# Do you remember your first lesson horse?



## GrumpyPony16 (Mar 3, 2017)

Awww trinket sounds cute! I hope you are enjoying riding 

I can remember back when I was 7 a little grey pony called cracker and for some strange reason I really liked him. I honestly think that looking back, this pony is more difficult that the ones I ride now XD on the lead he was perfect, but when I advanced and got off the lead he took off and bolted around the school! i have absolutely no idea how I managed to stay on or slow him down because for some reason I can't remember Past that point(hmm maybe I did fall off :/). On other days he was super slow and stubborn which is so fun lol but he wasn't like that all the time thank god! 

The riding school has shut down now which is sad but I don't really know why? It did some really nice hacks too.


----------



## livmaj (Jul 7, 2017)

I'm only now taking proper lessons, so my first lesson horses are still around and I get to scritch their noses every week.

When I was a kid, we'd spend our summers on a farm in Poland. My family didn't have a horse, but some of the neighbours did. They had working draft horses. I'd often sneak in and take them out in the evening for a bareback ride.

One particular one was an overworked, old gelding named Kasztan. Loved that horse. I spent many hours in the barn just brushing him and spending time with him. He was a piece of farm equipment, not a pet. I gave him the kindness and love that he seemed to crave. He took care of me when I jumped on his back and used a rope on his halter as reins to lead him around. He was gentle and kind.

I don't know what happened to him and I didn't ask. I have a framed picture of me riding him in my living room with a long strand of his tail under the glass. I think of him often. I hope he had a peaceful end.


----------



## mmshiro (May 3, 2017)

My first lesson horse was Finn. I didn't really take formal lessons - this was at a horse therapy place, and at that time my only plan was to learn enough to go on my trail ride in Iceland. 

Unbeknownst to me, all the kids were afraid of Finn. I once got him from the pasture while he was munching some hay. A girl who watched me said, "Wow, I have never seen anyone do that - just walk up to him and put the halter on!" You could see the hesitation when I invited her to pet him. I rode him until I started trotting - at that point the facilities weren't spacious enough anymore - it was a really tiny place with no outdoors arena and a minute indoors arena. Finn was my first trail ride, though: From the arena along the fence line to the tacking area. Must have been 5, maybe even 7 minutes! 

Naturally, you want to see what ferocious, mean Finn looks like - here he is:


----------



## k9kenai (Jul 1, 2017)

My first lesson horse was Firestorm. He was a Dun Appaloosa with a Blanket pattern. He was your typical lesson horse and could be lazy at times but he was gentle and you could trust him. I have pictures of him somewhere, and he's probably long passed on as he was in his late teens heading into his twenties when I started riding him and that was a couple decades ago. He and another Appaloosa I rode at the same barn (Cosmo) were the reason my first horse purchase was an Appaloosa mare.


----------



## Trinket12 (Oct 27, 2017)

When I was first learning to ride, I rode a chestnut called Timmy who I don't remember being a challenge in lessons but he did like to be a bit of a pain when tacking up! There was another pony I would ride in lessons sometimes, she was called Flake and I think had some Arab in her, you needed a lot of 'whoa' when riding her 

I can remember all the names of the horses at the lesson barn I first learnt to ride at, couldn't tell you one name of any of the humans though :-D


----------



## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

Yes I do remember and not very fondly!! I had been taught on an old pony that belonged to one of our family friends but my Grandfather thought I should have some more formal lessons at a riding school. 
I went with my best friend, we were about 8 years old. the woman brought out two ponies. One was a beautiful black pony called Midnight that I thought was my dream pony - I got the other one!! 
He was called Frisky (goodness knows why) about 12 hands, maybe less, grey, very plain looking, hogged mane and had a docked tail. He was a retrained retired pit pony who wasn't exactly inspired by the idea of working. 
When we rode in a group lesson in the manège the brother of the woman who taught us used to stand by the side of the fence and give Frisky a sharp tap with a whip every time he started to get lazy and drop behind the rest of the group. Every time he was tapped with the whip he bucked. 
I progressed from him to a bigger bay pony called Comanche who was only 4 but a really nice ride. Some 16 years later when I took a job at a different riding school in the same area I came across Comanche again as he was kept there by a girl who had owned him for a few years.


