# My introduction (how it should have been)



## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

Two recent threads about getting one's first horse inspired me to write a belated introduction. Here is what I should have written when I first started posting here.

"Hi, I'm a woman in my forties who always loved horses. I rode for a summer when I was a kid, including bareback, so I know all about horses! I have always felt like I have a special bond with them! I have been doing trail rides on weekends for two months now, and the lady I ride with offered to sell me her pony! She also said other people are interested, so I should make up my mind soon. He's just a little green (fewer than 30 rides), can be stubborn, and acts up a little (rearing, bucking, rooting) when he's not happy. But he's really friendly and cute, and he smells so good! I'm sure if I don't buy him, then someone else will, and I will lose out. I have fallen in love with him and must make him mine! Please advise!"

I'm writing this to poke fun at myself and not anyone else, but if anyone else would like to write a similar belated introduction I'd love to hear it. I'm really amazed, in retrospect, that Pony and I survived our first year together. I was so clueless...


----------



## QueenofFrance08 (May 16, 2017)

Ooh fun!

"Hi I'm a woman in my late 20's (then, 30's now) who took a riding lesson every other week from age 10-14 and LOVES horses! I quit taking lessons when my parents wouldn't pay for it and I got a job at the movie theater and since I grew up in the suburbs I never had my own horse. However, I met my husband a few years ago and we decided to move to his hometown and then found the perfect 7 acre hobby farm with 2 horse barns! We went to the horse expo and bought the first horse we saw which was supposedly "well broke" and then I bought my husband (who has only ridden at friend's houses as a kid) his dream horse so he would like horses too. His dream horse is a just turned 5 year old APHA mare that we got a stellar deal on because the owner took $500 off the price instantly when we went to go see her because he thought she probably needed to go back to a trainer. He wouldn't let us ride her and she was pretty sweaty in the round pen but he liked her one blue eye so we brought her home! She went rodeo on him when he tried to ride her but I'm sure it'll turn out fine! Maybe we will buy a 3rd calm gentle older trail horse to rebuild our confidence and for friends and family to ride!"

Another clueless new horse owner!


----------



## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

Oh not me - I grew up with a donkey & a couple of my friends even had horses that I got to ride occasionally when I was a kid, so by the time I got dumped with a(friend of a friend's) horse when I was a teen, I was already an expert! And I was a great rider too - it was only because I didn't have a saddle for said dumped horse that I'd let him turn around & go home when he reared to tell me he'd had enough of being ridden! Then after owner took horse back & I worked for a time at a trail riding place(so became even more expert...) and then I heard owner was selling him, I bought him as my first horse. Then I started learning how little I knew. Now, over 30 year later, with much experience working with all manner of horses, I know I'm no kind of expert!


----------



## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

I'll give this a go.


Hi! I'm a woman in my late 40's (turning 50 in July) I was lucky enough to grow up with horses. My Mom grew up with horses and wanted her three girls to ride as well. We all rode whatever showed up in our pasture, and very rarely rode with a saddle. We all rode in 4-H shows and took lessons when my parents could afford it. I started horses for people in High School and had a pretty stead business for a few years. When I went to college I got a job with a trainer - and he called me a liar when I told him I knew how to ride. Come to find out Riding and "riding" are two different things! I never knew about real proper hand position or leg position. I learned a lot from that trainer and he got a lot of blood sweat and tears from me as I started all of his unbroke horses - saved him some bruises! I got married at 24 and had kids and rode a lot less and my horse was getting older. After she passed and I started working with a green horse I figured out that I was not the same person as that fearless kid. So I started over! and here I am


----------



## cbar (Nov 27, 2015)

Haha, I like this!! 

I bought my first horse as a 16 year old - after taking lessons for a year and working as many hours as I could at the DQ to save up JUST enough money to buy a horse. As you can imagine, it was a disaster.

Fast forward 6 years - I worked at a Standardbred Race horse farm where I became an expert in all things related to caring for horses (HAHA), also bought my next horse from that place for $100 - he was a 3 year old with big hopes, but also a bowed tendon. 

I managed to keep this horse alive and bought him a friend (another reject off the race track).

5 years ago we bought our acreage and I moved my horses here and also bought an unstarted 2 Year old Canadian filly. I have since learned that I know nothing about horses, and the last 5 years have been very educational and enlightening. I am now in my 30's, have met a lot of amazing people and continue to learn as much as I can. My mare is now 6 and I am still taking lessons with her. Haha.


