When I was 12

[Empty Pocket]

Horses were my salvation....I was not even remotely popular and had no friends at school. When I was 12 all that I thought of was horses...I drew them everywhere, talked about them all the time, and read everything I could about them. I wanted one really bad, but there wasn't the money so I had to be happy with only weekly lessons. I vowed to get a job as soon as I could to buy my own horse - I wanted a black TB....and when I was 17 I got her! She is still my best friend.

[Nauset]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by diffuse01:
when i was 12.. which was only almost 5yrs. ago my friends and i used to, what we called, 'gallop on all fours', or all fours for short (people STILL ask me and my friends to do it, just so they can have a good laugh.. i'm proud to say i can still clear a 2' fence haha).. we'd set up courses in the house, in the backyard, at the barn, anywhere we could, and jump them on our hands and feet.. i don't really know how else to explain it haha.. some of my friends looked like monkey's doing it, but me and my other friend, andi, looked like 'naturals', as our parents said.
and these were SERIOUS courses.. anywhere from 2'6-3', and i cleared them all at probably around 4ft tall haha. that's when i was in really good shape, because we'd have training sessions where we would 'work' for 30min straight, trotting, cantering and jumping around the house.. talk about cardio workout!i also 'cantered' the mile (on 2 feet ).. i swear it is less tiring haha.
we also did flying changes, dressage, and acted like wild horses on all fours too.. me and andi actually entered a big 4-h competition and performed to music! we won 1st place

i also got my first pony around age 8-9, and sold him right when i was turning 13. i rode him in a tiny little 12in saddle, it was so cute. he was a little 13.1hh, paint cross pony named napoleon, or nappy for short. he was such a jerk sometimes, for about the first year i owned him i was afraid to canter b/c he'd put his head down and buck, and i'd almost fall off. he's still giving lessons at my old barn now, at age 16.. i have pics of him on the 2 sites in my sig .

i also had breyers all over my room, i would get mad b/c i had pet rats and when i'd let them out they'd knock down all the fences & horses! i had 87 breyers.. i still remember that number for some reason.. prolly b/c i still have them all in my attic.

-kady-
-http://community.webshots.com/user/diffuse01-
-http://www.diffuse01.cjb.net-<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Oh My God, I can't believe what I'm reading, I can do that too!!!!! I've done it since I was about four (I CAN'T believe this!!!) I'd make courses out of kitchen stools, TV Trays, anything. What makes the best jumps though are wrapping paper rolls! I had a friend who could do it too but not nearly as smoothly as I can. We used to set up gymnastics and go through them too. My family used to watch me and think it was hilarious that I can canter around (with the correct foot placement, on the correct leads) and jump a course (and land on my hands, everyone else who tried could only land 4 feet at once). The highest I've cleared is my 3' dog gate. OMG I can't believe someone else in the world shares my extrmely odd talent. I've called it "galloping" since I started, the name stuck. All my friends that I've been friends with for a while say, "Show soandso how you gallop!!!" LOL I do admit, I still do it now and then, but only when no one's around.
Wow... I am so in awe that someone else can "gallop" .

Proud Member of the BLONDE Clique!
http://community.webshots.com/user/samtb056

[tosca4711]

When I was 12 years old, I had been riding for 4 years.

I didn't have a horse, but I used to canter to school (on foot).

The other kids at school thought I was weird because I was so horse crazy.

I was really good at neighing.

It used to make my father really nervous when I jumped over the coffee table.

I thought the best name in the world for a horse was Starlight.

I got my first horse when I was 13. She was my best friend and got me through some rough times at school.

My father wasn't horsey before I started riding, but he got hooked on horses because of me. He never took up riding, but he loves to be around horses. My mother always hated my riding, and was always after me to quit.

I still ride, and I have a horse. I think they are good for your mental health.

This thread is wonderful. We all share so much. Horses and/or riding saved a lot of us.

[tosca4711]

A quote came to mind when I was reading this thread. It's from Henry V, and I think it describes us.

"...this happy breed, this band of brothers..."

Tosca

[HungarianHippo]

Can I just say how much fun it has been readig this, to know I'm not a freak?