----------



## Trinket12 (Oct 27, 2017)

jaydee said:


> Yes I do remember and not very fondly!! I had been taught on an old pony that belonged to one of our family friends but my Grandfather thought I should have some more formal lessons at a riding school.
> I went with my best friend, we were about 8 years old. the woman brought out two ponies. One was a beautiful black pony called Midnight that I thought was my dream pony - I got the other one!!
> He was called Frisky (goodness knows why) about 12 hands, maybe less, grey, very plain looking, hogged mane and had a docked tail. He was a retrained retired pit pony who wasn't exactly inspired by the idea of working.
> When we rode in a group lesson in the manège the brother of the woman who taught us used to stand by the side of the fence and give Frisky a sharp tap with a whip every time he started to get lazy and drop behind the rest of the group. Every time he was tapped with the whip he bucked.
> I progressed from him to a bigger bay pony called Comanche who was only 4 but a really nice ride. Some 16 years later when I took a job at a different riding school in the same area I came across Comanche again as he was kept there by a girl who had owned him for a few years.


I am imagining a Thelwell cartoon when I read about you and Frisky :grin:


----------



## Caledonian (Nov 27, 2016)

My first lesson horse was called Frolic; a quiet, dark bay around 12.2hh. I think Frolic was a mare but I’m guessing from the name; it was a very long time ago. It was a half an hour lesson and in that time, I was taught everything from the aids to rising trot. They didn’t hang around at that school.


----------



## Sandycat (Apr 7, 2017)

I took a couple lessons one summer when I was about 12. I was on a QH mare named Molly. All I really remember about her is that she was really tall, over 16 hands and I had to claw my way to the top of her. I rode her Western. I guess technically she's my first lesson horse, but the lessons were very informal, and looking back not very well done. When I learned to trot, I was told to "kick her hard and hold on". 

21 years later, this spring, I started taking English riding lessons. These are "real" lessons, where I've learned actual horsemanship. My lesson horse is named Indy. He's a grumpy old draft mix, who is nippy and girthy, but a joy once he gets to work.  I've been volunteering about three days a week just taking care of him, and I've learned so much about horses (not just riding) from him. I love him to pieces! 

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


----------



## secuono (Jul 6, 2011)

Lucas, a 15h grey quarterhorse, level topline, big butt, great horse. I want one just like his build.
Anywho, he knew how to do everything, you only sat on and tried to stay on, he did the rest. He always wanted to be the leader of the group.
I learned nothing on him.
Then, occasionally if I showed up late, I got this short, lazy, dark colored pony. I was always kicking & whipping it to move. I learned nothing on it.

I learned nothing in four summers worth of lessons I took as a preteen & young teen. Part of that was the horses and the rest was my horrible fear of everything, lol.

I've learned everything I know from my first self owned horse, had to teach him and he taught me in return. There is no pressure when working with him, which is what helped the most.

Lesson horses were limiting in time I got with them, how much one on one instruction I got and such. I felt tons of pressure from nine different directions, lol.


----------



## SteadyOn (Mar 5, 2017)

I've had a few "firsts" in the lesson horse department.

My first ever ride on a horse was doubling up with my dad at a public trail riding stable. The horse's name was Dusty and I believe he was a bay blanket Appaloosa.

My first private lesson, when I was about ten or eleven, was on a fleabitten grey hot ex-barrel-racer named Heidi. She should definitely not have been used for beginner lessons, which I found out when she spontaneously bolted for home with me a few weeks later. Other horses there included Misty, a rat-tailed Appy mare with a heart of gold, and Raven, a big black draft cross whom I later learned hadn't actually been broke before he was put into lessons there. He was just such and easygoing horse that... people just started riding him and he was like, okay, whatever.

After things went bad there (not exactly shocking, huh?) I went horse shopping and had one horse for a year on whom I took lessons somewhere MUCH better, then sold him and owned a more suitable horse for the next two and a half.


----------



## ChieTheRider (May 3, 2017)

I didn't learn with lessons really, my grandma taught me the basics but never drilled me. Anyhow, I learned to ride on a short and old appaloosa mare named Morning. She died about a year ago. She must have been 40 years old when she passed. She was always full of spunk and vigor and was a stubborn brat sometimes. All in all though she was a good little mare. After that I rode Sunday, an old quarter horse with a jackhammer trot. After her was Lucky, an appy mix rescue gelding, and he was my first "lesson" horse. Even so, I still credit Morning fro teaching me to ride. After Lucky came JayR, my gelding I have. Then I have Tess. She's my "lesson" horse now, and just when I think I know everything about her she shows me otherwise. *facepalms* Arabians. She's a good little horse though, just like Morning was. 