----------



## RMH (Jul 26, 2016)

Father in his mid 40's of a horse crazy preteen who had taken lessons for several years. Over my lifetime I've bought, raised, and sold thousands of farm animals; cattle, pigs, and chickens. How much different could owning a horse be? The favorite horse at the lesson farm was an Appaloosa gelding so why not start there. I was pretty sure we didn't want a Thoroughbred and there were just too many Quarter Horses to choose from which all seemed to be bred for a specific discipline. I knew we didn't want a pony or a young horse. I'm also pretty independent so why ask for help when I was sure I knew what I was doing. You should have seen my daughter's instructor roll her eyes when I told her we bought an Appaloosa mare. The vet even seemed to have a new Appaloosa joke each time he came. The learning curve was steep but we survived the Appaloosa mare who is still here after 8 years and will be for life. Since that time we've added a Rocky Mountain gelding which has become my personal mount. My daughter is on her fourth horse and two of her hand me down horses have become mine because we were too attached or they just weren't good candidates for re-homing. We've sold two horses that just didn't fit in our herd which are doing well in their new homes. Unfortunately we've lost two of our younger horses despite our best efforts and many dollars spent to save them. We've learned that there is a reason Quarter Horses are so popular and that owning a horse is definitely a longer term commitment than owning a cow or a pig.


----------



## mslady254 (May 21, 2013)

Me too. Me too !! "I became a first time horse owner at the *young* age of 57. I have always loved horses, but no one in my circle of family or friends had one except a great uncle whom we visited rarely when I was growing up, and I never thought I could afford one until now. I did ride my uncle's horse doubled up with Uncle Allen, and rode at a rent-a-horse places almost every year on vacation. But, I made up for that lack of experience by taking lessons at an Arabian Show barn for a year after my Grandson decided he no longer wanted to lesson. I was enchanted by every Walter Farley book I could get my hands on as a preteen, and lessons at the show barn cemented my L.O.V.E. for Arabian horses. So, I was thrilled when I found and bought my first horse, a full blooded Arab. He was gorgeous and everyone knows that Arabs easily form bonds with humans, so I am on my way to a wonderful life with my horse!! Off to the trails we go! I know that I've only had lessons in an arena with an instructor,but I've watched enough Western Movies to know that a horse will go wherever you point him. Plus the nice lady who sold him said he is a steady-Eddie trail horse, so I can't wait. Sonny, that's his name, was especially beautiful when I went to look at him, he cantered while I lunged him (I'd done that twice at the lesson barn, so I knew how to), even though I didnt really ask for a canter. It almost took my breath away when he cut in on the circle and came very close right in front of me....gorgeous! I didn't actually ride him myself because he had a small boo-boo near his eye right where the bridle would rub from him 'freaking out' when a previous potential buyer loaded him up and he got upset because the 2 mares left in the pasture were calling him. I think that was a sign that he was meant for me, not the first buyer! So, I didnt want to chance hurting his face and the owner did ride him since she is used to him and the bridle. They looked fabulous and watching him being ridden is enough, right? i so look forward with sharing my adventures here on the Forum"

Wow....I really didnt know how much I didnt' know. It's a miracle that I didnt get hurt. At least I was smart enough to realize pretty quickly that he was way too much horse for me, and I got help. Lots of sweat and tears (thankfully no blood), and lots of study,lessons,and help...we did have many fun trail rides, but he was NO steady-Eddie in the beginning. I really believe that 'nice lady' lied to me. This is a fun thread, @ACinATX.


----------



## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

@mslady254 yes all of the horse books I read as a kid were very clear -- horses quickly form a bond with a human and will do whatever you ask them to do! So I figured once I actually bought Pony he would just, you know, recognize that I was his person and start obeying. LOL.


----------



## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Here's how mine would have read:

"Hi, I'm a middle-aged woman with a desk job. I used to have horses as a child, but have not had any in about 25 years. My daughter started taking riding lessons and seems to be pretty committed, so I'm thinking of buying her a hot Arab (she's 11). Thoughts? Oh, and I want to build a barn and get a couple more horses. Preferably a crazy mare with PTSD and a greenie with 10 rides on him. Also, what's a PPE?"

LOL


----------



## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

Let's see. Ticking boxes. College student, full time. Working to pay the bills. Sign on bonus for fitting a horse for sale (learn as you go program). Buying fitted horse for packer's price and patting yourself on the back for deal you feel was a steal. Being swayed by friend that wants to do you a favor and ending up paying over 10x the purchase price in vet fees the first year plus not being able to ride your steal of a deal because of a trailering injury caused by friend. Figuring out hiring a professional is never a bad deal. Well rarely ever. Riding another friend's auction find and purchasing because one just isn't enough - kind of like potato chips. Finding a third in your back yard because the horse community has dubbed you the world's softest heart and biggest sucker.

Just thankful the vet was generous enough to let me pay that first bill off. Work evolved into my dream job with horses and it only took 20 years to have them in my own backyard. I am still learning something new, maybe not every day but still learning and evolving.


----------



## Wild Heart (Oct 4, 2010)

Acadianartist said:


> Also, what's a PPE?"
> LOL



Personal Protective Equipment. Every horse needs one. :rofl:


----------



## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

^Haha! I remember a lecture with Dr Bowker and he was talking about Osteo-Chondrosis Desicans. There was a girl there who finally put her hand up to ask "I just don't understand why on earth Obsessive Compulsive Disorder happens & what are they doing that's obsessive??" Poor girl had been so confused & it had never occurred to the rest of us about the other meaning of OCD!


----------

