THE HORSES THAT MADE YOU!

[2016 RoyalCrown KTug]

Copied this from H/J land... thought it would be fun!

KILDONAN TUG- my late event horse. I was fortunate to end up with him, after he was short-listed for Athens, but did not make it due to injury. We won the prelim at Radnor and two weeks later "Tug" passed away on the x-county course at Va. horse trials. I had just turned 14, and still think about him everyday. it was the hardest thing of my life. But he gave me so much experience... I learned so much from him and am SO grateful to Tug for that... did my first mini-prix on him at 13. I truly think that if he hadnt been an UL eventer, no doubt he would have been an amazing show jumper- he could jump the mooon!

Crum Creek- my pony jumper, who I have had for --wow-- almost a decade!!! Cookie and I learned everything together, she has been there with me through everything, including Tug's accident. We grew up together, she taught me so many valuable lessons.... she is my BEST FRIEND in the entire world!

Tug's Lucky Stripe- formerly lucky Stripe ;) ... Lucky and I are about to move up to the jr jumpers... Although I have only showed him a handful of times he's teaching me so much, every time I ride / show him!

All of the horses who have passed in-and-out of both of my parent's barns-
... all the jumps... all of the practice... the confidence they built within me... all of which I will never be able to give back to them unfortunately because they have moved on in their lives, with new owners, new riders.


Gillian

[myboyludy]

I would have to say that the horse that made me who I am today is my retired event horse.. Undented Pride. He was listed for Atlanta but bowed at rolex that year. I rode him in my first training and taught me what it meant to have a partner in the fun world of eventing. I concured the evil ditch on him and I think without him I most def wouldnt be able to ride my current Prelim horse. He taught me all I know. Pride is now spending a fat and happy retirement as king of the barn!

[Bobthehorse]

FROST: 1977 appy, he took me to my first event when I was 11 and he was 22. We did two Entry (BN) and then upgraded because there werent any more Entry courses in the area back then! We did a year of Pre-Training (N) and then he was retired. Unfortunately, the skin cancer had spread and we put him down the next spring. He taught me how to ride, and how to say goodbye.

BOB: 1990 QH gelding. My current horse, my mom and coach conspired to get him when we knew Frost was sick, and I was so loyal to my old boy that I hated Bob. For years, actually. I was 12. We had a successful season at Pre-Training, then upgraded to Training with no luck. Our relationship was too shaky, I guess. After about 6 failures, I stopped competing for 4 years and went off to have a social life. Bob stayed, even though I didnt like him all that much, I could never sell him. We did a lot of hacking, over and through everything. Somewhere along the line, we bonded. I started back eventing last year with him (he was 17) and we did 2 Pre-Trainings and upgraded with much success!! We still have trouble with water, as its his only weakness. He is such a great horse, I hate myself for being stubborn and not seeing it when he was younger. He is the best jumper, and despite his heaves, age, and breed, he manages to recover faster than the TBs after xc. He truly loves this sport. Except jumping into water, and reinbacks.

AJ: my baby. 2003 TB/Dutch. He is my UL prospect. I have only had him 6 months or so, but like everyones first greenie he is teaching me more than I expected. Mostly about humility;). We shall see what the future holds for us.

[c_expresso]

BLOSSOM: My first horse. Not a good first horse, but what are you gonna do about it. She was green, so was I. She was the definition of a chestnut mare. Her favorite number was the rear, spin, bolt. Scared to death of everything. She wouldn't really event, we tried once and got passed jump 3 on XC where she proceeded to rear and try to spin... I retired! But she taught me to stick on like a tick, she taught me to keep kicking, and she taught me to ride tough.

EXPRESS: My current horse. He is so incredibly hard and technical to ride, because he will only go if you ride him perfectly. Take your leg off and drop your shoulders, he will stop. But if you ride him the right way, he is the most honest thing ever and would jump off a cliff if I told him to. He is an amazing jumper and has taught/is teaching me a lot.