Funny thing is, I don't remember being that scared of the horses. I remember getting really mad one time because I couldn't get the bit in Morning's mouth. I was short and had a hard time, so she took advantage and didn't let me reach. Also, the first time I tacked up on my own, guess what the saddle did? Yep, that's what happens when you don't have a trainer watching you all the time. My grandma did a great job teaching me and had warned me of the "hold the breath" trick. Also, I was probably eight and had a hard time anyhow. On her horses I learned to do pretty much everything when it comes to the basics of riding. I owe it all to my grandma, and of course my learning horse, Morning. RIP you old rascal <3.


----------



## Verdana (Aug 25, 2016)

My first lesson pony when I was a kid was a short, fat, greedy skewbald shetland cross named Squeak (he had a similar-looking half-brother at the yard, named Bubble). I adored that pony to bits. He was a plodder of note, but he had a good little heart and he was kind to me.

The lesson pony that shaped me, though, was a (seemingly) truly awful skewbald mare named Princess. She had come from a competitive background, but an injury and a bad history made her cantankerous and unpredictable. She was forever pulling mean faces (the best thing to do was ignore her and go about your business - she rarely made good on it) and she was a real challenge to ride. She'd be going fine, until she'd stop dead, and no amount of kicking or squeezing - it seemed to me at age 11 or 12 - could make her budge. And then, just as you gave up, she'd bolt. She was also a terrible refuser of jumps. I remember once getting put on her at pony camp, and going aside to cry in despair, because I wanted to ride the big horses, and it was terribly unfair that I was stuck on mean, grouchy little Princess instead.

With a good decade of hindsight, chances are that she wasn't that difficult to ride - just needed to be told clearly. And I never once fell off her, for all of her attitude. And I did love her dearly despite her difficulties. I'm grateful to her, because she taught me how to handle myself when things weren't going as planned.


----------



## Trinket12 (Oct 27, 2017)

My current lesson pony is beyond in-different to me and my love, I brought her some treats last week because she has a sore foot. I had to walk up to her with them as she refused to come anywhere near me :-( and it wasn't because of her foot, I'd seen her earlier pottering around her paddock. 

However I did a first aid course last week, that included massage techniques; so someone's getting a massage after our next class..... she will love me! :lol:


----------



## ShirtHotTeez (Sep 23, 2014)

DS and I started at a riding school in Christchurch. My very first pony was a little dun called Nugget. But at some stage we rode most of the school ponies and even a couple of the horses. After Nugget Rosie was 'my' pony. Later Bridget was the one I rode most, first pony I ever rode in competition, jumping. She was dapple grey with a very white squarish nose! Honest as the day. But she was not owned by the school. She was lent to the school for lessons but always went 'home' (wherever that was) for school holidays for the owner to ride. Mayfrey was a little bay pony I rode, she was a very good show pony "until standards improved, and her neck was a bit short" lol. she was a sweetie, I think the first my sister compete on (jumping).

One of the regular girls at the school rode a pony called Hero. We adored him because he would follow C wherever and he was just a character. C would put him in a pen to feed him, and when he finished he just jumped back out to where the other ponies were. Technically he was not beautiful at all, which really was only highlighted later for us, because his conformation was dreadful. Ewe neck, sickle hock, built downhill!! But only C rode him because he was not an 'easy' ride, and she used a CURB which was (to us, at the time) EXTREME!! 

Then along came a pony that the school owner was to work with because the owner was having difficulty (if my memory serves!). His name was Darby and he had the more upright, on the toe movement that Hero had but not such a difficult ride. For whatever reason I was offered a ride on him, and he was my ride for the short time he was there. I don't remember any difficulty at all!!. Because I managed him so well I was offered a ride on Hero to see how I managed. To me this was ultimate praise, because no-one but C rode Hero! C was away for a couple of weeks and I got a few rides in that time. TBH I did enjoy riding him but I remember thinking his difficulty was overrated!! C was very upset that someone else had ridden 'her' horse. But he really did belong to the school.

We covered a lot of firsts there. First rides, first lessons, first jumping, first road rides. I remember most of the school horses and which ever was 'my' horse at the time got special attention. When we weren't having lessons we would go and hang out there, help with horses and clean tack, make jumps and anything we were asked to do, so learnt alot about keeping horse there too. Dad sort of got sick of driving us out there every day, so we biked. 7.2km each way. We would mix up bottles of cordial and sometimes make our own lunch to take with us!!

