It started in 2011 when i joined 4h. Yes it was that recently. I never really rode before i joined. Only on Pony rides at the fair and on my neighbor's horse before she was sold. And that was only once. I joined in a club by my house,Crystal Springs, and i rode a pretty grey Arabian mare whose name was Eikon. She was really sweet and i loved her very much. But then my 4h leader introduced me to a new horse. She was known as Casper. Casper was a silver chocolate Arab/shetland mare.
this is a silver chocolate horse. Casper was great I loved her a little more than i loved Eikon. Even though i rode her in the Halloween Parade. My club ended up winning that year. So we began to train for the Keystone Competitive Trail Ride.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4COlFjidzcc
It is a 12(?) mile ride. Very hard training for it. If you see at 1:25 (time on the video) you will see Casper. 1:32 you will see Eikon. I didn't participate because we weren't even close to being ready. Most of my friends did. So in 2012 we were on another trail ride. My leader was riding a young morgan named Casey. Casey was very "green". So my leader was riding her with only a halter. And Casey decided that she was going to run into Casper. Casper spooked and darted off the trail. Casey bucked my leader off and was freaking out. It all turned into a huge fiasco. So I was afraid of riding. I wouldn't go on trail rides. I was afraid to trot. I was afraid to get on. I was afraid of horses. There is no worse feeling than being afraid of something you love.
I never got over it. Until one day mom told me that I could take lessons. I was still afraid yes,but i was willing to try. So we ended up going to Evonly Equestrian Center. Which is about 30 minutes from my house. The barn is huge. The land is huge. The horses were gorgeous. The one horse that really caught my eye was a friesian named Wander. I absolutely loved him. He was the first friesian i'd ever really seen. Then i met..drumroll please......M&M. He was really cute. I was short then so i couldn't even really see over his back. As a side note, a hand is 4 inches. He is 13.2 hands high (h.h.) Therefore he is 52 inches tall approximately. I am 60 inches. Quite a difference. Well i started on a lunge line. On the very first day i started trotting. I was still scared. I didn't know how to post. I didn't really know this pony. One of my biggest problems was that i held my breath. Holding your breath makes you tense. This makes the pony become tense.
I went to many lessons and eventually stopped having this problem. M and i had got very close. Last year,in January I started riding another horse. Robin. I'd seen her before and what i had she was VERY energetic. First time i even saw her on a lunge line she was bucking. So this time i was very nervous. But i got on and did a good bit of practice. She was great. She was alot bigger than M was. She had a longer stride too which made her feel faster.
I eventually formed a bond with Robin too. At the end of the school year i found out that i wouldn't be going back to that school. The only reason i was happy about it was because my parents told me that i could lease a pony named Fred. I knew Fred's owners and thought that they were very nice. Fred was adorable. I had ridden him once before they told me. He was afraid of me. This made me kinda scared. I was new to him,he was new to me. His trot was a little different because he's a Morgan. But i thought that his trot was the best out of the 3. But he ended up getting sick. So i was riding Robin for a long time. Desperately waiting for him to heal. After a month or 2 he was better. But the lease didn't work out. So i still continued to ride him even though he wasn't my leasing pony.
I still ride him. He is my usual pony. But i started going on Wednesday mornings. Worked the whole day,then got a free ride. We usually played with the ponies. (my friend Evie and i) She had Molly. I had M&M. Then she left for the day and i had my lesson. It's a really good routine. Since school started she hasn't been coming. but since I'm homeschooled it's easier to go when i can. I've started learning how to canter. It's frightning at first. I haven't done it for 2 weeks. And for the FIRST time since 4h i trotted on a trail ride. It felt great!
Well I guess that'll be all for now! Bye!
~Ellie