[Merle]

BENSON: A Belgian/QH gelding who I started and brought along myself to the Preliminary level. It was a LONG journey and I would definitely not be who I am today without him. Not even a drop of TB blood in him but he had the heart of a lion and we conquered everything. I had him about 10 years. I sold him earlier this year to a girl who is just starting to event.

HOUSTON TEX: My current young horse. 2003 OTTB gelding I got off the track as a late 3 year old. We did our first Novice this past Saturday and WON OUR DIVISION! WAHOO! He is my UL prospect and I am so excited about him. He's a real partner. I've learned a lot along the way so far since he is quite different than my draft cross was, thought honestly -- and ironically, as a supposedly "hot" TB -- much quieter! ;)

[AirJockey24]

My first pony, Sammy, was a 14.3hh appaloosa/quarter horse cross. He had the silliest personality and I evented him 4 times. The first was a year after he had arthroscopic surgery on his knee, then developed laminitis. We won my first event ever. Then went to our second even, had 5 refusals and a fall. 3rd event he wouldn't even jump the 1st xc fence. 4th time out had one stop and finished 7th. I now have a NZ TB who is absolutly amazing! he's taught me so much!

[yellowbritches]

Neigh- Well, he's Neigh and he and I did more together than any other horse. He suffered through my teenage years with me, which is a huge feat for any horse! :lol:

Elf- Elf finally managed to break me, for the most part, of jumping ahead. He also taught me about having a sense of humor about dressage (Elf was notorious for halt at X, stand up, proceed working trot), and he also taught me how to go forward on cross country. Actually, he taught me a lot about xc, period. He was (is) a true xc machine. Nothing like flying down to fences on him. Also safely toted me around the hunt field some, thoroughly spoiling me for any horse in the future.

Ralph- Ralph showed me I have the skills to produce a decent event horse from scratch. He also taught me that sometimes the best thing you can do for something you love is to just let him go. Ralph had some serious screws loose, and became extremely dangerous. However, before that point, he was a blast to ride, especially on xc.

Reilly- Reilly was just cool. He taught me about how getting tough and meaning business can completely change a horse's outlook on his life. By the time I turned over the reins on him, he was a xc machine, where just a few months earlier, he was so chicken hearted he would try to stop in stadium. He gave me one of my best show jumping rounds, not an easy phase for either of us, and he was the most fun to ride on the flat.

Those are my 4 guys that have meant the most in my life, but I know there will be more to come. :yes: I learn a little something from every horse I climb on, that's what I love most about this sport!

[evntr06]

Neigh- Well, he's Neigh and he and I did more together than any other horse. He suffered through my teenage years with me, which is a huge feat for any horse! :lol:



Neigh made me too! In fact, I would not be eventing (or even trying to as the case may be) if it was not for Neigh! And he was extremely patient with me too! :)

And now a mare I'm leasing is taking care of me too, and teaching me that I can indeed sit up and back in dressage! :D

[yellowbritches]

Neigh made me too! In fact, I would not be eventing (or even trying to as the case may be) if it was not for Neigh! And he was extremely patient with me too! :)

And now a mare I'm leasing is taking care of me too, and teaching me that I can indeed sit up and back in dressage! :D
Hey you! :winkgrin:

[evntr06]

Hey you! :winkgrin:

Yeah, I finally broke down and posted something! :D I had to give extra credit to Neigh! :yes:

For everyone else who know YB, I've been at her barn for quite a while!

[yellowbritches]

And he totally deserves the extra credit. I mean, LOOK at that face!
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=585726&l=fedc1&id=840606599

[outofafrica]

My current horse. I've had him for 7 years and he has taken spectacular care of me the whole time.

[Lose That]

Utah Jazz- Dutch/TB cross mare that took me through Prelim.

First Reserve- Irish TB gelding that took me from my first event through training.

Lightfoot Cherokee- my paint mare who crossed the rainbow bridge far too young, but she taught me so much about what it really means to love a horse, not for their ability but for them.

And of course, my number one...

