Introduce yourself and your horse!
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Hello everyone,
Just wanted to give a quick introduction for my horses.
Guinness - 5 year old smokey black mustang gelding from Nevada (my avatar). We just started trail riding this spring and he is doing wonderful so far. He's my dream horse.
Apache - a 9 year old gray draft gelding that we had adopted as an orphan foal. My husband claims him as his.
Piper - 10-12 year old seal brown TB mare. She's a big sweetheart.
Now the little ones:
Scribbles - 31 inch 11 yr old bay mini mare. She is in training for driving right now.
Bailey - 36-38 inch (haven't measured for sure) 8 yr old silver bay tobiano mare. My husband's driving pony.
Snooker - 44 inch pony mare. She looks to be a really dark bay or maybe even fading black. My project pony.
Smudge - 2 year old mini donkey.
Look forward to meeting everyone else!0 -
Your mustang is beautiful!0
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Thank you! Who is the horse in your avatar?0
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I'm Melissa - I have a 13 year old (she will be 14 May 5th) appendix that I have owned since she was 6. She really is the love of my life.
She's a HUGE motivation for loosing weight - she's very sensitive and I know she can feel when I gain 5 pounds, nevermind 40. My confidence over fences is really low, and though I don't have aspirations to be in the 3 foot ring again, I would at least like to be able to confidently execute a small course withought worrying that I'm baging on her back, or pulling on her mouth due to losing my balance because my butt is so big! My weight has held me back riding since i was a kid - I was always on the big, appy draft crosses while my friends were on cute, springy ponies. I missed out in the pony world and didn't get to enjoy showing while my friends did because i was too big. It hurt...but at the same time not "fitting in" to the show ring turned my attention elsewhere and I ended up being a better, more well ruonded rider because of it and I'm thankful for that.
I'm confident riding flat work, even though sometimes the show clothes are embarassing due to my weight, but it's really over fences where I feel I am going to throw her off balance due to the extra pounds, and that's not safe for either of us. I want her to enjoy carrying me as much as I enjoy riding her - we have a great relationship but i just want her to be as comfortable as possible, and that means losing at least 30 pounds for her!
id post a photo if I could figure it out! Feel free to add me!0 -
Welcome to the group! I haven't figured out how to post photos either - so when you figure it out, share the secret.
How brave of you to be jumping! Its something I have always longed to do, but have been too scared to ever try. My husband and I mostly trail ride and now starting to drive the minis/ponies.0 -
Welcome to the group! I haven't figured out how to post photos either - so when you figure it out, share the secret.
How brave of you to be jumping! Its something I have always longed to do, but have been too scared to ever try. My husband and I mostly trail ride and now starting to drive the minis/ponies.
Little jumps! Little jumps! I never went much over 3 feet as a kid... the juniors at the barn I ride at now all do about 3'6" - which is apparently beginner level in other countries - BAH - I am SUPER impressed with some of their abilities - especially one girl in particular who goes from green horse to green horse, she will jump anything - she doesn't push them, and she can RIDE. I have no desire to ever jump over 2'6" again :-). It hurts when i fall now. But currently Im just jumping TINY things, nothing over 2'3", trying to "get the hell out of my head" as my trainer calls it... Im hoping as I drop more weight, like myself more, it will reflect in my fear of hurting her, which translates into no confidence over fences!
And I love minis - some day i will have one in my house, some day!0 -
Welcome!.
I used to do jumps too, but now I want to do that beautiful canter half pass zig zag like the Grand Prix Dressage riders do.
It's good to have dreams. I am thinking about doing some hunter paces again. I fall off mostly when not jumping. Jumping I am prepared for the launch.
Good Luck!0 -
This is a great group. I add friends from time to time if I see them with a horse picture. I love the idea of this group.
I am 42 years old, an Accountant and live on a small farm in FL. I have 3 ponies although one is actually mine to ride. I have to pay the bills for the other two.
Scout is mine 100% - He is a 3 year old mustang and small. He is about 13 hh. Scout came from the Paiute Indian Reservation in Nevada. He is the biggest reason that I want to loose weight. No way could he carry me at 234. Down to 175 and I am not getting on his back yet. My goal is to get back into the hunter ring with him. I have the outfit sitting in my closet. I have big dreams for Scout. Lots of bareback trail rides and an concessional schooling show. My biggest dream is to take him on a hunters pace and go over the jumps.
Chico is my daughter's show horse. Another pony 14.2 hh. He is a really funny horse, lots of personality. More of a jumper not really a hunter. He isn't always good on trails because he tends to be a bit spooky. I do ride him in the arena and occasionally on a trail ride.
