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Your first horse?
  • So, Timelessstars just posted about getting her first horse (Congratulations, again, Timless!) and it got me reminiscing about my first horse(s)!

    I am a preachers kid (or, as I like to say: Theologians Offspring...MUCH classier! :P ), and when I was in middle school a member of my dads church, who knew how horse crazy I was, said he knew where there was a horse that was a pasture pet, but he had broke and trained it so it was rideable. They set me up with the family who had bought the horse because it was born the same day as their first grandchild, but they knew NOTHING about horses!

    Ladybird was a 1/2 QH, 1/2 Walking horse 3 year old when I first started riding her. We could never figure out what color she was, but now I know she was Amber champagne. I had taken lessons for years, but having a horse I could play with any time I wanted was GREAT! The owners didn't have a whole lot of money, and neither did we, and the pasture was in a not so great part of town, but by golly I was out there every day after school and stayed until well past dark!

    I used a bent screwdriver as a hoof pick, and made a lunge whip out of a broken golf club and an old rein. I showed in local shows, in any class I could possibly enter! My mom made my chaps, and I made yarn reins and the, then popular, yarn tassles for behind the saddle pad.

    After I went away to college my sister took over. After college I moved to Los Angeles and a trainer I volunteered for ended up giving me a Doc Bar bred cutting horse colt that I had raised (in lieu of payment for years of giving lessons). I eventually sold him to a lady who was getting started in dressage.

    Here is a picture that H&J member Sunwolf did for me ages ago, of Ladybird and my bay colt, Oaks Tomcat. The dog was my once in a lifetime dog, Cassidy. The picture is titled 'Summer Dreams'
    image

    Now I want to hear YOUR first horse stories! Even if you didn't acutally OWN the horse!
    image
  • The first horse I owned was named Daisy, and she was a complete fluke. We bought her from this place near our house for quite cheap, I think $800. The woman who owned her had a big farm and used to breed Arabian horses. At some point her health failed and she became unable to properly care for the horses. They were mostly feral. Daisy was the only one who could be ridden (side note, the ASPCA ended up taking all of her horses away a few years later due to dead/starving horses found on her property). Anyway, Daisy was the opposite of wild. She was a Chincoteague pony, close to 20 years old. She was a black and white tobiano and the gentlest thing on earth. My sister and I rode her all over are yard, bareback in a halter. She put up with absolutely anything, even though we definitely weren't horse experts at the time.

    Daisy suffered from colic twice while we had her over a period of about a year, and the second time it took her life. It was really difficult for me to go through, and I still miss her. I haven't met a horse since who was gentle. She was the perfect first pony for a horse-obsessed 7-year-old.

    Here's a Facebook album with some pictures of her. Fun fact, she had a marking of an upside-down horse head on one side of her body, and an upside-down stork on the other. See if you can spot them! https://www.facebook.com/lilli.sutton.9/media_set?set=a.221592687912515.55363.100001853566190&type=1
    Thanked by 1ConfluenceFarms
  • My first was Nother Butter. He was a tennesee walking horse (non show quality) that my great uncle gave to my Mom before I was born. When I was just a baby Mom got an extra big saddle and I would ride in front of her. At the time we used to joke about how silly and bad he was, but now I have a completely different perspective of what a “bad horse” is. Lol. I think he just had more quirks like sloshing his water with his entire head. When I grew too big for that Mom got me a Shetland pony “Betsy” I believe. She was sweat, but came with a non sweet one. Take both or leave both kind of a thing. But she didn’t care when we specifically told them that we would just sell him. Mom and nother butter ponied Betsy and on trail rides. I was very young when she died. After that at some point was Ghost. Navajo Indian pony someone on my step dads side of the family gave to me. He was a really really neat pony. Didn’t matter what speed we were going he wanted to be going faster. Even a nice hand gallop wasn’t fast enough for him. At the time I considered him bad, but then I made him behave. He would never do anything to hurt me. He was 20+. He was more sure footed than a mountain goat. Not even really exaggerating. We went some crazy places. Bareback I might add. He was also a cute little jumper. He was grey. I might have an FB pic I can link later.

    Somewhere in there was Sammy. But I don’t remember her much. She was full sized dark bay horse. Also there was Peanut. She was my first broodmare, but was not cut out to be a momma.... none of her foals made it to adulthood.