Lose That- TB stallion that is currently teaching me how to actually RIDE, how to make and trust my own decisions and to how be in charge. He is also teaching me immense amounts in the dressage, about real, true connection and about why and how things work instead of just how to do them. "True, you ride the finest horse I've ever seen." -Christy Moore

There will be more someday, hopefully my little filly Vanity's Revenge will be among them.

[evntr06]

And he totally deserves the extra credit. I mean, LOOK at that face!
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=585726&l=fedc1&id=840606599

Awesome picture! This is so totally Neigh! Just too funny and cute that he is. I swear, that horse has a sense of humor! :lol:

[CookiePony]

OK-- I will join in. I made a webpage of my horsey teachers:
http://cookiepony.googlepages.com/horsesihaveknown

[blackwly]

I've had a bunch, but hands down, the one that made me was Kris Kringle.

We bought him when he was 8 and I was 13. He was a 15'3" TB who had already been novice, so we thought we were spending a LOT of money. I had been riding greenies and monsters all my life and had gotten the eventing bug bad...just didn't have the right horse. The other pony clubbers were leaving me behind. We thought Kris would take me novice and training, and we'd learn together.

Turned out I had just been waiting for the right horse. Kris and I did 4 novice events (my first 4) and finished in the top 3 every time. Did 4 training events, same thing. By the time I was 14, we were going prelim. We were essentially uncoached- but I could kick on and he could wait and keep me safe, so it worked. By 16, I was an "A" (he was the BEST PC horse ever---looked like a dream for me and was dreadful ridden by anyone else) and we were playing at intermediate with the big kids. We did 4 three-days, including the CCI** and NAYRC, where he was by no means the most fancy but far and away the most dependable. He taught me how to get the best out of a dressage test, how to ride the gallop, how to be brave AND careful. He would never, ever jump if it wasn't safe. He was the epitome of the YR horse.

We did straight dressage and won the year end awards. Foxhunted at the front of the pack. Did the Jr jumpers and always finished in the money. Did the point-to-point, just for fun. And then we took on the big guys at the biggest events, and sometimes, we won.

I retired Kris when I was 18 and headed to college. He retaught my mom and countless others how to jump...though he always showed his frustration with the little fences with a quick shake of the head. He still lives on my farm and is now 24. He shares a pasture with my new greenie, and I hope he fills him in on what it means to be an event horse.

[RunForIt]

Awesome picture! This is so totally Neigh! Just too funny and cute that he is. I swear, that horse has a sense of humor! :lol:


Awwww...so happy to finally get to see that FACE! You two are awfully lucky that this guy has been in your lives! Carrots from me, please!!!! :cool:

[Jazzy Lady]

I'll play!

Jezam - My first event horse.... well, attempt at an event horse. He was a 4 year old arab who LOVED dressage and hated jumping. lol... we routinely won the dressage and got eliminated in sj. He taught me determination, grit and most importantly... how to stay on! lol. He's showing 4th level now with his new owner and loves his life.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=516398&l=87ff5&id=290901088

Jazz - she was amazing. My first actual event horse. She was so loyal and we had the best connection. She taught me how to ride, how to find a Rhythm and enjoy xc. She got me confident, but onfortunately broke her elbow in the field after we upgraded to training. She still came back to try her heart out for me. She taught me the most valuable asset to an event horse... heart.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=516519&l=d05dc&id=290901088

Roux - Has taken me through my first CCI* and shown me the ropes at a higher level. Now our bond is stronger and we're learning about this intermediate game together for the first time each of us. We actually won our last one! WAHOO! :) He's lazy, opinionated, but exceptionally talented and is quick to teach me a lesson when I need it most. lol. Plus he's cute. :)

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=948028&l=90702&id=290901088

[Coree]

I rarely post on here anymore.. but this thread .. now that I'm horseless.. well, it made me smile.

