I know, such a shame! I forced my husband to take lessons for a bit prior to us getting married (when I had delusions that we’d go on a horsey honeymoon, haha - turns out we skipped a honeymoon entirely), so I rode a bit in England, but haven’t really ridden regularly since I left the US.
I rode basically my dream horse - dark dapple grey, cute, willing, not a slowpoke. Chunky, so I’m guessing he’s an Irish Sport Horse. Nothing fancy, but I’ll take cute/willing (and grey!).
Haha, I had the old-as-dirt-and-could-care-less Warmblood gelding who would periodically decide he was done with this trotting nonsense and come to a dead stop. But overall survived! Alas riding lessons in my area is extremely expensive and I can’t make it a regular occurrence.
One nice thing about living in the (relative) middle of nowhere Ireland - horse things seem really cheap here. This seems like a pretty fancy barn (they have an indoor, they have some form of cross-country course, etc), and board is…wait for it…
I rode yesterday! I was travelling for a week, doing strange activities and I didn’t take my horse riding stuff with, so I had to improvise. But I rode at my favourite horsey place, where all horses are barefoot, on a “paddock paradise” kind of turnout, 24/7, and they are all pony-size. All bridles are bitless (dr Cook type) and all saddles are treeless (western type). My horse was a 26 years old hucul pony. He was first used as a breeding stallion before they started riding him (at a stud farm where he was born) so maybe this is why he’s still in good shape - really a lot of horse power inside! He even raced past three other horses when we galloped across a meadow (and uphill!). Picture below - he lost his left eye which is now white and doesn’t see anything:
I rode the same horse again - made a bit more progress this time getting him to actually take contact. Super basic stuff, but I’m totally out of shape, so that’s to be expected I guess.
Booked in for next week, so I think riding regularly is a part of my life again. \o/
My friend and I grew up riding together. Currently in NYC there are not a lot of options to ride that are convenient. We have been doing equestrian vacations since 2008 to make up for it. We have been to Ireland, France, Italy, Nicaragua, and Mozambique. While the vacations aren’t cheap, still cheaper than owning a horse!
The beaches in Mozambique are amazing! I highly recommend a trip.
Very cool! I’d love to go on a riding holiday sometime. I did ride on a beach in Sri Lanka ages ago, which was fun (though my horse did not like the ocean).
The barn I’m riding at does equestrian holidays, actually, but I’m not sure it’s the same effect when you drive 10 minutes from your house for your “holiday”.
I am now 1/2 leasing a lovely 17hh warmblood named Billy. Billy is a trained eventer, around 10 years old, doesn’t have alot of show miles but knows what he’s doing. He’s got a bit of spunk to him, bucked me off really good last ride (I held on for about 8 bucks before he turned and down I went! Winded and sore for days… getting old!). I’m now jumping 2’6" courses with him, with the occasional 3’. We’ve been working on our dressage as well, haven’t taken him cross country yet. I get out riding at least 8 times a month right now and loving it
I’d be all over him except the bucking part, haha. I don’t mind a bit of spunk but not 8 bucks in a row…way too old/fragile for that (in my mind, anyway).
This was the first time he’s bucked me off (been riding him about 4 months now), never even had a buck before that. Sometimes he’ll take off after a jump if it was ‘scary’ (barrels, flowers…) which I could deal with, hopefully the bucking isn’t a regular thing because then we would definitely have an issue. I was basically unable to move for 2 days, not cool!
and I didn’t take my horse riding stuff with, so I had to improvise. But I rode at my favourite horsey place, where all horses are barefoot, on a “paddock paradise” kind of turnout, 24/7, and they are all pony-size. All bridles are bitless (dr Cook type) and all saddles are treeless (western type). My horse was a 26 years old hucul pony. He was first used as a breeding stallion before they started riding him (at a stud farm where he was born) so maybe this is why he’s still in good shape - really a lot of horse power inside! He even raced past three other horses when we galloped across a meadow (and uphill!). Picture below - he lost his left eye which is now white and doesn’t see anything:
