Any other horse-riders here?

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Doingitforthehorse
Doingitforthehorse Posts: 9
in Fitness and Exercise
I don't do a lot of other exercise but I ride for at least an hour per day.

Are there any others on here who have a hairy, smelly gym trainer? :smile:
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  • Enigmatica
    Enigmatica Posts: 879 Member
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    I used to ride/train/show both for pleasure and profession. I miss it!!
  • tknuzum
    tknuzum Posts: 52
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    I love riding horses, but since moving to town I don't get to do it half as much as I would like to!
  • dawny78
    dawny78 Posts: 132 Member
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    I use to ride but not at the moment i enjoyed it loads though but it was a perk if my job before and now i don't have that job Riding lessons are expencive :(
    What kind of horse do you have ?
  • princesshoagie
    princesshoagie Posts: 34 Member
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    I am! I own a 16.3 hh, 1800 pound Percheron/Paint mare named Gypsy. We were in training for dressage and I was riding 3 days a week until she came up lame about 1.5 months ago. We have an appointment for Wednesday at the Vet hospital to get her checked out and then hopefully we'll be back to training! I love my girl, she's an absolute comedian. Plus riding her is more of a workout than any other horse I've ridden because she is so wide that posting is not easy and she's extremely strong and smart, so you have to really ride her and not be a passenger.
  • Lanfear
    Lanfear Posts: 524
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    Me too!!! :smile:

    I love horses though I don't have my own - and only ride once a week at a local stables for an hour. If could afford to do it more then I definitely would.

    Our instructor certainly makes us work in that hour - and if we're lucky we usually get a bit longer, until we've accomplished what she wants in a fashion she finds acceptable LOL. :laugh:

    This week we were doing far too well on our 20m canter circles so she had us swapping horses onto ones we'd not ridden..... twice....! :smile:

    Six months ago I was lucky if I was confident enough to canter round the school so I am feeling very pleased - esepcially as I fell off 2 weeks ago in a jumping lesson LOL!
  • Enigmatica
    Enigmatica Posts: 879 Member
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    I am! I own a 16.3 hh, 1800 pound Percheron/Paint mare named Gypsy. We were in training for dressage and I was riding 3 days a week until she came up lame about 1.5 months ago. We have an appointment for Wednesday at the Vet hospital to get her checked out and then hopefully we'll be back to training! I love my girl, she's an absolute comedian. Plus riding her is more of a workout than any other horse I've ridden because she is so wide that posting is not easy and she's extremely strong and smart, so you have to really ride her and not be a passenger.

    Now THAT is a horse!!! Wow!!!

    I used to drive draft horses on a stagecoach at a Western tourist trap where I worked. Big, smart, kindly natured wonders, they are. And riding them is a real treat, lol!
  • Doingitforthehorse
    Doingitforthehorse Posts: 9
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    So great to hear from other horsey folk!

    My horse is a half arab x selle francais/anglo arab. He's 7 now and I've had him since he was 5. He was a fatty when I first got him but he's a lean, mean, carrot munching machine now.

    My partner is a very good rider and does the bulk of the training (:smokin:), but I want to start low level jumping and dressage this season and maybe throw in a 60cm cross-country :happy:

    I do find that riding is great exercise (especially on his "fresh" days!), I just need to stop drinking wine/beer and eating frites!
  • princesshoagie
    princesshoagie Posts: 34 Member
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    I am! I own a 16.3 hh, 1800 pound Percheron/Paint mare named Gypsy. We were in training for dressage and I was riding 3 days a week until she came up lame about 1.5 months ago. We have an appointment for Wednesday at the Vet hospital to get her checked out and then hopefully we'll be back to training! I love my girl, she's an absolute comedian. Plus riding her is more of a workout than any other horse I've ridden because she is so wide that posting is not easy and she's extremely strong and smart, so you have to really ride her and not be a passenger.

    Now THAT is a horse!!! Wow!!!

    I used to drive draft horses on a stagecoach at a Western tourist trap where I worked. Big, smart, kindly natured wonders, they are. And riding them is a real treat, lol!

    I'd love to teach her how to drive! She's black and white like a Paint, but built like a Perch so she'd be goregous in front of a carriage. Of course, that would be one heck of an expensive hobby to pick up!

