicable though and I once showed her in the veteran class and at the age of 17 behaved exactly like a very undisciplined 3 year old colt and frightened the judge to death LOL 5th it is hard but my soul mate now is Hazel I adore her and love every bone in her. She is funny clever lazy adaptable and a wonderful friend. I love all the others but she has a special place and will never leave me unless I leave this earth first
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Post by MirandaSophie on May 17, 2007 10:33:08 GMT 1
Wow, what a lovely thread! Some LOVELY stories 1. Jack, my first ever horse, the first time I rode him, he took off with me across a field ;D that was the first time i'd ever galloped, and it just took my breath away Gave me the hugest buzz and also knocked my confidence, put me in hospital a few times, made me cry, laugh etc. And I'd had a dream about him before I knew about him. Also because of him I have a fantastic friend in Emily Got told time and time again, that he would kill me, that I should sell him, even that I should have him shot! When we did our first show (Wye Ride) got told to avoid the jumps etc... Kinda stuck two fingers up and jumped lots! including the bonus fence (which seemed HUGE) twice!! he was very protective of me too 2. Bubbles. 12.2hh / 13hh little mare. Riding school pony who everyone hated- she wouldn't be caught, she wouldn't pick her feet up, she wouldn't take the bit, she wouldn't go forward, she would kick etc etc. When i started helping out there, I enevr had a problem catching her, and infact after a couple of weeks, she would come trotting up to me (was still difficult to catch for other people). I never had a problem picking her feet up, she never kicked or bit me and i only had to hold the bridle up and she'd open her mouth and take it. She also worked beautifully for me, and I jumped her and would gallop her bareback across the field (she'd throw bucking fits in between out of excitement!). I was extremely close to buying her. it was jsut her size which people warned me against I remember I went to see sonky and really dind't think that much of him. I mean, i really liked him, but if I ahd him I'd not have my Bubbles and we already had that bond and tat was so special because she wasn't like that with anyone else. I sat in the field after seeing sonks, and jsut watched her, and cried. I often wonder what would have happened if I'd had her. I feel so guilty leaving her. She was such an unhappy little pony. 3. Sonky- Like i said, i didn't really like him when i first got him. he wouldn't let me catch him and i was often in tears of frustration! it took a long time for us to gel. but once I'd gotten it, wow, what a horse. When i first got him, he was definately an ex-racer! he wouldn't chill out and was quite a handful! however, he's now one of the most laid back hroses i know, and i turst him with everything he's a very, very special boy indeed. He was the first horse I won a jumping class on and gave me the best and the worst XC rounds i've had! ;D 4. Moo-Superb mare! Love her to bits! owner had to stop riding quite so often, and then got the "ifs and buts" when she wanted to start agian. she wasn't easy to handle, although owner did a REALLY good job with her she didn't want to move forward at all when I started riding her, and would throw her head in the air and generally be a pain in the backside. She even reared right up with me once because i asked her to walk on! Not an easy horse in the least, but after a couple of weeks if ridden work she was going SO nicely! In an outline and I even gave her her first canter and little jump over a ditch! ;D Superb mare and I grew to love her as much as my boys She was so defensive all the time and really dind't trust people. I shared the most magic moment with her on my last day in the UK. She was lying down in the field - last time she did that and i went to her she got up and walked away. So i expected the saem thing. I had a carrot, but she just looked up and then carried on dozing, so I knelt down with her....then sat down with her properly. She saw the carrot and went to take a bite, but fell asleep with it half in her mouth! ;D I giggled under my breath and stroked her head gently, the started snoring! LOL ;D she woke up and finished the carrot, and we jsut spent some quiet time together. Then another horse started coming over, adn got jsut a tad too close for her liking, so she leapt up and chased him away I stood up and thought "hmm typical Moo, that's it, she won't come back now" and went to walk away, however, turned around to see her rushing back, head down, licking and chewing for more kisses! I nearly cried, that meant SO much to me-I doubt she'd do that with anyone else, even now! (We're cantering in this pic, check out my smile!) 5. Rolston - I knew he had to be mine when I sat on him ! He is a real sweetheart, and my first "serious" horse. He is SUCH a sweetheart and so talented. He's great fun and very competitive. He's taken me over the biggest fences i've done so far and is my first affiliated horse he's so easy and no fuss and jsut a really lovely boy. We're going to have lots of fun together! ;D