    And I’ve already gone way past the 1st horse. Lol. But still have a few I want to share. Lol. Can’t wait to hear other people’s stories
    Breeder of any and all crazy colored drafts and RH horses.
    Thanked by 1ConfluenceFarms
  • I grew up exercising horses at a therapeutic riding barn before I got my own. Notables were Bhudda, an old cowhorse who packed me around, and Rose, a terrifyingly mare-ish brown snowflake Appaloosa who was my first show horse and the first youngster I trained. I was just able to track her new owner down on Facebook a few months ago and she is doing well, which makes me happy.
    My first horse I actually owned, however, is a chestnut QH named Zip. He is my old man, my buddy, and my heart horse. When I got him, he was 300 pounds underweight and severely neglected, so lame I could only ride him for 20 minutes at a time. A few years later, we were cleaning up the blue ribbons at shows and competing against kids with much fancier horses. I was so proud of him that season. Unfortunately, he has navicular and arthritis now, but I can still ride him tackless and he gallops to meet me if I have a halter and he knows we might be going somewhere. He’s fantastic with kids and has given more than a few little girls the horse bug. And... after years of struggling trying to keep weight on him after his long history of neglect, the vet scored him a body condition score of a perfect 5 this spring! Love him to bits.
    ID# 43830
    |<> Favorite flavors: wild bay, S+, satin, and ice 9. <>|
    Thanked by 1ConfluenceFarms
  • I didnt own my first horse til I was 22. Her name was Cinnamon N' Spice. She was a 12.3 hand racking pony. She was built like a tank. I trained her myself and broke her out myself. She gave me 3 beautiful foals. Her first was a mule colt named lightning. Her 2nd was by Sky my registered APHA stud. Her filly name was Cinnamons Fox. Then her last foal is Caddo Cinnamon. Both Fox and Caddo are full siblings.
    We rode trail for 6 years together. Last I heard she is now a hunter jumper pony for kids in Florida. She is never far from my mind and heart. Her color is how she got her name. A deep sorrel color with white hairs throughout her body. She had 3 white stockings. Her son Caddo is roaning out like her.
  • My first horse, Carino, was a fjord/dole mix that I got when I was 12. She was 20 when I got her, and had been used for lessons since she was 5. There was no thing on this earth that could get that sweetheart to spook. She was the perfect first horse, and that poor beast got dragged along for anything and everything :P A few shows here and there, sleep overs in the woods, swimming every day through summer and she even went to school with me, and we used her for vaulting in gym class. Her absolute favourite snack was bread with salami of all things. Not that that is what she got every day, but if I had it with me to the stables she would always get a bite. Sadly she got cancer, and had to be put down when she was just 22.
    image
    Thanked by 1nycequestrian
  • I was 8 and we were living in Maine at the time. I remember when my dad got the letter from Grandpa. They had decided to move and retire in Florida, the rest of our family living in California. They had bought 40 acres and wanted the entire family to move out there and create a little farm. I remember laying in bed listening to mom and dad talking about it in the living room. I was already horse crazy but the idea of now having a place to actually keep a horse for an 8 yr old little girl was a dream. I asked mom for a coffee can so I could save up. She told me to pray while I saved and reminded me that God asks us to be specific. So I started saving and praying for a white and brown spotted horse. That Christmas Grandpa sent another letter, this time with pictures included. He and grandma had bought the grand kids two horses that were waiting for us in Florida on the new family farm. Both were Quarter horse/Thoroughbreds. The one named Coco was a brown flea bitten mare. She was the answer to my prayers. She became my close friend through the years. I would wake up before the sun just so I could ride her before going to school. She was an ex-schooling horse. She knew it all. She even knew how to do what I call the high stepping parade prance. I would just lay on her back, bare back, no reins, hold on tight, ask her to jump the pasture fence, and encourage her and she would give everything she had running full out until I told her whoa. Running through the yard would shake our mobile home and wake my mom who was convinced she would find me dead in the yard if I ever fell off. I did fall off a few times but every time she would drop her butt and stop on a dime, turn around and look at me like "what are you doing down there?" She lived to be well over 20 and died on my birthday. To this day we don't know what from. She was perfect the day before and then down and gone in the middle of the night. I will never forget that horse.
    Thanked by 1nycequestrian
  • I've never been able to own a horse myself, but I spend time with the horses belonging to the therapeutic riding program I volunteer with. Of all those horses, I think the one that is most "mine" is Rosie, a mostly haflinger mare, now 24.

