How did it all start for you?

My mum used to ride horses, dad he likes his racing, brother 'seen one horse you have seen them all!'

My next door neighbours daughter is to blame!! When I was 7 I used to ask of she wanted to play out and she was always out ALL day on a Sunday and after a bit I wondered why. Turned out she was at some stables! It was.. £16 pound I think for 2 rides so we would be dropped off at 9am and be picked up at 4pm roughly. Learnt all the stable management there. Did pony camp a new of times/learnt to jump etc. In the end I would go there more then my next door neighbour!!
Doing bareback pony games on what felt like a huge 15.2 cob when I was 10 learnt how to jump there. Have really good memories of that place
Then moved to a different yard when I was 10 and stayed at the yard until I was 16. I would go there for the Saturday mum drop me off at 9am and I was like part of the team: tacking up/leading/ skipping her/cleaning tack/ tugging uo/feeding etc.
Then started to part loan just before my GCSES for a few months then part loaned for 5 years then got the giraffe

I started riding at 7ish and rode til I was 14 at a riding school near me. I did my school work experience there and worked there every weekend. Then at 14/15 I had hip surgery to 'fix' a problem they should have sorted years ago and stopped riding. Due to issues going on in my life at the time, I didn't go back. Things happened and years went by and I went back to riding in 2011. It was like I had never got off. I instantly got the bug again and I've not looked back. Bought a pony in 2014 and he's the love of my life.

Glad you enjoyed the post. As I say my mum and dad are to blame. My mum always wanted to ride as a child and never got the chance so she made sure I didn't miss our. She still has never got on a horse and is a little nervy around them. One day, if and when I get my really safe plodder, I hope she might hop on for a few steps! I wonder if she will get the bug haha.

Jessey said:

That would be awesome to get your mum on, perhaps thats a birthday present idea

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That is a great idea but I think it's going to have to be a heat of the moment thing if it does ever happen. I once asked her to hold my very placid ploddy loan horse and she was beside herself so getting her on one wouldn't be too easy. I've mentioned to her about it once or twice but her answer is usually 'that was my dream when I was a child...not now'. What's interesting is she never used to see me ride much as a child because my dad used to take me and even he used to mostly leave me and come back later. But recently, when I've been looking, she has been and seen me ride a few times. She said one of her favourite memories ever will be walking with me riding that shire through the Lake District. I think she might have got on her, she liked her so much! It's just a shame she didn't turn out to be the one for me.

Born into a racing family, Father, uncles, cousins all rode, trained and flapped.

Mother pony clubbed and jumped. Also rode the racers when she met my dad.

I didn't start riding until I was 13, it was my sports option at school. People always assume that it must have been a private school but in fact it was an inner London state school that must have had a very big sports budget! I rode til I left at sixteen. It was very strict, no pony games or fun stuff, all dressage sit up straight leg on don't laugh and do as I say lessons, but I liked it. For my school leaving careers advice interview I remember the lady saying "I see you ride well, I've gone to the trouble of getting al the info for you to work in that field, what would you like to do?" I replied" don't be stupid its only a hobby, I had to go and work in a bank or something like that" !! (thats what my Mum wanted!!) To sat that was the biggest missed opportunity of my life is an understatement
So, left school stopped riding, met my OH who happened to be an ex household cavalry rider, and at aged 21 due to stress & misery at work we decided to start riding again at an RS to de-stress a bit. Got back on and it was like I'd never been away. 18 months later we were moved on by our employer hence riding put to one side.
Prob some 17+ years later we moved to France where we often drove passed a beautiful looking RS with open fields, dressage arena, jumping arena and best of all HORSES Never looked back since.
We now own 3. whilst only one is in work, the other two are retired to green pastures for life