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Kerryf
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Post by Kerryf on May 17, 2007 10:55:52 GMT 1
1st - Rowley, a pony I used to ride at the riding school I started at. He was a Welsh Sec C, about 13.2hh and could be quite strong, but he was a driving pony too. He had the most beautiful paces, especially his rhythmical canter and he had a lovely jump too. The riding school used to do 3 hr hacks in the hols and I rode Rowley a few times. He hated motorbikes and cows! 2nd - Basil, a 12.2hh Welshy. He was mental! He was loaned to the yard/riding school where I kept my first horse, but was too whizzy for the school. He scared one of my friends who is a great rider, so I got on him and instantly loved him. I took him hunting and had the best day ever. He jumped the hugest ditches and kept up with everyone. He was the most handsome pony ever and could jump very well. But if you got in front of him, he'd let you know. I fell off him a few times! 3rd - Django, a 14hh piebald Gypsy cob. The yard owner rescued him after she saw him being galloped in a trap over Pelham Bridge in Lincoln by a Gypsy. He would rear, bronc and generally throw strops if he didn't want to do something. But that pony would jump the clouds! I remember jumping 3'9 on him and he just cantered up to it and popped it like it was nothing! He put just enough effort in. I took him to a couple of hunter trials and I fully trusted him. I had the opportunity to buy him but couldn't raise the £600. I'll always regret that as he really is one in a million. 4th - My first loan horse, Dingle about 5 years ago. She was a fleabitten grey Connie x, 14.2hh. I loved that horse, but she could the most unco-operative, crabby mare at times. We clicked though really. Others found her really hard to get going but she would always go for me. She was used on working livery for a while, but she kept broncing the kids off in lessons, but she would never do it with me! I took her hunting a few times and she used to come to life, pulling my arms out! She's the first and only horse I've ever jumped 4ft on! She was so brilliant to hack out, we would go out for hours on our own in our own little world. We tried to clip her once, but we had to sedate her. The vet ended up giving her enough to knock an elephant out but she was still kicking out. We think she'd had a bad experience in Ireland before she came to England. I had to end the loan contract in the end as I needed to get a full time job and wouldn't have had the time for her. She stayed at the yard for a few months and I went to see her one day, called her name and she whinnied to me. Crying now Miss her a lot. I recently saw her owner at a hunter trial and asked her about her, but she sold her as she had to sell her farm. Would love to see her again, but the owner didn't know where she'd gone as she said it would've been too hard to know. And last but by no means least, my current loan pony, Shadow!(see sig and avatar) He really is my world. He is the cheekiest, handsomest pony. He's a 13hh Welsh x. He's a rescue pony from the charity I work for. He came back from his last home as they emigrated to Australia. I've since found out that she just used to razz him around constantly and jumped him all the time. He has got a bloody good jump in him, but he has a dirty stop at times and I've fallen off a few times. He's had a few back problems and unlevelness too, but we're nearly sorted on that front. We've done some local sj-ing and hunter trials which he enjoys, but have not done anything for a year due to Strangles at the Home. So we are looking to move so we can have some fun again and build a stronger bond. He is sharp and strong, but much better than when I first got him. He just used to bomb everywhere,I had catching problems and he was just generally very untrusting. Have invested in Perfect Manners now and it's helping with the Dually as he can be quite bolshy in hand. He will be with me for as long as he wishes. I would not swap him for the world. He always makes me smile with his big character This is my fave jumping pic. He stopped at this first time, and really picked up in front next time round. He hates touching jumps
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Post by MirandaSophie on May 17, 2007 11:36:53 GMT 1
That's a great pic, Keryy, you're smiiiiling! ;D
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pipgibson
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Pip Harrison & A Spot Of Bother.xx
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Post by pipgibson on May 17, 2007 11:39:44 GMT 1
More more more!!! ;D ;D What lovely stories every-one.
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Aida
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Post by Aida on May 17, 2007 12:04:07 GMT 1
Some of these have brought tears to my eyes...and I'm not usually like that at all! ALL of them have been really lovely, and I keep seeing some which make me think 'oh he reminds me of so-and so' etc. Definatly seeing a pattern of troublesome ponies who have taught you loads!!!