    My daughter and I were called the day she was born (her dam belonged to the program), and we went right to the farm where the horses were kept. We introduced her to halters, rustling paper bags, being petted and brushed, blankets and so forth, and then helped turn her out to pasture with her dam. My daughter and I worked with her a lot, and by the time she was 4 she became a therapeutic riding pony. She stands 13.1, and tends to gain weight just looking at grass, the quintessential easy keeper. She's been switched from riding to driving (first hitched, without a twitch) when she was 22, I think.

    Here's a photo of my daughter driving her at our annual Game-a-thon fund raiser last year.

    Opening Ceremony--Carrying the Flag
    image

    Barrel Racing
    image



    De gustibus non disputandum. "There's no arguing about tastes."

    SandyCreek Farm: ID# 441
    also playing H&J1 as SandyCreek Acres: ID# 137592
    Thanked by 1ConfluenceFarms
  • Those are beautiful photos.
    Thanked by 1SandycreekFarm
  • I love reading about everyone's first horse!

    I was blessed in that I all but came out of the womb riding. My mother was raised riding horses and as such, I developed my obsession before I was even born. I rode my mom's shagya gelding with my grandpa at 7 months old for the first time and never looked back. My first horse, that is the first horse bought specifically for me when I was four, was an absolute blessing. I had developed a fear of horses after a demon pony and one incident with another horseman shattered my confidence. I had been bucked off, pulled off (into a stump by that other horseman going up a hill), and kicked in the neck. The case of the pony was not an inexperienced parent buying an unsuitable horse for their green child, we had trialed her for a week and it was like night and day. It was not until later that we found out the breeder had been caught using a long acting sedative on the horses to keep them sane for the trial period.

    My fear kept me from going to the barn. We ventured to a breeder's barn looking at a stallion for one of my mom's mares when we came across this paint mare and her young filly. For the first time in ages, I was eager to interact with horses again. The mare was Oklahoma born and bred by a Zippo Pat Bar stallion and just so very friendly. I was let into the paddock with them and played and loved on the pair for hours. My mother told the breeder that should she ever want to sell the mare, we would like to be the first ones considered. A few months passed when my mom received the call that the owner was selling the mare. We picked her up about a week later.

    It wasn't until we took a closer look at her papers that we realized that Zip and I shared the exact same birthday (March 23rd, 1994). Through the years she has been a constant force of nature. Reserve world champion in halter, a phenomenal trail horse, and a western riding (pattern class) extraordinaire. She tolerated my love of English riding and I tolerated her random bouts of herd sour tantrums. Now she's just my trusty trail horse that a sack of potatoes can ride anywhere on even the craziest of trails.
  • My mom would literally rock me to sleep on horseback on her old gelding Buckwheat from the time I was 6 weeks old. He was her horse, but all of us kids rode him when we were small. He was a been there done that kinda fella. He passed away when I was maybe three. I rode any horse my parents would let me on, we had alot to choose from. When they wouldn't put me on one I found a way to get up there on my own and give my mother all kinds of heart attacks. My first horse I remember specifically for me was a little chestnut with a flaxen mane Shetland we named Shorty. He was an old man and mostly starved when we got him, I was about four, daddy had him out by the barn giving him his first good meal and grooming he'd had in a while, I didn't know I was getting a pony so I was completely surprised to run outside and see him. He was a stubborn little turd once he got all fat and sassy and we definitely gave each other a run for our money. He lived to the ripe old age of 38 and was well loved.
    Thanked by 1ConfluenceFarms
  • I've been horse crazy since before I can remember. My parents remember me being barely 3 years old, looking out the window Christmas morning and crying because Santa didn't bring me the only thing I asked for: a horse. I never got to take lessons or anything like that, but i never "grew out" of the horse crazy phase. I was 21 when I saw a "free horse" add in the paper. It was an Arabian, my favorite breed, and was free to approved home. I asked my dad if I could have him. He said yes, although he admitted later he didn't think the owner would give him to me.

    Anyway, I call the number and the lady lives only 7 miles away. I go to meet her and the horse. The first time I saw him, i fell on love. He was sleek and shiny, strong but slim with that classic old bloodline Arabian face. His name was NL Haltanny, a 1988 blood bay minimal sabino Arabian stallion. To my joy and my dad's suprise, we were approved. We didnt even have a fence on our property! So we put up a fence and she brought him over.

    He was the most well behaved horse I've ever seen. He was 20, but he didn't look or act it. He was so careful about where he put his feet that you could handle him barefoot (yes, i did it, no I don't reccomend). Anyone could lead him past mares in season and all he did was walk proudly, neck arched, tail flagged, with a spring in his step. He never pulled or pushed. I could drop his lead or rein and he wouldn't move more than a step or two, eating grass. He could be ridden bitless, bridless and bareback. I could lead him without a leadline by walking at his shoulder and giving verbal commands. Disabled and autistic children could brush or lead him without worry.