I'm loving reading these posts.
My Mum I think is to blame for my horsey obsession, like Mistys Mum, she always loved horses, her dad worked for a brewery and used to take her with him sometimes on the dray cart. She never ever rode as she was to scared but she always loved horses, well all animals to be fair.
My first ever ride was on the back of two big 'cart' horses, one a percheron cross clydie called Hippo whom I adored and his friend Mary a shire, both of whom belonged to a lovely family of I guess you'd call them 'drop outs' they lived half way up the moors in pembrokeshire in a proper gypsy caravan and used the derelict gardens of an old cottage up there to grow their own and keep chickens, as a child we used to spend all our holidays in pembrokeshire in the same little village on the edge of the moors (Brynberian if anyone knows it?) My brothers and myself used to mooch about on the moors for hours and we chatted a bit with the family who lived up there, the Mum saw my interest in the horses and offered me a sit on, would have been rude to say no wouldn't it, so from then on I spent most of the rest of my holidays 'riding' Hippo & Mary, Mum has a photo somewhere of me age 9 I think riding Hippo Im virtually doing the splits, he was huge but went of your voice so I didn't need my little sparrow legs, oh gosh this is making me quite sad in a happy way!
Anyhow, after my first little go as soon as I got home I begged and pleaded with Mum & Dad to let me have my own pony, didn't see it then, but Mum & Dad were always making ends meet so that was out of the question.
About a year later my friend found out about a farm fairly local to us who offered pony rides, we used to treck the four or five miles every single weekend day over fields to get there and used to 'work' for a little ride at the end of the day, we loved it, sometimes Mum would give me the 30 pence for a half hour ride, but we always got a freebie anyway as we actually worked damn hard, taking the cows back to the field, cleaning the stalls, fetching the horses/ponies in, grooming them all, cleaning tack and leading other people round the farm, sponging down sweaty horses, fetching hay and water etc etc.
Never learned how to ride properly and didn't have a clue about schooling, or rugging, or stabling, they all lived out in a big herd, by the time me and my friend were 15 we used to save pocket money and cash from my Saturday job and treat ourselves to a hack now and then, it's crazy looking back but we used to ride out on the road with no Hi Viz, no saddle, no hat! and wearing jeans and pumps or wellies. How we survived I have no idea. We used to go out for hours at a time and we loved it.
Once I left school, got a job and got into boys I never went riding again, apart from the odd treck on holidays.
Fast forward to 2008 and my new husband who knew I loved horses had booked a treck down in Pembrokeshire (he knew I loved that part of the world too) and I rediscovered my joy for horses. As soon as we got back I started looking for somewhere I could have lessons, the lady at the riding school wanted to assess me and the verdict was 'you ride like a cowboy, but your balance is good and you seem to know what you're doing' within a few weeks I wanted more so progressed to a share which ended sourly, then another share which opened up my riding world and yet I still wanted more, ended up with me own and the rest is history.
I can't ever imagine being without horses in my life now and even when i'm too old and knackered to climb aboard I hope I can still be around them, there is nothing like a soft muzzle and a gentle breath on your face to put the world to rights.

Kite_Rider said:

there is nothing like a soft muzzle and a gentle breath on your face to put the world to rights.

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I love this!!

I was born and raised in Greater London but I *think* we were in Devon visiting my mum's sister. I think I was about 3 and I vaguely remember walking in some dark woods and then there was a sunny clearing and a paddock with two horses which ambled over to the fence. I was mesmerised.... and fell in love. That memory had stayed with me for life and somehow I ended up starting riding lessons at a place in Heston, Middx when I was 4 or 5.

My weekly riding lessons were the highlight of my week and as I grew I spent every weekend at the yard. My parents split so money was tight and I didn't have my own pony until I was 18 and working full time. I sold him at 21 to get a mortgage, get married and have children.....and didn't come back to horses for 21 years!!! Another half of my life

That was 2005.....and I haven't looked back since.

A good friend who I met during my horse-free years once said "Horses fill a hole in your life that I didn't know was there until I saw you with them"

SeeingSpots said:

I love this!!

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Me too. So lovely x

Great thread idea!

My mum has ridden since she was a little girl. I remember being tiny and begging my mum to let me go horse riding with her. But my parents just didn't have the money. My mum rode for free on friends horses but they were far too much for me even to sit on. So I was seven before they could afford for me to start lessons.