Apache and Molly -- Apache was a POA gelding.. I had him for a year before he died suddenly. He was my little Indian Pony! I will never forget galloping bareback through the fields with his companion, Molly and whomever was riding her at the time. Molly was a pony cross of some kind, and was a pony ride pony at one point in her life. She was the sweetest, most forgiving horse I've ever met. This was the pony who we used to tie a sled to in the winter and drag the kids around with. I had her for about five years before a bad case of Choke forced us to put her to sleep. I fell off of those two more times than I can count. Apache and Molly are buried side by side in our back pasture.

Premoe -- A 1/2 Appy, 1/4 Paint, 1/4 Percheron gelding who I rescued from the Humane Society in 1998. My little $300 project turned into the best investment I ever made. We did everything together. From showmanship, bareback, halter, western pleasure, gaming, jumping, eventing ... that horse would do whatever I wanted him to without complaint. He is one of those utterly priceless horses. Premoe was the first horse I evented on.. and looking back at the videos, he was a complete saint! Premoe taught me how to be humble, and how to care about the ride rather than the ribbons. Currently, he is living about 90 minutes north of me and teaching a younger girl the ropes of showing, eventing and pony club! The fact that he is winning four times as many ribbons for her than he did for me is something I am extremely proud of.

Medoseek -- Medo is a bay TB mare. And she is all mare. I adore her. Medo taught me so much about patience, how to remain quiet but speak loudly, how to listen and how to understand. As many horses as I have had in my life, I have never bonded so deeply with any but Medo. Not even Premoe. Premoe is my child.. Medo is my partner. Our success wasn't necessarily determined by ribbons, but by the tiny steps I accomplished with her every day. She taught me how important trust is, and that sometimes, there is nothing better than a good long gallop through the woods and field. Or, that some days, it's better just to play in the round pen than to work. I'll never forget the last few days I had with her before I moved home. I sat in her field with her and watched her graze, and she came over to me and put her head in my lap, and gave me this look that said: Why are you so sad?

Medo could read me better than anyone I ever knew. She knew I was going away.. it was harder to leave her than to graduate College!

I miss her ... :(

[Sightunseen]

OK well there have been a lot.

Trixie/Missy/Gin Fizz--These horses were horses I rode when I was 3-4 They babysat me and made me love riding more then anything in the world.

Spice--who I often refer to as my first pony was a 14.2 QH/Arab cross, she used to dump me regularly, but in her defense I was 5 and could easily be pulled over her head. I did my first "event" on her a schooling show when I was 6. She always took great care of me even though she was a little on the wild side sometimes...I showed her mainly in H/J where they hated her, but she was a doll. We used to jump her 3'3" bareback in a halter and she was amazing.

Street--My first horse. At 16.3 and built like a WB my OTTB was huge especially considering I was barely 5 foot. He taught me how to put all the dressage I had learned on my pony into practice. He took me to my first event where we had a several stops, but then I learned how to ride him. He was an amazing dressage horse, but not an amazing jumper. He bowed a tendon off the track and was sentenced to a lifetime of "short trail rides 2-3X a week" he rehabed like a pro and I eventually ran him through Training. He is now 22 and teaching people how to ride dressage always eager to work.

Sylvie--The demon mare. I adored her, though I did not want her. She was a 3 yo OTTB who had spent 90 days out in a pasture getting fat. That mare could buck. She was amazing for the first year and a half that I had her, besides dumping me and breaking my femur. And when I was able to start riding her again she no longer was as into jumping as before. But really she wasnt into anything. She taught me that you cannot force a horse to do anything. She forced me to be smart and tactful. I took her trough Training as well before deciding she was never going to be an event horse. I traded her to a friend for my current horse.