Eventually we left there only because we were asked to ride for a lady who bred show ponies. So that then became our life when school didn't interfere!


----------



## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

My very first lesson horse was named High Socks, a cute palomino pony, who was their best beginner horse. While I was taking my set of lessons, High Socks starting going sour and began to misbehave for other beginners. I was very very proud that he still was the best best horse when I was riding him. That was my first clue that I was put on Earth to ride horses. I thought it, and apparently High Socks thought it too.


----------



## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

I only had one lesson horse. I had ponies from the time I was 5, but for some reason, when I was about 11, my parents decided to sign me up for lessons. She was beautiful. A grey Arabian mare. Do you think it's a coincidence that the first horse I bought as an adult was a grey Arabian?  Probably not. but I like to think it was fate. 

This mare was stunning. She was a very expensive horse - 10K back in the 70s. Her owner, a horse-trainer by trade, had just married my second cousin and moved to our area, so my parents talked her into giving me lessons on her horse. She only agreed on the condition that she would call it off if she felt I was undoing the training she had put in this mare. She never called it off. Missy was a gentle, smart mare, who had spunk. I consider myself lucky to have ridden her. A few years later, she got sick and died (I never found out what killed her) and her owner, my coach, died of cancer a couple of years later. I had a QH by then, but it was heartbreaking for me to lose them both. They taught me a great deal in a very short time.


----------



## Horsef (May 1, 2014)

Mine was a grey Arab gelding, he is still alive and well seeing that I only started riding four years ago. I often go to visit with him and bring carrots. Even though he wasn't the best candidate for a beginner, I still love him to bits. Unbelievably uncomfortable and occasionally much too lively for a riding school horse. His trot is the hardest I've encountered so far. Because of him I completely disqualified all Arabs when I was horse shopping.


----------



## Clava (Nov 9, 2010)

A small round brown pony called Bumble, I must have been 5 yrs old.


----------



## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

_I was maybe 9 at the time...had ridden but not in "real" lessons, nor ever in a English saddle.
My first true lesson horse was a ex-lead pony from the racetrack.
Spitting image of Secretariat just a little smaller.
He "worked" at Belmont park and did escort Big Red down the track several times.
He had a couch trot so comfortable...canter was deceptive smooth and ground covering in stride.
That horse had some incredible speed even when you did not ask for it... :shock:
He did not like horse-flies and was my first exposure to a horse freaking out...{I freaked too not knowing what to do but yell for help.}

It was from him that I learned to ride with a Pelham bit and bridle. 
Two reins, how to hold, adjust and what rein did what, how to bridle and learn to be so careful adjusting a curb chain.
Horse had patience, a heart of gold but he could be stubborn.
Didn't ask right...not moving!
Feet planted dead...
I never understood to this day why he was gotten rid of from the track as he was stout, gentle, had great manners and would allow undisciplined Thoroughbreds to bounce all over him...
He was actually the out-riders horse not the ponying horse so he escorted the winners to the winners circle normally, but he also caught those who dumped their riders._
:runninghorse2:...


----------



## redbadger (Nov 20, 2017)

Well, I'm still on my first, so yes. He's an older fellow (gelding), around 17 I think, a tall, bay-and-white paint of indeterminate heritage named Toby. My instructor thinks he might be part draft in there somewhere - he has tremendously thick pasterns, and big knees and hooves. He's a bit lazy (compared to a couple of the other horses his size/age) but steady, and the only thing he's a bit grumpy about is his girth, but if you do it up slowly he's fine. I've been enjoying getting to know him on a weekly basis. (and on the occasions lately when I can go for quick visit outside of lesson time - the good thing is it's a smallish, familiar barn and no one minds if a student drops by to say hello.)


----------



## AnitaAnne (Oct 31, 2010)

I don't really remember my first lesson horse, as I didn't get the same one all the time and we just went round and round the arena. All the focus was on equitation. 

