Hello; new here and starting to ride...

A

alleykitten

New Member
Jun 1, 2004
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Kentucky
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I'm from Kentucky (USA) and I'm 39 (almost anyway) years old. I've always loved horses and I took lessons for a few weeks as a young girl- got scared when he bucked- I'd been on a runaway pony before. Decided to try to conquer my fears at about 24 yrs old. Took lessons and was liking it. Even went over small jumps- then took a spill over one- just a stumble from the horse-probably due to poor seat on my account. Anyway, freaked me out and quit the lessons. You see, I have a bad knee that I hurt in an accident at age 18. I walk with a slight limp and my range of motion for that left knee is not full motion. I can bend it a little over 45 degrees. The fall really hurt! But I did get over it- no big injury. Now... years later, a coworker invites me to her house to see her new foal! Oh, the smell of the barn- the beautiful horses... she invited me to ride with her and I accept. I've ridden 3 times with her building up to 2 hrs at a time (weak knee, see?) She has a boarded horse that I'm riding with the owner's permission- she is off away to college. He is 14.2 hands and I think that makes me feel safer- I am 5' 7" -not short. He is so gentle and good. She invited me to ride on the trails in Tennessee. I went. It was wild! We went down and up very steep hills- I ponied her horse thru gates, we ran into a bull ... it was like a dream. The adrenaline was pumping! I have to admit that before we mounted, I was terrified! What was I doing here? I don't even know how to ride, really! Am I crazy? I was so excited, then told some family members about it and they freaked! Said it was too risky for me! That got me really scared! I think I'll still go- I just don't want to be terrified. I don't want to get hurt. Am I going too fast? Should I just relax and be brave? The woman I ride with is a very good rider. She competes in trail riding in the North American Trail Riding Conference rides. When I got to the top of that hill I felt like a million dollars (shaky dollars ; )
Didn't mean to ramble on. I was just glad I came across this forum. Any feedback I would love to hear!

Alley
 
That sounds wonderful. I certainly don't think you're crazy for going out and having a nice ride. You are with an experienced rider and riding a good trail horse. That sounds like a dream.

Welcome to the board, and welcome back to riding!
 
sounds like u had a very fun day back in the saddle. Sorry about your knee i bet that hurt when you did it . I acidently had a acident on my horse too that hurt my knee. I was riding around the barn and all of the sunnden the horse turned quick and tried to rub me off. That was about the first week i have had him and i did not know anything about riding and i was the only one in the family that wanted a horse and liked riding . So it takes confidence and i guess that sometimes you have to cowgirl up as i like to say :D . Even when it hurts sometimes , but i knew that it was my fault because i was inexperienced and didnt know what i was doing. But now i am fine have a few bucks here and their but who dosent :rolleyes: . So i think that it dosent matter what other people think of you or what you want to do. Its what you want to do if you want to ride again. For me now i ride anytime i get the chance. And I Love It !! :)
 
Welcome to NR! NR has helped many people pull through their fears, so you are with a very experienced and knowledgable board.

:)
 
Hello AlleyKitten. I am in New Jersey, and also new to riding. I am 48 years old, and am in beginner lessons. I had to wait 2 years because of left shoulder rotator cuff surgery. I am into it like you are. I am 5' 10" and ride a quarter horse who is 15 hands high. So.....feel free to post away since I am a beginner also. Don't think of your limitations, we all have some type of limitation.
 
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