Sarge--So my friend was "looking" for a horse when one of the vets she knew told her that there was this 2 yo that the owners were going to put down because they did not want to pay to put him on TMS. So Sara agreed to take him. The moment that awkward 2 yo stepped off the trailer it was love at first sight. I eventually agreed to ride this horse after he was sent to the cowboy for 60 days to get broke, and fell in love all over again. Then he tore his palmar lig. by over reaching. Sara being a 4th year vet student did not want to rehab him, so we traded horses. He has since been laid off, slowly brought back, and sent back to the cowboy to be re-broke. I had my first lesson on him last weekend and he is the COOLEST horse I have ever ridden he has SO much heart and just kept trying even though he had no idea what was going on. We had to do trot poles and canter pole and he has only trotted over single poles on 2 occasions before this lesson. And even though it was like 105 and he was soaking wet with sweat he just kept going. He has taught me the biggest lesson about myself. Before him I was ready to quit. I had no money for a new horse, let alone a going horse and after the hell of bring the other one along I was not excited about another baby. But this horse just does something to me. Its like he just makes everything ok. He has these wise old eyes that make me melt. He taught me that I can love a horse for who they are and not what they can do.

P.S. he is still kind of awkward looking, he has BIG tetrach spots.....

Skip---a.k.a. Skip Away With My Heart---or in true QH fashion Skipawaywithmyheart--One of my best freinds horses who she was kind enough to let me ride. Very unassuming appy who is 16.2 chestnut with frosting. He is one of the coolest horses I have ever ridden, he has taught me to look beyond the packaging....

[3dayeventer1401]

Hi I'm new around here and just thought I'd join in :)

Dale - my first pony, a 14.1 Welsh/TB cross who I showed in hunter classes. He used to do jumpers, so would take off with me around the hunter courses, but he taught me how to put in a good performance on a horse that's being anything but good! I loved him though.

Harry - 15hh TB cross who was my first eventer. He had just turned 7 when I got him and neither of us had ever evented before, but we figured it out together and ended up winning and placing at almost every Pre-Novice (3'5" fences) horse trial we've competed in. He really taught me how to ride as he was not a particularly honest cross-country horse at first, so getting him round clear wasn't easy! But he's more confident now and we know each other inside out. Unfortunately I have to sell him as I've outgrown him :(.

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=106969424&albumID=1568893&imageID=5296205

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=106969424&albumID=1568893&imageID=13677032

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=106969424&albumID=1568893&imageID=26664246

Maggie - my 16.1 TB mare. I got her as a 5yr old (she's 6 now) who had been off the track for 3 months. She's the first really talented horse I've owned, and I've learned so much from working with her. She's a really honest and bold jumper and my goal is to do a CCI* with her in May 2009.

[LISailing]

Equine Instigator: Rocksy 11.2 hd. Shetland-type mare

Brought for me at ten years of age by inexperienced parents just to keep me quiet. First ride on a western saddle with an ill-fitted bridle -

Result: Cantered off to be dumped in large briar patch. Not sure this was such a good thing. :eek:

Follow-up: Learned to walk down hill in an enclosed field and walk up, then trot up, then canter up the hill usually stopping at the fence. Until one day when Rocksy decided to jump the fence. I landed with her, then fell off and received a bloody nose. With tons of excitement I ran into the house to announce that ROCKSY JUMPED THE FENCE!!! :lol:

Conclusion: That one event infected me with equine fever, which led to many successes in a variety of equine activities and the pleasure to ride many different horses. It probably also laid the foundation for the eventer I became.:D

Additional Tidbit: I use to ride Rocksy everywhere, everyday for an average of ten hours a day during summer break. One time, I went out to the pasture to bring her in for our daily trek and as I was putting on her halter she reached around and took a bite out of my leg. It was an enlightening experience for me since I looked at her with tears in my eyes and said "I guess you would like a day off!" Funny how reality sometimes has to hit or bite in this case.:winkgrin:

[three_dayer]

my first horse, willowee, a ex open hunter which i started riding when i was 6 yrs old(yes i was a hunter/jumper when i was a kid)... thomas, an ex advanced horse that taught me to gallop and allowed me to ride prelim on him(we where both 15), Finnegan, a quarter horse that taught me how to ride a difficult horse and was able to move up through the levels, he was a loon but he was amazing (I did 6 long format 3-days on him)...trigger, another loon, but he was another amazing horse that couldn't do dressage, but he could jump and he is now teaching other riders confidence and how to have fun on x-c...ive had so many horses that have taught me a lot, and every horse there is something new to learn...