Miss Minny Moo is my pony made of gold...She is 12 hh and 28 years old. She has been in our family for 25 years. She taught both my daughters and other family members how to ride. She now belongs to my first born granddaughter. She gets walked around, grazed and groomed. Sometimes the kids ride her bareback. Don't let her age fool you though. She still has plenty of spunk.0 -
About the only jumping I do is if my horse launches himself across a ditch because he didn't want to get his feet wet. Silly beast.
luckypony - Another mustang owner - how great! My boy is 14.2 and stocky and he handles my weight fine for our light hour or two rides on mostly easy trails, but I am hoping to get on longer rides and more serious terrain and for that I think he would appreciate fewer pounds. And I bet your 28 year old has a lot of spunk. One of my favorite horses to ride years ago was a 26 year old arabianXQH. He had tons of spunk into his 30s.0 -
Oooh, Vickie, congrats--Brego is beautiful! I hope in 2 years to be able to afford having my own horse again.
Hi, Blair, what part of Arkansas? I grew up in southeast Missouri (bootheel).
Chelsea, if you are still around, your horse is gorgeous, too. I love Pusher bloodlines--they usually have a fantastic rear/overstride.
My parents raised Tennessee walkers while I was growing up, and I rode and showed a lot from the time I was about 12 or 13. I had a pleasure horse that I trail rode quite a bit, too. I rode on the equestrian team in college, switching to western. I took a few hunt seat lessons as well but never really felt comfortable (my 1 or 2 tries at jumping were not the greatest). After law school I briefly had a walking horse at a trainer's, and showed several of his horses for a couple years, including a spotted saddle horse. I sold my horse and stopped riding about 7ish years ago--bought a fixer upper house, had two babies, etc.
I finally promised myself that if I got back to onederland (after a very, very long time ranging all the way to 230 before I got pregnant), I would take up riding again. I got serious about losing weight in July, then in October, after losing 15 lbs, I called a nearby barn and started taking lessons--despite my past bad experience, I have wanted to jump since I was about 16 years old. So now, at 38, I am learning to jump! I found some ladies my age who ride and we have a fabulous time! I may even go on a fox hunt soon.
Still working at getting in shape and losing more weight. My first ride was so painful I almost couldn't walk for two days!
Edited to add: my name is Heather, by the way (I keep forgetting that I don't have a signature)
I just wanted to say "Good For You!" you are never to old to learn something new.0 -
My mustang will jump the small trench when riding too. Small logs is all I do although my daughter's pony can do 3' I am not interested in anything that high.
I love reading the older posts. I know how good it feels to be able to get on without a mounting block. Even though Chico is only 14.2 so it's kind of like cheating.
One of the posts remarked that people don't believe she is as heavy as she is. I have the same thing happen. I think years of riding has given us more muscle in our legs and we all know muscle weighs more than fat.0 -
Hi. I'm D and this (my avatar) is Primer. I'm 44 and have at least 35lbs to lose. Primer is 19 and a registered Paint (but not a pinto). I like dressage; he prefers to be left in his stall but humors me for candy.
I have ridden off and on most of my life but I consider myself a perpetual beginner. For some reason, though, the lead instructor thinks I know enough to teach so that's how I spend my Saturdays.
Primer is a former lesson horse who had to be rehomed because he is losing sight in his left eye. This causes him to startle more easily. Not a safe ride for beginners but perfect for me.0 -
I'm a newer rider. In fact, I'm a city boy that assured my GF when we started dating that if she was looking for a cowboy she'd have to look elsewhere. Well, somehow in the process of encouraging her to ride and chase her dreams, I got roped into riding. That snowballed, and now I own a horse of my own named PJ. He's a lot like Micheledavison39's boy - "likes everything to be exactly HIS way so sometimes riding can be interesting." Especially for a novice rider like me. The problem is, I picked up some of the basics so well that everyone thinks I know more than I do.
PJ is a Spotted American Saddle horse - and we're convinced he's a draft cross because of his size. He's only 15.2hh, but he's very solidly built - almost twice the width of her Paint. He LOVES people, LOVES attention, LOVES food, LOVES to bow (especially for food), LOVES to show off.... and loves to get things HIS way.
He's also virtually bomb-proof, which is a wonderful quality to have for a new rider in his mid-40's. Within a week of being introduced to the gelding herd at the equestrian center we're boarding him, he managed to convince the others that he was the herd leader. For all of that, he gives across a strong impression of calmness, patience and gentleness that causes even toddlers and people who are fearful of horses to feel more at ease. He really is an amazing horse!
My GF (who is a far better rider than she gives herself credit for) has been helping me with him, as well as teaching me occasionally when our schedules allow. She rides English (something about a postage stamp), but I much prefer to ride western. I've thought about the idea of trying Cowboy Dressage someday, but who knows if I'll ever find enough motivation to actually do so - there isn't really any support for it in this area, sadly.
I'm Sterling BTW. Or Hey you works too. 0
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