When I was 5-7, I'd walk 2 miles through neighborhoods and woods to get to this house where the people had horses. I'd stand at their fenceline for hours just watching them, and then go home. Abraham the swaybacked buckskin was "mine". (can anyone imagine letting their 5 year old walk two miles anywhere these days??! Sad thing is, I don't think the world is any more or less dangerous, it's just that we're more afraid of it)
when I was twelve, I had my first horse named Irish Whiskey (a free qh/tb x) whom I loved to death.

I wrote names of my future horses all up and down the margins of my school notebooks. I thought Scarborough was the prettiest name a horse could ever have.

I had gone through every horse book in every library in the county.

I had a best friend, and we were practicing our tandem bareback routine (the rear rider facing backwards, then switching positions without ever falling off). And we were quizzing each other on our 4H Horse Bowl questions. I can still visualize the illustration where the horse was grazing on a green field of D's (for vitamin D) and the A's were streaming down from the sun. She died two years ago but I still talk to her now and then. How I miss her.

[PinkPony]

This was way before 12, I was smart because I know a pony would never grow up to be a horse. But I did think a mare was "fixed". And I thought if you bred a black horse to a white horse you'd get a b&w paint. I was so dumb when I was little!!

[tatertot]

When I was about 5, my mom bought me a cowbay outfit ( it was red and black) and it was the only thing I would wear so she had to wash it every night, I wanted to be a cowboy - and oh yeah be able to pee standing up like my brother. ( kids are weird ) I also got a $500 pony when I was 13.

Proud member of the "chicken Jumper clique"

[dressager]

I'm going to get e-shot for saying this. When I was twelve I had my own mare and had for a year. I also got my second horse and half leased another mare for the summer.

Dressager
You don't throw a whole life away just because its a little banged up - Tom Smith A Better America

[Lin]

I love all these stories -- I've been horse crazy as long as I can remember and its great to know there are all these kindred spirits roaming around.

And I have so many to thank - the neighbours that let me hang around and groom their horses and even occasionally ride, my Mom who found the money for riding lessons and to partboard a horse, and all the wonderful, tolerant horses - who taught me the most and didn't hold my clumsiness against me.

[Holly Jeanne]

So, do I win the award for the cheapest (free horses don't count) first horse? $125 (less saddle) and I paid for most of it myself at 12.

Ok, raise your hands, how many of your parents were convinced you would grow out of this "stage" you were going through.

Alabama: My mother told me that if I didn't learn to cook, I would never get married. I told her that I would never get married in that case and I haven't. Ironically, I did eventually learn to cook but I still don't like doing it and I was a restaraunt manager for a while.

I bought a farm a few years ago. When my father first came to visit (and help me move), he commented that we really needed a place like that when I was growing up.

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.” Goethe

[Owley]

When I was 12...
All clydesdale's were named Dobbin - come to think of it.. they still are.

My only-lame-in-the-ring pony would only walk on the trail, until the barn would come back into view to which she would run back to at lightspeed. I would laugh all the way... Until the day she forgot to stop & we ran "smack" into the side of the barn. I was waiting for her, she was waiting for me...

Stress is when you wake up screaming, and then you realize you haven't fallen asleep yet.

[SK]

When I was 12 (7 years ago) I got my first horse for my birthday. He was a huge 8 yr old TB who had been a very successul show jumper. Needless to say, it was not a match made in heaven for me, a timid little 12 year old who had just graduated from cross rails. Before that, I had leased a Connemara pony for two years who I ADORED but my legs just grew too long for him.

We gave the TB an early retirement since there was no way that he was going to work out for me (what was my trainer THINKING??). He is now fat and happy, enjoying a life of leisure at a private boarding facility . . .

[rosijet]

As far back as I can remember, even way before 12, when we were driving somewhere, if I saw a horse, I would plaster my face against the car window and stare with wide, loving eyes - my intent gaze never leaving that horse as we passed by. Then I'd sit back down with a huge, satisfied grin.