    Once, he was in with a couple other horses. One was a big, bossy AQH, the other a Saddlebred. I was in the pasture, i had just turned Hal loose, and the other two horses were up by the gate as well. The big AQH wanted the Saddlebred to move, but i guess they didn't move fast enough, because Luckey turned to kick with both hind legs. The Saddlebred moved out of the way, missing getting kicked. Hal took a step to move, but stopped. He took both hind hooves to the shoulder. I didn't realize until it was over that if he had moved, i would have been the one to get kicked - probably in the chest. I whole heartedly believe he knew i would have been injured, so he stayed.

    There will never be another like him.
    #28036
  • I went to school in west virginia for...er...equestrian studies? It's a school based solely on equine. Anyway there was this mustang, Mo, I heard horror stories about, every student had something bad to say. He was the first horse I rode at the school in their placement orientation. He was also my first lesson horse. I would sit in his stall with him and he'd share his hay with me. He made a big impact on me in the terms of I want those three strike mustangs. Those "impossible" mustangs. Then there was Traveler. Traveler was a standardbred cross that had been used as an amish cart horse. He was extreamly headshy having been beaten pretty badly, as in there were scars all over his body. He was also severely swaybacked. But me in all of my inexperience, I was the one he chose. His person of you will. I could do anything with his face from day one. He's the one that instilled my want to own rescues. They were my two old men. They are gone now. But I will never forget them.
    Thanked by 1ConfluenceFarms
  • I've never owned a horse, though I've had free access to several over the years. Talking about first horses always brings to mind Royal Velvet, but he happened well into my teen years and was less mine than most. I got to show him for three years, and he did well. He'd do anything I asked. I think the one that was most mine was Jed. He was a huge black beast so looked really scary, but wanted nothing more than a patch of grass and cuddles. As a young adult his barn was my favorite place in our yard.
    Thanked by 1ConfluenceFarms
  • I never really had a first horse.
    My cousin did though. She was given a yearling quarter horse filly. She was a bay roan at the time but has since grayed out.
    We were around 9-13 at the time, I can't remember for sure. I remember being so mad because the filly was given to her as a bribe during a divorce, she didn't even like horses.
    For while the filly was kept in town next to their garage but for obvious reason she had to be moved to a pasture. Until she was around 3 Jazzmine was kept about a mile out if time on the side of a hill. I remember watching her everytime we drove passed the hill. Later she was moved out to my cousins uncles farm. That's where she's been every since.
    For a few summers I would go out and work with her but she was a very naughty horse (had no manners, wasn't saddle broke, wouldn't take a bit, shed lead and let me "ride" her but she was a fat turd.) Catching her everyday was a task in and of itself.
    Even though she was a naughty mare it was still fun working with her. I stopped going out there though. I got tired of trying to work with her but not knowing what I needed to do as well as not getting any help.
    She's still a pasture potato. Pretty sure her pasture mates ( a paor of donkeys) have since passed, so I'm not sure who keeps her company now.
    ----
    Barn ID 4953
    Thanked by 1ConfluenceFarms
  • I still have my first horse. I was never allowed to get a horse whilst I was under the age of 18 so I bought my own after my 18th birthday. He is a arab cross stockhorse and I have had him ever since (5 years). He was my first ever breaker too.
    Thanked by 1ConfluenceFarms
  • while my family owns many horses, none of which have ever been mine, until just a few months ago, I brought home a rescue horse. His initial rescue lead him to stay at my house for about a month, (him and 10+ others) and during that time I made a special little friendship. $500, and ive got myself a not broke 5 year old mouthy strawberry roan Tennessee walker. (I rode working ranch horses, before him XD)
    I plan to have him till his last day, and so far training is going well. He is my first attempt at training a "baby" and though hes not what people deem show "worthy", I dont give a crap, im going into a class next week that im going to be DQ from the second I walk in, but its gonna be fun and a training experience god damnit! :D
    Ice and Nexus is the game....it hasn't started yet though, apparently
  • First horse that was actually mine was an 8 year old Appaloosa mare. Per her papers she was red roan blanketed appy, but by the time she was 8 anyone looking at her would swear she was a white few spotted leopard :)) Her registered name was Goer Maid (might be off on the spelling and the whole name it's been years) and she was the last known mare out of an Appaloosa Champion stud named Ten-X.
    I called her Angel, she had her quirks, when I first got her I'd have to play a game of tag in the pasture to catch her but by the time I no longer owned her she would come to greet me in the pasture. I loved her and then a girl at the new barn I boarded her at ruined her when she was about 11.
    She'd been begging and pleading with me to sell my mare for a year. I firmly said no, this girl is extremely heavy handed and has ruined most the horses she's ridden. I went off for a couple weeks to summer camp and then on a mission trip. I come back and suddenly the girl isn't asking to buy my mare and now anytime I ask for anything more than a trot she does her best representation of being a bronc. Mind you this is a horse I got to practice vaulting on at horse camp and have never had any issue like this with her. I stubbornly kept trying to work with her, had vets check her out, saddle refitted. nothing was wrong that should have caused the behavior change. The only thing I could conclude was the girl rode her without my permission while I was at camp. She finally threw me one too many times, I dislocated my hip at a horse show and my dad said she had to go.
    So I put out listings for her and end up getting a call from the original owner of Ten X and boy did he have a story!
    Turns out she had actually been stolen by her dams owner from him, she was supposed to have been half the stud fee to use Ten-X on a couple of their mares but the lady took off with all the foals. He couldn't believe it when he saw my ad. We confirmed his ownership of Ten X and I discussed it with my parents and we ended up just giving her to him. Last I heard a little neighbor girl had fallen in love with her her parents had money so they leased her and sent her off for 6 months solid professional training and she was back to being the mare I first got, competing in gymkhanas and such. More than likely she's passed on by now or shes in her mid 30s these days.
    So that's the story of my first horse.
    God grant me the hbs to buy the ponies I need,
    The fortitude to resist the shiny ones I truly don't,
    And the wisdom to know there will always be more next time.
    Shield Maiden. Chiari Warrior. Sometime Equestrian. *47002*
    Tir Na Nog Stables - Home of Hooligans, Shenanigans and Mischief. Purveyor of Oddball RS. Hoarder of A Rhythm Of Fours.
  • My first horse was a four year old palomino quarter horse. I got him for Christmas when I was three. I was super horse crazy and all my moms friends said I would grow out of it....welp I didn’t. So on that Christmas I was blindfolded and my dad picked me up and set me on this horse. I ripped the blindfold off and named him Buttercup. Apparently his name came from the old strawberry shortcake movies and she had a palomino with a big stripe. So I named my palomino with a big stripe Buttercup. In July of 2016 my boy foundered (if you don’t know what that means look it up I suck at explaining) Butter’s coffin bones rotated and he could barely walk. For months we doctored him daily. A year later I rode him for the first time since then (vet and farrier approval was received first) it is the best feeling in the world thinking that one year ago he was nearly dead. Now in 2018 he is basically a pasture pet living out his day I best friend rides him sometimes when she comes out. I’ve had Buttercup for 10 years next Christmas. He’s one horse I would chose over the world a million times.