That was not my first experience riding, and I quickly realized that I was just a passenger. When the instructor said trot, all the horses would trot! We didn't have to do a thing :wink:

This may have been good training for posting, but I just don't know. All I remember is being bored so I would play a little game where I did the opposite of what the instructor said; always one speed faster, or slower :twisted: In hindsight, I hope the horses were not punished for wrong behavior, or maybe that's why I keep getting different horses each time :rofl:

Anyway, I soon bored of this place and stopped the "lessons" 

The lesson horse who I remember most was a horse I rode in college. We had a class on Friday mornings and the class started out with 6-8 students but after assessing our riding I and a guy who also was experienced were placed in a separate class. This barn did not own the lesson horses, instead the owners were given a discount on board if accepted into the lesson program. This meant the horses were not robots or dead to the aids as many lesson horses are.

Then came the horse I loved to ride, he was only 16 hands but a beautiful black blanket appaloosa; pretty much my dream horse  

His name was Sky and I loved that horse! I would have bought him had I been able to talk the owner into selling him. He was the most willing horse I had ever ridden up to that time. Every other horse I rode or owned seemed to have issues, but not Sky! He was perfect. 

Sky jumped every jump without pause. He was easy to rate and cleared up to 3'6" easily without jumping too high over it (over-jumping was common fault in some of the horses). 

What I really liked about Sky was the speed; he was fast but manageable. I loved racing over the jumps :loveshower: 

Of course since he was without question the most talented lesson horse there, I had to take turns with the other student so I only got to ride him every other week :sad:

The other bad thing was the instructor constantly was telling me to slow down...somehow I never "heard" him say that in time to slow down... I just am not always the most obedient student :biglaugh:


----------



## NavigatorsMom (Jan 9, 2012)

I feel quite lucky and blessed that the place where I started riding is the barn I still call home today. 

I started when I was 11, the summer before sixth grade. My instructor was the farm owner's daughter, and the two main lesson horses I rode were a very large Welsh pony named David, and a big appendix quarter horse named Rocketman. They both taught me very well, and I am so thankful for those two horses - and my instructors! 

David was a pony and definitely fit the personality and general description of a "lesson horse". He was a bit slow and lazy, definitely made you work to get him to move and do what you needed. But he was a very good horse too. He taught me to be aware of my horse, as well as myself while riding. As we rode around the arena we had to be aware of his "bag of tricks", the most common one being taking his rider out of the arena if they weren't actively directing him around. I rode David in my first show, walk-trot on the flat, after just a few weeks of lessons. 

Rocketman was much more a typical horse, and he helped me become a more sensitive and refined rider. He would not tolerate beginner mistakes as much, and he took me into many of my early jump lessons, and a few pony club outings. He was an amazing horse, my first instructor took him all the way through her pony club ratings, up through B, I believe, as well as competing at Nationals. I always felt very lucky to be able to ride him! I also had the special privilege of being able to use Rocketman as a lesson horse when I first began teaching riding lessons.  

A picture of each. This first one with David was actually a few years after I started riding (I believe I was about 14?) and I didn't really ride him anymore at that point, except on random occasions. 









And this one of Rocketman is one of my favorites, from within the first year of my riding. I gave my mentor a copy of this one for Christmas a year or two ago, the winter after Rocketman passed.


----------



## Trinket12 (Oct 27, 2017)

I unfortunately don’t have any pics from when I was younger and first learning to ride. But my lesson yesterday was on Sweetpea as Trinket is still out of action, in our 45 min lesson we had a spook, cantering when not asked and treating ground poles like a 2 ft jump I was pleased that none of it phased me, and if anything made the lesson quite interesting! 

That’s madam below, butter wouldn’t melt!


----------



## 6gun Kid (Feb 26, 2013)

I have never taken a lesson, but my first horse was a sorrel Shetland pony named Flash.


----------



## Rainaisabelle (Jan 2, 2015)

I learnt to ride on a Shetland pony called ninja and then moved up to an Appaloosa named misty and then rode a TB named dan but all my photos are with my parents!


----------



## Maistjarna (Dec 25, 2016)

Yes, and I still ride them all (except for one  - Jodis) 
I started riding when I was 9-10 yrs old, now I am 15.

Jodis (RIP). She was my favourite... nobody else liked her so she was always available 









As. The smallest, but awosome. He is one of my favourites  He has eczema and athma  he also does the piggy pace... But I love how he reacts to what I tell him to do (good for a 19 yr old school horse)









Niko. A bit spooky (bridges, white butterflies, shadows...) Exelent jumper, good tölt  About 18 yrs old 









Timo (half brother to Niko, both the same age) He's got a very short stride so he looks very cute when he gallops lol
Very tolerant of things and people (I think he has become a therapy horse-I was there whrn they filmed him not reacting to dog sqeaky toys, tarps, balls, wheel chairs, dogs...)