Once I learned how to ride a bike, I would pretend I was a jockey and riding in the Kentucky Derby. My white 10 speed was named White Lightning and, of course, we always came from 100 yards behind to win! Except for the year that Genuine Risk won the Derby. My bike HAD to be renamed after her that year!

I had a friend with a horse and a pony at her house. I would've given my right arm to be her! Her family decided to sell the pony for $50. I had $75 in my savings account! Mom and dad said that we couldn't keep Silver the pony in the backyard. I didn't understand. We had a little shed for him and the yard was pretty big for suburbia. I don't think I spoke to either one of them for two weeks after that big disappointment!

My faithful and patient Alaskan Malamute was my horsey substitute. I would set up the picnic table and benches, garbage cans and anything else laying around as a course. That sweet dog would just jump over everthing I ran her up to. My mom finally decided I wasn't going to outgrow my horsey obsession and bought me a $250 yearling when I was 13.

My two year old niece is showing signs of the same genetic flaw. I told my brother to save his money NOW!

"Crazy is just another point of view" Sonia Dada

[kb]

When I was 12, I had never ridden a horse before but had pictures everywhere and dreamed of it. Then my best friend took me to her brother's farm - I had never even been to a farm. They had a solid chestnut Appaloosa named Sugar - we both hopped on her - no saddle, no halter, no bridle - nothing. We had a blast and she took such good care of us she didn't even spook at a snake. However she did slip in the mud and of course we both came off and laughed like crazy and got right back on. It was heaven - when I got home it was all I talked about for weeks and I spent years begging for a horse of my own. As a matter of fact two years later my dad was in Texas on business and called home and asked what do you want from Texas without pause I said a horse! I did very little riding until the age of 38 - started taking lessons and have now purchased my first horse. And yep - he is a loud colored Appaloosa!

[War Admiral]

When I was 12 I was transitioning from Saddlebreds/saddle seat to hunters and an OTTB. He was a son of War Admiral, with all that that implies, so you may rest assured I was still hitting the ground REGULARLY at least once a day! Seriously, when I got up to 26 falls in a 30-day period I gave up and stopped counting...

He turned out to be a fabu horse though, and I still miss him.

______________

"Those who use horses just for the business are crass, classless horsemen."
--George Morris

[Vandy]

When I was 12, I had recently retired my stick-horse. By the way, I got VERY angry when anyone referred to "Ashley" as a stick-horse - she was a "purebred Arabian"!

I also made a harness for my dog and taught him to "drive".

My best friend had just gotten a pony, and she let me ride him sometimes - but only on a lunge line. Once, when we were cantering on the lunge, Robbie the pony took a bad step, and I went flying off. I got the wind knocked out of me, and when I opened my eyes, I saw my friend running toward me with tears streaming down her face, presumably to help me up. She ran right past me crying, "Are you okay, Robbie?" We had a good laugh over that a few years later

[This message was edited by Vandy on Feb. 13, 2004 at 12:38 PM.]

[nrg]

When I was 12 I used to go through catalogs and circle of all the various horsey paraphenelia I would need when I finally got my own horse.

I spent hours sitting outside the neighbors pasture, hoping she would let me at least brush one of her two horses (she had tow horses and never ever rode, which I though was terribly unfair!!)

[Noodle]

When I was 12 I was the geekiest kid you ever saw. I got teased at school because of my "I &lt;3 Horses" shirts, I wore big nerdy glasses, I listened to Paula Abdul, and I couldn't ride worth a damn. (I started riding at 10.) Luckily, 8 years has done good things for me, I'm not a total geek anymore...I don't think...

[Won2Keep]

When I was 12, I started to shoot up in height and become way too tall for my 12.2 pony, but that didn't stop me from showing him. Oh jeez, I am really about to date myself, but I remember sitting on a hill at the LaSalle College Horse Show and listening to the bells ring for the Bicenntenial. I had just won the outside course class and was pretty happy even though in the back of my mind I knew I was way too tall and would have to give up Jimmy soon. Instead of giving him up, I just quit riding for three years.

[Tom King]

I had owned my first pony for three years then. I traded a double-barreled shotgun for him that I was only allowed to carry and was too afraid to shoot.