Hello everyone. I hope this is still an active forum. I have spent quite some time reading through the archives and finally decided to take the plunge and join in. I had ponies as a child, then when I was 13 "moved up" to half- Arabians. One day I woke up and realized I had more fun with my ornery little Shetland type ponies. I'm not the over-confident rider I was as a kid. My confidence is a bit shot actually. I started dreaming of ponies again, but thought I might be too big for one. This forum gave me the confidence to think I could do it. I am 42 years old 5.2 tall and weigh 140 lbs (I believe that is about 10 stone) and I am on a weight lose program for pony sake.
I started reading this forum before I had a pony, but eventually got the opportunity to care for and ride the horse and pony of an older couple who I'm friends with. One day the older gentleman owner accidentally left a gate open. The pony got out and led his innocent Tennessee Walking horse companion on a high speed gallop down the highway up an on ramp and onto the interstate. They galloped down the interstate for a mile or so during morning rush hour traffic with semi trucks behind them and everything. They were on the local news...radio and TV. Finally the police were able to stop one lane of traffic so my elderly friends could catch the two and lead them home. I arrived soon after (oblivious to any of this) for a nice little ride to find two extremely sweaty equines closed up in the barn. My friends were very shaken and decided they could no longer keep the two. They gave the little rascal of a pony to me! I was so happy my husband let me take him.
The pony's name is Rusty, sometimes called Pony-gedan. He is 12.1 hands tall and 7 years old and I love him for his ornery character. He is definitely not a children's pony. I'm so glad I'm a smaller (and shrinking) adult so I can ride him. I don't have a saddle that fits him yet so I ride with a Best Friends bareback pad. The Barefoot Cheyenne saddle will have to wait another 2 1/2 years when I am out of college. I don't have a trailer right now. I ride him around my 6 acre property, but I would love to do shorter endurance rides (if he is able) and competitive trail riding with him. That is what I am training him for so I'm ready when the opportunity arises. He has a nice big stride and feels like a much bigger horse. I will post some pictures after I figure out how so you can tell me if you think I am too big. The farrier thinks we are the perfect pair so I feel encouraged.
I know this is the longest post in the world (I'm not even sure anyone will see it), but I have all this built up inside me since I don't have anyone else I can talk to about it. I'm on the other side of the pond in the States, but pony love knows no borders.
I started reading this forum before I had a pony, but eventually got the opportunity to care for and ride the horse and pony of an older couple who I'm friends with. One day the older gentleman owner accidentally left a gate open. The pony got out and led his innocent Tennessee Walking horse companion on a high speed gallop down the highway up an on ramp and onto the interstate. They galloped down the interstate for a mile or so during morning rush hour traffic with semi trucks behind them and everything. They were on the local news...radio and TV. Finally the police were able to stop one lane of traffic so my elderly friends could catch the two and lead them home. I arrived soon after (oblivious to any of this) for a nice little ride to find two extremely sweaty equines closed up in the barn. My friends were very shaken and decided they could no longer keep the two. They gave the little rascal of a pony to me! I was so happy my husband let me take him.
The pony's name is Rusty, sometimes called Pony-gedan. He is 12.1 hands tall and 7 years old and I love him for his ornery character. He is definitely not a children's pony. I'm so glad I'm a smaller (and shrinking) adult so I can ride him. I don't have a saddle that fits him yet so I ride with a Best Friends bareback pad. The Barefoot Cheyenne saddle will have to wait another 2 1/2 years when I am out of college. I don't have a trailer right now. I ride him around my 6 acre property, but I would love to do shorter endurance rides (if he is able) and competitive trail riding with him. That is what I am training him for so I'm ready when the opportunity arises. He has a nice big stride and feels like a much bigger horse. I will post some pictures after I figure out how so you can tell me if you think I am too big. The farrier thinks we are the perfect pair so I feel encouraged.
I know this is the longest post in the world (I'm not even sure anyone will see it), but I have all this built up inside me since I don't have anyone else I can talk to about it. I'm on the other side of the pond in the States, but pony love knows no borders.