    I’d share a picture if I knew how.

    Thanked by 1JustaSaddletramp
  • My first horse and only horse I own.
    ATouchOfBashaan

    I was looking for months for a project horse in my area, but nothing I liked, I then spotted bosh, boring bay, Anglo Arab, 5 hours away, free to good home, Nah I said too far, that night I could not stop thinking about this horse, stuff it I said I'll message her. She said maybe she will call me in a few days to discuss it further, I start looking at transport cost my budget was $500 travel costs 800+ I might have to tell her no.

    She eventually got around to calling me and she declared it's between me and one other girl. I explained my travelling problems but will sort it out if she says yes. Couple more days pass she calls me back to declare bosh can come to me, no rush for transport. A few days after that a transport company calls me. We can pick up that horse for you this weekend for $490 of course I said yes, I called his owner and let her know.

    I swear it was the longest wait of my life!! It took 4 days for him to arrive and the tears that fulled my eyes when I laid eyes on him, I would never be able to sell him on. He is nothing shy of beautiful.

    Bosh had basic training, and bred for endurance. This month marks 3 years with him, he now knows liberty, basic hack, sporting, cattle work, and excels at jumping

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BekRWZsgns3/
    。・:*:・゚★,。・:*:・゚☆ ID #: 47760 。・:*:・゚★,。・:*:・゚☆
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    ✧・゚: *✧・゚:* Frame is my game *:・゚✧*:・゚✧
    Breeding for fun colours including Ice and Snowflake
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