Hi everyone, my name is Olivia and I am from Southern California.
Here's how I came to be where I am in the land of horses:
When I was young, I owned and rode an Arabian mare named Rhythm. I took lessons on her in the English discipline and had just began showing when I had a nasty fall. After that, I realized I had been riding the whole time to please my mom and gave up riding at the age of 7.
Fast forward 10 years. I was an FFA nerd through all of high school and had successfully raised and shown lambs all three years. When I told my teacher that for my senior year, I would raise another lamb, he suggested I get out of my comfort zone to try something new. I decided I would do an equine project, after regaining a little interest in horses over the past few years.
I contacted my neighbor, who owned about 20 horses and was always looking to sell. She informed me that my favorite horse of hers, Sawyer, had just sold. I was slightly devastated. She bought this horse as a yearling, and I had horse sat on her property every summer since she got him. In four years, I had grown quite fond of him. While upset, I reminded myself that an unbroken 5 year old was a bit out of my comfort range.
I got a call later that night, and my neighbor had decided to sell me the horse (for half of the original price) because she knew he'd be going to a good home. I was so excited and walked over right away to pick him up. I had planned on training him, riding him, and selling him the next coming fall. This would surely raise me enough money to get my American Degree, which I had worked towards for 3 yeas and was under 1,000 dollars away from.
We found a trainer in our price range, and I walked Sawyer to my neighbors 3 times a week for his training. I participated the entire time. I was the first to free lounge, ground drive, and eventually sit on him.
Long story short. I fell IN LOVE with this horse. I hadn't ride in 10 years (and wasn't the strongest rider to begin with), but I just trusted this horse and felt like he trusted me.
While learning to ride on a Green Broke horse is an EXTREMELY foolish decision, and I'd never suggest it to other riders, it did wonders for me. I learned so fast and i have had so many firsts in a short amount of time: including my first canter on a horse, first solo trail ride, first bareback trail ride, and first time swimming. We still ride twice a week with his trainer, and she's teaching me new training techniques every week to continue Sawyer's training.
Monday (2/23) will be Sawyer's 6th birthday, and Tuesday (2/24) will be our first horse-iversary!
So that's how I came to be HORSE CRAZY! It just took me finding my riding soul mate
Sorry that was so long, this is the fist time I've told our story and it was pretty fun nice to meet you all! (If anyone gets through our novel!!)
Feel free to tell me what got you 'horse crazy'.
Here's how I came to be where I am in the land of horses:
When I was young, I owned and rode an Arabian mare named Rhythm. I took lessons on her in the English discipline and had just began showing when I had a nasty fall. After that, I realized I had been riding the whole time to please my mom and gave up riding at the age of 7.
Fast forward 10 years. I was an FFA nerd through all of high school and had successfully raised and shown lambs all three years. When I told my teacher that for my senior year, I would raise another lamb, he suggested I get out of my comfort zone to try something new. I decided I would do an equine project, after regaining a little interest in horses over the past few years.
I contacted my neighbor, who owned about 20 horses and was always looking to sell. She informed me that my favorite horse of hers, Sawyer, had just sold. I was slightly devastated. She bought this horse as a yearling, and I had horse sat on her property every summer since she got him. In four years, I had grown quite fond of him. While upset, I reminded myself that an unbroken 5 year old was a bit out of my comfort range.
I got a call later that night, and my neighbor had decided to sell me the horse (for half of the original price) because she knew he'd be going to a good home. I was so excited and walked over right away to pick him up. I had planned on training him, riding him, and selling him the next coming fall. This would surely raise me enough money to get my American Degree, which I had worked towards for 3 yeas and was under 1,000 dollars away from.
We found a trainer in our price range, and I walked Sawyer to my neighbors 3 times a week for his training. I participated the entire time. I was the first to free lounge, ground drive, and eventually sit on him.
Long story short. I fell IN LOVE with this horse. I hadn't ride in 10 years (and wasn't the strongest rider to begin with), but I just trusted this horse and felt like he trusted me.
While learning to ride on a Green Broke horse is an EXTREMELY foolish decision, and I'd never suggest it to other riders, it did wonders for me. I learned so fast and i have had so many firsts in a short amount of time: including my first canter on a horse, first solo trail ride, first bareback trail ride, and first time swimming. We still ride twice a week with his trainer, and she's teaching me new training techniques every week to continue Sawyer's training.
Monday (2/23) will be Sawyer's 6th birthday, and Tuesday (2/24) will be our first horse-iversary!
So that's how I came to be HORSE CRAZY! It just took me finding my riding soul mate
Sorry that was so long, this is the fist time I've told our story and it was pretty fun nice to meet you all! (If anyone gets through our novel!!)
Feel free to tell me what got you 'horse crazy'.