    And she is so sweet and kind. Sunday I groomed her for an hour and walked her out to the field and turned her loose. Instead of trotting off, she just stood there and kept nuzzling me. I'd step back and she'd step into me and lean against me. Finally I just put my head on her shoulder and she wrapped her enormous neck around me and pushed her head into the small of my back and stayed there for a good 5 minutes. It was so sweet! Love that girl!
  • Enigmatica
    Enigmatica Posts: 879 Member
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    I'd love to teach her how to drive! She's black and white like a Paint, but built like a Perch so she'd be goregous in front of a carriage. Of course, that would be one heck of an expensive hobby to pick up!

    And she is so sweet and kind. Sunday I groomed her for an hour and walked her out to the field and turned her loose. Instead of trotting off, she just stood there and kept nuzzling me. I'd step back and she'd step into me and lean against me. Finally I just put my head on her shoulder and she wrapped her enormous neck around me and pushed her head into the small of my back and stayed there for a good 5 minutes. It was so sweet! Love that girl!

    How adorable! I had a big chubby Appaloosa gelding who used to "hug" me with his neck and cup my ear in his nostril. He was such a sweetie. Oh no, I'm getting all teary with missing my horses now. ::sigh::
  • carinalewis
    carinalewis Posts: 84
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    yes although my lovely mother has told me im too 'fat' to ride any horses on the yard and often jokes about how they would be better off riding me and then maybe i would lose some weight. its really disheartening. i bought a mini shetland for my boys last year so now my time is spent running around after them. why i have to be down to 10stone to ride a 17hh warmblood i do not know!!!! but i will continue to try and shift it.
  • bonkers5975
    bonkers5975 Posts: 1,015 Member
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    My smelly hairy gym trainer is a 16.2hh 1600lb BelgianXPaint. Got him as a two year old 5 years ago, and he didn't know anything. Now we both know bunches! :) I'm just getting back into gear after a rough winter with weather that just wasn't ever suitable to ride! Headed out now, actually.

    Love the hugging story, Sully does that to me, too, with the head hugs. Makes up for the bad attitude days ;)
  • bonkers5975
    bonkers5975 Posts: 1,015 Member
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    yes although my lovely mother has told me im too 'fat' to ride any horses on the yard and often jokes about how they would be better off riding me and then maybe i would lose some weight. its really disheartening. i bought a mini shetland for my boys last year so now my time is spent running around after them. why i have to be down to 10stone to ride a 17hh warmblood i do not know!!!! but i will continue to try and shift it.


    Oh my gosh, that's horrible! Does she ride? I say to anyone who says riding isn't work, get on a fresh horse that's 10 times bigger than you are on an early spring day, and IF you stay on, just see what hurts the next day!

    Keep your chin up and don't listen to garbage. :flowerforyou:
  • Enigmatica
    Enigmatica Posts: 879 Member
    Options
    So great to hear from other horsey folk!

    My horse is a half arab x selle francais/anglo arab. He's 7 now and I've had him since he was 5. He was a fatty when I first got him but he's a lean, mean, carrot munching machine now.

    My partner is a very good rider and does the bulk of the training (:smokin:), but I want to start low level jumping and dressage this season and maybe throw in a 60cm cross-country :happy:

    I do find that riding is great exercise (especially on his "fresh" days!), I just need to stop drinking wine/beer and eating frites!

    I used to work on Arabian farms in Scottsdale, way back when there were a number of big fancy Arabian places here. They were fun, lightning fast reflexes and clever little buggers to work with, lol. There was one stallion I especially liked. He was 6 and his owners had never had him trained to do anything but halter because he was "too valuable to ride." Unbelievable. He was SO bored it was pathetic.

    When I started there his favorite activity was to bite anyone who got near him - especially the farrier. He had a real mouth fixation. I found that I could pull his tongue out of his mouth, wrap it under his chin, and tickle the other side of his face with it, which kept him distracted so he didn't hassle the farrier or the vet. Then I taught him all kinds of tricks, like bowing in several different ways, picking up a kerchief, shaking it off and handing it to me, chasing a ball, fetching a frisbee, etc. He was smart and wanted things to do! It really sucked that his owners wouldn't allow him to be ridden. They didn't even want him turned out because they were afraid he'd hurt himself.

    After I left he did hurt himself - in his stall. =(
  • Doingitforthehorse
    Doingitforthehorse Posts: 9
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    yes although my lovely mother has told me im too 'fat' to ride any horses on the yard and often jokes about how they would be better off riding me and then maybe i would lose some weight. its really disheartening. i bought a mini shetland for my boys last year so now my time is spent running around after them. why i have to be down to 10stone to ride a 17hh warmblood i do not know!!!! but i will continue to try and shift it.