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madmare1
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The Gruesome Twosome
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Post by madmare1 on May 17, 2007 12:32:54 GMT 1
My five...sorry bout the lack of pics, but I lost a lot in a house fire a few years back.
1) Taffy...AKA Wilpshires Taffy, Mountain Man Of Snowdonia. Beloved little 11.2hh grey welsh gelding. Total superstar pony, jumped (to JA level) WH ( county level) gymkhana games, showing, you name it, we did it. Still hurts to this day whe I walk past his grave. Lost him 7 years ago now....and his loaners never bothered to tell me. Had him from beng 8 years old, till I was 14!!!!
2) Molly..the pathetic scrap of equine we pinched from scrubland. 14.2hh welsh x arab coloured mare, before coloureds were popular. Showed as Good Golly Miss Molly, coloured classes (just as it was starting) WH, JA showjumping. Had a horrid start in life, the repaid all we had done for her by the bucketload. Had her for 2 years while I was riding Taffy still, she taugt me how to stick on when a pony bucks. She'd land over a fence, then immediately buck....but I loved her! Went to a lovely family to continue her jumping career...produced two lovely foals for them and then sadly died only a couple of years ago at the grand age of 30.
3) for all the wrong reasons....Rana. This 16.2hh TB girl almost killed me. I was on a lesson at a RS and I was asked to ride her. We had a difference of opinion over what we were doing, she won, and I just remember waking up three days later....she jumped all the canter poles...the fence, and then dropped her shoulder, I went off, then she caught my head under the peak of my hat....I still have the scar in my eyebrow to this day.
4)Star...15hh TB x connie dark bay mare I took my stage one with. I wish I could have bought that girl, she was such a sweet horse. I was still having a lot of trouble with my knee, and I was given her to ride for the weekend course and exam. Anything I asked, she did....I had ridden her a few times before I took the exam, but that weekend, she was absolutely foot perfect. RS closed not long after, and the ponies were all sold...I wish I knew whre she went, she was a true perfect horse.
5) Last, but by no means least...the orange one herself, Crystal Atlantis, my beautiful 14.2hh arab mare. Solid, chunky horse, who when I went to see her, my mum said "It's chestnut, a mare, an arab, with a white sock! NO WAY!!!" we had bought her 3 days later!!! I hated her for the first 6 months....then I learned to listen to her, and we have never looked back. She can be all fiery with me, yet put a novice on her, and she is as meek as a kitten.
We have done things we are not meant to...just cos we get told "Arabs can't do that!" We go and prove that they can. Dressge, ODE's, showjumping, XC, and we have shown at the British Arabian Championships. She is 21 now, and has a home with me for the rest of her life....we are just preparing for our 14th show season together....not bad for a "useless" arab!
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Kerryf
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Post by Kerryf on May 17, 2007 14:06:49 GMT 1
Miranda, I wasn't smiling I was in the middle of saying 'Good lad'! ;D It was a jump with mini milk urns under it and it had milk monsters in it according to Shadow! Lovely story about Crystal madmare
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Cara
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Post by Cara on May 17, 2007 15:04:12 GMT 1
Ah, lovely stories. Mine are a little sad so I'll keep it short. Choc Ice, a feisty pony, liver chestnut, wouldn't let anyone but me catch her. We loved each other, she was a ex class A. I was 12, she was probably in her late teens. Then I out grew choc Ice but kept a close eye on her. Progressed on to a pony called Cheeky2, a young gelding pony about 14 hands. First tricky pony, taught me a lot, dumped me a lot, loved him a lot. When I was 16 choc ice & cheeky2 got out on the motor way & got knocked down & killed. Heart breaking, stayed away from the stables for a couple of years. Then there was Triton, got her at 18, my first horse, she was a TB 15.2, 3 years old, straight off the track. Mad as a hatter & clueless. We taught each other a lot! I went abroad at 21 so I had to let her go. She was amazing. We'd the strongest bond! Now there's Derry. Who I'll have for life & give her the best of everything. My beautiful full ID 6 year old tank of a mare at 16.2. I don't have that bond that I had with Choc Ice & Cheeky2, but I think that's because I'm not living with her. Some day that'll change
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Post by Emily+Meg on May 17, 2007 16:04:39 GMT 1
some lovely stories. I will do mine soon
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Post by jinks on May 17, 2007 16:12:00 GMT 1
horses I remember best
charlie - riding school pony when I started learning to ride at 7 he had one eye cheeky little black pony. Roccy - arab cross again riding school pony fantastic little horse my sister loved him too Berkeley - cob cross riding school horse rode him lots and lots would do anything Quincy - (pleasure principle) my first horse had him over 15 yrs, he was a devil when I had him first x racer bolter etc. not best for 1st horse, but we got on and he was fantastic, still miss him lost him in 1999 beautiful 16hh chestnut with while stripe and snip on his face.