I learnt to ride at a small riding school near bushy park and the first horse I rode was a little chestnut pony called Ozzy. My parents could only afford for me to go once a fortnight but as my riding progressed I was sometimes allowed to go with my mum and ride this beautiful Connemara pony out in the surrey hills with her.

When I was 9 I had an awful riding accident on the connie pony when half a tree fell down on us. There was a very brief period when we both thought we would never ride again but that didn't last long!! I went out for a ride on Ozzy and despite being absolutely terrified of riding for a long time I kept trying, moved to a new riding school when that one shut down (it's now reopened and I've since been back and seen the lovely Ozzy!)

My confidence returned on riding school horses my favourite being Razor, I got a share horse called Spring. She was the reason I learnt to drive! And then I bought the wonderful Ale pony

I don't remember my first introduction to horses or my first ride. I have been obsessed with them for as long as i can remember. Odd as I was born and raised in HK and no one I knew had horses or even rode. My parents and siblings have never had the slightest interest. I learnt to ride in HK on a pair of Icelandic ponies with the very odd names of Brownie Cake & Tiffany. They were lazy as anything. Once you could just about trot you moved onto small whizzy ponies called Parsley, Tonto & Snoopy. And once you were about 10 you had to ride the horses - all ex race horses. Some so recently off the track that I actually recognised them! My stepmum had a race horse and he ended up being a lesson horse who I rode regularly. He was called Agogo - or Astopstop in our family as he was a bit rubbish!
As well as my lessons there were also horses at a remote monastery and you could hire them. No assessment rides, no instructions. Sometimes no hat even!! Just an ex racer and a sandy circular track!!!

I bought my first horse while still at Uni and had him till I was pregnant with the twins. I could ride but had never ever done any stable management or horse care. I was clueless beyond belief. Couldnt tie up a hay net or pick out a hoof... The ex race horses had been trained to wee in a bucket on a whistle command. I just thought all horses did that so stood merrily whistling at my new bemused pony with a bucket to hand! Very steep learning curve and I'm still on it now. My hunger to learn and my interest and passion are as strong as ever.

When I say my stepmum had a race horse, I mean she owned one that raced! She isn't horsey. Closesr she got to it was sipping fizz while watching him run! I did enjoy the races. Great day out.

Here's me and the gorgeous Connie!! Think I was around 8 and a half here

That's a beautiful pony @Ale but of course I'm biased!

Jane&Ziggy said:

That's a beautiful pony @Ale but of course I'm biased!

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He was stunning I was very lucky to be able to ride him, sadly no longer with us

I had been on a pony at three and I would have been on the beach donkeys as well.
My mum rode briefly apparently.
I wanted to learn to ride earlier than my parents allowed.
So I probably started to get curious and nag because they always did pony rides at the school fête. Without giving away the era it used to cost about 50p to walk up and back round a straw bale!!!!

When I started it was hacking out and this is how you hold the reins. Pull to stop and kick to go.
Back then (good or bad) I used to help out at weekends after my ride. Mucking out, tack cleaning, tacking up, helping other riders get on believe it or not! But not going out on rides.
Bringing in the hay AND getting to ride on top of the trailer laden with all the hay from the fields. God you wouldn't dream of that now!!
I also got one half hour free time session- to do what I liked. Awesome. I learnt how to do my first jump over a teeny log. But I had never ridden in open spaces before and just cantered about before the pony took off and threw me.
I did discover mounted games though and to this day I still love it.

Moving on after six months, my parents found another school. This had a nice indoor school so I learnt a bit about school stuff and we used the field if it was nice.
Now I do recall discovering that one of these lovely beasts could also run jolly fast and yes I hit the deck again. But that was my first gallop under my belt because I stayed on longer.
Blow me down if I didn't have another pony do it and bronco me off. Galloping isn't really up there in my top ten things to do!
I did get lucky though because this school also did stunt riding for film, TV and theatre. I was allowed brief time on a few, I can't see that being allowed these days. It was drilled into me about not teaching tricks as these were working horses.

First jumping lesson. Pony was called Courage. Awful awful position!!