    My Beloved has told me that I'm too fat for my horse - how rude! Horse doesn't have any trouble bronking when I'm on him so I don't think so! (I'm still less than 10 stone so he is just being rude, I just want to be trimmer so I don't have to squidge the fat back between my thighs before I start :embarassed: )
  • princesshoagie
    princesshoagie Posts: 34 Member
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    My smelly hairy gym trainer is a 16.2hh 1600lb BelgianXPaint. Got him as a two year old 5 years ago, and he didn't know anything. Now we both know bunches! :) I'm just getting back into gear after a rough winter with weather that just wasn't ever suitable to ride! Headed out now, actually.

    Love the hugging story, Sully does that to me, too, with the head hugs. Makes up for the bad attitude days ;)

    Yay! Another Spotted Draft owner!! I love Belgians....I want my hubby to get one. His first horse was a rescue Tennessee Walker that was green green grean and mean. He got kicked in the knee twice (tearing a ligament the 2nd time) and bit numerous times and so we readopted him to someone who was prepared to work with him every day. After seeing how sweet Gypsy is, my hubby has decided he wants a draft too....I'm pushing for a Belgian!
  • Doingitforthehorse
    Doingitforthehorse Posts: 9
    Options
    I used to work on Arabian farms in Scottsdale, way back when there were a number of big fancy Arabian places here. They were fun, lightning fast reflexes and clever little buggers to work with, lol. There was one stallion I especially liked. He was 6 and his owners had never had him trained to do anything but halter because he was "too valuable to ride." Unbelievable. He was SO bored it was pathetic.

    When I started there his favorite activity was to bite anyone who got near him - especially the farrier. He had a real mouth fixation. I found that I could pull his tongue out of his mouth, wrap it under his chin, and tickle the other side of his face with it, which kept him distracted so he didn't hassle the farrier or the vet. Then I taught him all kinds of tricks, like bowing in several different ways, picking up a kerchief, shaking it off and handing it to me, chasing a ball, fetching a frisbee, etc. He was smart and wanted things to do! It really sucked that his owners wouldn't allow him to be ridden. They didn't even want him turned out because they were afraid he'd hurt himself.

    After I left he did hurt himself - in his stall. =(

    Oh yes, mine may only be half arab but he really does have his "arab" moments. He does need to work though, he needs something to occupy his little brain or we have REAL trouble!
  • JoEllen92
    JoEllen92 Posts: 58 Member
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    I am well I used to be,I miss it loads. Once i've got a proper job I'm saving up for a horse or a car ,i'm swaying towards a horse though (there's always public transport,right?) there's quite a few livery yards within 30 minutes of my house on bus.
    I've part loaned 2 in the past one was a 13 hh Fell Pony called Bonnie and The Other was a 15.2hh Piebald cob named Willian
    and I used to help out at my local riding school when I was younger on a saturday and I had lessons every saturday aswell.


    I miss riding a lot,hopefully I can get back into it even if its just lessons once a week when I get a proper job.
  • Doingitforthehorse
    Doingitforthehorse Posts: 9
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    Yay! Another Spotted Draft owner!! I love Belgians....I want my hubby to get one. His first horse was a rescue Tennessee Walker that was green green grean and mean. He got kicked in the knee twice (tearing a ligament the 2nd time) and bit numerous times and so we readopted him to someone who was prepared to work with him every day. After seeing how sweet Gypsy is, my hubby has decided he wants a draft too....I'm pushing for a Belgian!

    My partner's Belgian - he's not sweet at all :laugh:
  • carinalewis
    carinalewis Posts: 84
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    yep she rides but because the heaviest person in my family is my mum at 8 n half stone the rest of the world to them is fat!!! never mind im working on hubby to buy me something that I CAN DECIDE whether or not im to heavy. 11st 8 btw.
  • carinalewis
    carinalewis Posts: 84
    Options
    yes although my lovely mother has told me im too 'fat' to ride any horses on the yard and often jokes about how they would be better off riding me and then maybe i would lose some weight. its really disheartening. i bought a mini shetland for my boys last year so now my time is spent running around after them. why i have to be down to 10stone to ride a 17hh warmblood i do not know!!!! but i will continue to try and shift it.

    My Beloved has told me that I'm too fat for my horse - how rude! Horse doesn't have any trouble bronking when I'm on him so I don't think so! (I'm still less than 10 stone so he is just being rude, I just want to be trimmer so I don't have to squidge the fat back between my thighs before I start :embarassed: )

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