November's 10 Questions

Thanks again L for the blog content!

How old is the youngest/greenest horse you’ve ridden? 3 years old since that is the youngest I would ride, I usually lightly start them towards the end of their 3 year old year, and then have them going well once they are 4. And the greenest they've been is with no training at all, my favorite - a nice fresh, blank slate!

How old is the oldest horse you’ve ridden? I think the oldest would be 26. I rode Grady around the pasture bareback and bridleless a couple weeks before he died. He was retired, but we both still loved the opportunity to go for a spin around the pasture.

My favorite pair of ears

Were you scared of horses when you first started riding? Nope. I was the most absolutely fearless little kid around horses ever... Grady used to buck me off regularly, he reared, tried to scrape me off repeatedly on fences and trees, and when I was determined to learn to ride bareback I fell more times than I could count... I'd just chase after him and hop right back on!

Would you say you’re a more nervous rider or a confident rider? I would say I'm a confident rider for the most part. I don't care if a horse is going to buck, rear or take off with me, I will get on any poorly behaved horse. Cross country has started to make me a little more nervous with Jetta ever since she dumped me on a fence, but other than that I'm fairly confident.

Biggest pet peeve about non-horse people around horses? It's not necessarily around horses, but when people find out I have horses and say either "How can you possibly afford to have horses?!" or my favorite, "You must be rich!" (I wish). 

A time you’ve been scared for your life? (horse related) When Jetta slipped and fell and rolled over on top of me. She had just barely been started undersaddle and I was home at my parents' alone, they were out of the state for a week, I didn't have my cell phone on me and I had to untack Jetta and walk from a mile away to the house and call for someone to come get me. I thought I was going to faint on the walk back I hurt so bad and I was scared that no one would find me for a week. Luckily I didn't break anything but I severely sprained both of the MCL's on my knees so I couldn't bend my knees for a while and had to be on crutches for over a month.

Have you ever fallen off at show? What happened? Yep. A couple times - once I was warming up Jazz at a High School Equestrian Team meet and she saw that the gate was open while we were cantering past it - she went left and I went right and I lawndarted into the fence. Thank goodness for helmets! The other time was on Tux. We went to his first dressage show and were just walking out of the ring after winning a Dressage Equitation class. He was the chillest horse so we were just strolling along on a loose rein when a train blew its horn right next to the arena and he spooked, gave a little buck and trotted away and I just rolled right off.

Our haul from the show where he dumped me (albeit he didn't mean to!)

What’s a breed of horse you’ve never ridden but would like to ride? Hmm, probably an Akhal-Teke. I think they are fascinating horses, I would love to someday ride one!

Describe the worst behaved horse you’ve ridden? Grady was definitely the worst - when I got him he didn't turn, he didn't stop, didn't go, reared, bucked, tried to scrape you off, etc. It all ended well but I can't imagine what my trainer was thinking when she picked him for me!

The most frustrating ride you’ve ever had? Anytime Jetta decides that she's not going to show up to play and spends the ride spooking at everything, pulling every evasion out of the book, and just generally being a pill. It happens less and less as she gets older, but she's still pretty good at pushing my buttons!