Raudur our little old man (24 yrs). He's still hoing strong though  He's a sweate
A bit lazy, but that's ok considering howold he is









Hakon, the youngest and biggest of them all (at 16 yrs). He is like a giant teddy bear. He would rather be a dog than a horse lol. But he is awosome when he decides to be. He will not tölt, even if his life depended on it lol
He has a super smooth trot and is usualy a bit fat so is very comfy bareback 









Strakur (22/23 yrs old) White (ish) in the summer and "brown" in the winter
He overjups jumps a lot, can get a bit excited (tiny bucks), but is slow and lazy most of the time. He seems to be interested in dogs and likes them.

















All the horses are Icelandics.
They have all been school horses ever since they were broken in.
They all live on pasture 24/7
They are all geldings (apart from Jodis, who in so longer with us)


----------



## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Awww! So cute! 
My first lesson horse was a really cute paint named Spirit. He was so cute. A sweetheart. He was a little speed demon, though. But he was a good boy. I miss him. First horse I ever rode! Took lessons with him for at least a year before moving up to a different horse.


----------



## FreyaFoxtrot (Jul 19, 2016)

I do! I started when I was 7, and my first lesson horse was a Shetland pony named Nutkin. I had most of my "firsts" on Nutkin - first canter, first jump...unfortunately my first fall was on someone much taller! 

It's sad to think that all of the horses I learned to ride on are most likely no longer with us. But I remember all of their names and mannerisms, and will always think of them fondly, even the ones who bit me


----------



## Cynical25 (Mar 7, 2013)

My very first lesson horse was Lucy, a long-legged, shiny chestnut TB. My mother had managed to scrape together enough money for horse camp during my 3rd grade winter break. I can still picture the very stall Lucy was in, at the only indoor arena near my itty bitty Michigan town. I remember slipping my too-big, purchased at a yard sale western boots into those English stirrup irons and swinging my leg over that first time, gathering the reins the way countless books & videos I'd borrowed from the library had explained, and the pride of hearing the instructor tell me I did it right. I was hooked forever.


----------



## Change (Jul 19, 2014)

I've never had a formal lesson and honestly can't remember learning how to ride. And I've been riding for somewhere just shy of 60 years. ;-)


----------



## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

I fondly remember my very first lesson horse- his name was Midnight and he was a sun faded black QH gelding with a blaze- stocky build and a gentle horse. He took quite a bit to get him going at the trot and canter, but he took care of me very well. He was a very sweet horse as well, although He was always stubborn with hoof picking and putting the bridle on lol. I think I took lessons on him for about a year, year and a half before moving to another horse. I was sad when I found out he had to be put down due to an incident in the paddock. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## pennywise (Feb 1, 2016)

she was a QH palomino mare named "Marilyn Monroe" :icon_rolleyes::icon_rolleyes: I took handful of months worth of lessons on her and then my trainer moved to teach from home and I began riding a pinto/arabian mare "Fancy" that was being boared there and had been approved as a lesson horse. I mean, "lesson horse" used lightly. She was a bit inconsistent sometimes, but at least she taught me how to handle being thrown I was with her for a very long time and I learned to do basically everything with her and I consider her my first horse to take lessons on because I honestly don't remember much of the first other than bits and pieces of learning to trot


----------



## CanteringCalypso (Aug 13, 2017)

Definetly.. He was such an angel! A cute, old brown pony named Bucky. He taught me SOOO much and always treated sweetly. Even when other people rode him, I would always come up to him and pet him and give him treats. He was the first pony I cantered on and jumped. We did plenty of shows in the walk/trot classes. We ended up getting year end champion! I still have the ribbon. 
When I started jumping more, I usually had lessons on an Appaloosa mare, or a tall paint. Anyway, Bucky was being leased and the girl leasing him rode western, I think she did pole bending mostly, but I had definetly seen her gallop Bucky. The thing is, Bucky was about 28 at the time! Although bucky was very healthy and fat, I think it was unwise of her to work him that hard. One day when she was galloping him, he tore a muscle or something. Even though he was going to be okay, he wasn't able to be ridden anymore, so that sucked. I was still able to see him but I was still sad because I had been riding him for so long. Because I was a getting better at riding, I moved to a closer, and more expierenced barn. I miss him, but I'm glad he still got to retire and just relax.


----------

