# My Equestrian Journey



## LifeInTheIrons (Mar 28, 2015)

Hello! I've been pretty active in the forums lately but haven't had much of a chance to tell everyone about my equestrian journey. So, without further ado, here is my story:

I began riding when I was five years old. Even before I started lessons, I'd always loved horses. I started out taking leadline lessons (I WAS five after all, LOL), and continued with those for a year. When I turned six, I began to take actual lessons.

I was beyond excited, like any six year old riding a horse. I'd never ridden without someone leading me before. Well, my first two lessons were a disaster xD. While everyone else around me was trotting and turning with ease, I didn't want to "hurt" the horse by kicking too hard, so of course, the old lesson horse I was riding wouldn't trot! I was frustrated but determined. Finally, at my third lesson, I managed to get the horse to pick up a trot . 

As I grew older, I continued to take lessons, rode lesson horses in a couple local horse shows, and loved my time at the barn. I had only one lesson per week, so I made the most of my 2 hour long lessons. I loved the lesson horses I rode, but when I turned 10, I decided that I really wanted a horse of my own. My parents insisted that getting a horse was too expensive and time consuming, and so I had to be content with my weekly lessons for right now.

Fast forward to one year later. I was 11. It was a sunny April day, and I was headed out to the barn for my lesson. My instructor told me that I would be riding a horse called Gadget in my lesson that day. I was a little confused, because Gadget wasn't a lesson horse. Still, I didn't argue, and groomed and rode Gadget that day.

Gadget was a 21 year old purebred Arabian. He was a thin chestnut gelding with gray hairs that hadn't been ridden in ages. But he was a good boy and carried me around safely during my lesson that day. As I was about to dismount and put him away, my mom said, "Did you like riding him?" "Yes!" I answered. "Good. Because he's yours now," my mom told me. I was overjoyed. Finally I had a horse of my own! We boarded him at the place I took lessons.

Gadget was old, had trouble keeping weight on, and was sometimes sore and stiff. But to me he was perfect. He carried me around without complaint at a walk, trot, and canter, had good ground manners, and never spooked. But Gadget was old, and before long he began to develop problems. First, he ripped a deep gash in his leg while playing in the pasture. It became infected, but we were able to cure the infection with help from the vet. 
However, a few months later, Gadget developed severe arthritis in his legs. We did everything we could for him, but we didn't know if I'd be able to ride him again. 

Meanwhile, while gadget took some time off, my instructor lent me a horse over the winter that I could ride and take to a big show in March. We successfully competed at that show, and by that time, Gadget still wasn't doing any better. 

This wasn't a good situation to be in. I was getting better and more experienced as a rider, traveling to shows, taking lessons, watching other people's lessons, riding different horses, etc. I needed a horse to ride. Gadget could get around okay, but it was clear I wouldn't be able to ride him again, and my family couldn't afford two horses. So we made the decision to sell him to a nice old man that just wanted a companion. I never saw him again. I was very sad. I'd loved Gadget, but this was best for him. He could spend the rest of his days eating grass and being pampered. I only owned him for a year and a half, but it was one of the best years of my life.

I turned 12 shortly after we sold Gadget and went back to riding lesson horses as we searched for a new horse. Then along came Nemo...

My instructor purchased Nemo from a riding center about 2 1/2 hours away. He was a 9 year old chestnut gelding with four white socks and a huge white blaze, and an even bigger personality. 

I rode Nemo 3 times and then bought him. I also renamed him Jasper (a name that suits him much better than Nemo, in my opinion ). My first year with Jasper was not easy. He was an angel on the ground, and loved people. However, in the saddle, he was spooky, very gate sour, and very barn sour. He was the first real "challenging" horse I'd ever ridden. I often came home from the barn frustrated and upset. He dumped me a few times and his behavior became so bad that I was on the verge of selling him. 

Then, one day, I got my stufftogether and decided I'd had enough of him bossing me around. After a year of riding, "attitude adjustments", "discussions", and groundwork, Jasper and I finally made peace. He accepted that I was the leader, and we had no more arguments or bad behavior. 

Now that we had his attitude in check, we could start training him to be a show horse. I was now 13. After another year of training, I turned 14, and we went to our first show in March 2015 (only a couple months ago ) and only competed in walk/trot and intro level dressage tests. We did great, picking up a first place, second place, third place, and sixth place.

And then, a few weeks ago, we went to our second show and competed in jumping, hunter pleasure, and dressage, and we did just as well.

I still have Jasper, and I love him to pieces. He's literally the best horse I could ask for right now. He's given me so much experience and has taught me about strength, leadership, and never giving up.

Thanks for reading


----------



## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

This journal has been closed due to prolonged lack of participation by the author. Journals that have no active participation by the author for a period of time greater than 18 months will be considered abandoned and will be closed until the author asks for them to be reopened.


----------