Zan (True Blue IV)- current horse 10 had him 5 yrs, skinney thing from meat mans lorry, he is 15.2 tb bay, self opionated little monster, x biter we got over that eventually. wouldnt part with him though, keeps me sane.
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Post by Emily+Meg on May 17, 2007 16:36:04 GMT 1
I have done mine chronologically My very first pony was called Winston, he was 12.2 and shetland x something - well a bit of a mix but I reckon he had to have shettie in him somewhere. I was 9 almost 10 when I got him, and he was 6. He was a little star, even though he could be grumpy and stubborn - what ponies cant. He taught me so much. I did PC, local shows, sponsored rides, picnic hacks, everything on him. His field was a 15 minute walk from my house and when I was 10 I used to put his saddle on the crossbar of my bike, his bridle on my arm, ride to his field, tack up, and hack back to my house so he could graze in the garden! He is 17 now and still in the home we sold him too, and we still have first refusal. Molly My 2nd pony! We ran a riding school for a bit so I had various ponies, but Molly was my pony. She was 13.2, we arent sure on breeding but the vet thought maybe nf x arab, or nf x tb. She came from Ireland as a 4 yr old, very very skinny and only just broken. She was always lovely natured though. Here ponyclub came into its own, as I had no experience before this of an unschooled youngster. She started of my love of showjumping and we were on all the PC teams, and jumped at Hickstead on the pc teams. She was incredibly fast and we were regular winners at the shows, she thought nothing of doing a 3'3 jump off flat out. I jumped 4'2 on her, and did my first proper xc. I loved her to bits, and I still miss her now. My farrier still shoes her so I hear how she is doing. When I first got her Jumping with me, I am about 14 Jack - Mirandas Jack! Went to see Jack, for Mum. We knew he was a tb but he was meant to be very quiet. His name was peanut then! what a random name for a tb? Anyway, he was underweight when we saw him, and when we commented she said oh no, he is fine. So clearly we couldnt leave him there! As he fittened and put weight on, he was too much for Mum. I jumped him and we got on really well, he was jumping 3'6.I did Wye xc on him and he did most of the big ones, despite not having done much xc. I had to choose between him and Meg at the time to sell, and for various reasons, I chose Meg. Glad as otherwise I would not have met Miranda! She was the first person to see him, and she bought him. When he first came (to me, not a horse in ok condition) At a show xc Meg! Not one that needs much introduction. I got her as a 3/4 year old, around the same time we got Jack. She has always been a right stroppy difficult mare ;D. When I first got her, I was moving from Molly - who by then was a proper little been there done that pc pony, and was 13.2, to a 15.1, stroppy, unbroken chestnut mare. It was very very hard, and at one point Meg was going to Ashford Sales as I just couldnt cope, and couldnt find a buyer for her. She went lame, so I didnt send her. Jack then found a lovely new owner, Miranda, so Meg stayed. It had to be fate. I love Meg to bits, she is now 8 and I am 20, and I coudlnt be without her. She would jump the moon for me, trusts me more than anyone, and is generally my best horse ever. HELP how to limit my choosing of pics. and of course Willow pony. She is so cool, and I am doing my best to NOT get more attached as she is leaving me in september! But I will always remember her mostly because she was so much fun to hunt
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Aida
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Post by Aida on May 17, 2007 20:12:43 GMT 1
Ahh, how cute is Winston!
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Post by Emily+Meg on May 17, 2007 20:29:34 GMT 1
Ahh, how cute is Winston! thanks big gorgeous fluff ball he was
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Post by arabheaven on May 17, 2007 20:40:36 GMT 1
where is willow going meg? ill do mine in a min ;D
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