Hello! I'm new, nice to meet you!
I was involved with horses several times as a kid. Firstly, I had a couple of years of private lessons with a friend of the family who was lovely and very knowledgeable about horses, but unfortunately was inexperienced at teaching. We ended up hitting a point where she didn't know how to help me get better, and eventually lessons stopped. About five years later, I joined an intramural program at my middle school and started riding at a large barn which, unfortunately, was also not good at teaching me, specifically. A lot of their students do very well, but it just wasn't a good fit for me. Though I did befriend the BEST PONY EVER, his name was Starry, he was a grumpy old Welsh/Shetland cross who was known for being Difficult, but for whatever reason he and I clicked. He was one of my best friends and I miss him terribly. I don't think I have any pictures.
Now I'm almost thirty and am finally in a place, financial and mentally, to get back in the saddle. I am in the very early stages of doing this--I've only just started researching local barns. It's is very daunting! My education is very spotty and I'm obviously super rusty, so I need a place with experienced teachers, but I really don't want a repeat of what happened with the humans at my last barn. I have to find just the right teacher, easier said than done! I'm autistic, which means I have difficulties with body language and vocal intonation, which means that it's really common for me to say/do something that is offputting to people and I haven't even realized I've done anything. It's very frustrating and was a major impediment to forming social relationships at the barn.
But anyway. I've wanted to own a horse for basically my whole life, but that's obviously years away since I haven't even ridden in fifteen-ish years. I'm very excited to start the process and am happy to have found a place online with people who love horses and whom I can maybe bounce ideas off of. I know I have a lot of work to do (in addition to not having the right place to ride yet, I want to get into better physical shape so that I don't come away from my first lessons feeling lousy!) but I'm looking forward to it. It's been a long time since I've been this excited for something!
I was involved with horses several times as a kid. Firstly, I had a couple of years of private lessons with a friend of the family who was lovely and very knowledgeable about horses, but unfortunately was inexperienced at teaching. We ended up hitting a point where she didn't know how to help me get better, and eventually lessons stopped. About five years later, I joined an intramural program at my middle school and started riding at a large barn which, unfortunately, was also not good at teaching me, specifically. A lot of their students do very well, but it just wasn't a good fit for me. Though I did befriend the BEST PONY EVER, his name was Starry, he was a grumpy old Welsh/Shetland cross who was known for being Difficult, but for whatever reason he and I clicked. He was one of my best friends and I miss him terribly. I don't think I have any pictures.
Now I'm almost thirty and am finally in a place, financial and mentally, to get back in the saddle. I am in the very early stages of doing this--I've only just started researching local barns. It's is very daunting! My education is very spotty and I'm obviously super rusty, so I need a place with experienced teachers, but I really don't want a repeat of what happened with the humans at my last barn. I have to find just the right teacher, easier said than done! I'm autistic, which means I have difficulties with body language and vocal intonation, which means that it's really common for me to say/do something that is offputting to people and I haven't even realized I've done anything. It's very frustrating and was a major impediment to forming social relationships at the barn.
But anyway. I've wanted to own a horse for basically my whole life, but that's obviously years away since I haven't even ridden in fifteen-ish years. I'm very excited to start the process and am happy to have found a place online with people who love horses and whom I can maybe bounce ideas off of. I know I have a lot of work to do (in addition to not having the right place to ride yet, I want to get into better physical shape so that I don't come away from my first lessons feeling lousy!) but I'm looking forward to it. It's been a long time since I've been this excited for something!