When and Why I Started Horse Riding

I started riding horses when I was five years old. All I would talk about, draw, and dream about was horses and riding and one day having my own. I wished to have my own horse. I would even say to my mum how I didn’t even care what it looked like. It could have one eye and three legs and I would still love them.

I started riding at a local riding school for a few years when I was six until I got my first loan horse, Pinky. I learnt how to do everything on him from gymkhana games to showjumping. The owner of pinky new I had outgrown him so had found me another loan horse on the same yard called Cash. Cash was more of a happy hacker plod along, but he gave me the chance to improve all the finer details of riding.

I stopped loaning horses for a few years when I was 12 because of secondary school and having to focus on my studies. For three years I hadn't ridden or even been around a horse. One day my mum had come back from work telling me how someone there knows a livery yard that is looking for someone to loan a horse. So the following week we went down to the yard to have a look at the horse, Bonnie. I was so nervous I hadn’t ridden in years and as I stood on that mounting block I could feel my legs shaking. The ride went really well up until I was trotting around the corner to find out that Bonnie didn’t like corners and I fell off. Not a great start, but I got back on and tried again and we were both really happy with how it went.

So for the next year and a half, I loaned Bonnie for four days a week. I didn’t do a lot of speciality riding with Bonnie, just the occasional hack and basic schooling but it felt so good to get back on and be riding again. Me and my friend had taken Bonnie and her horse out for a hack it was going well until we had to pass a lorry. Bonnie got scared while passing and decided to gallop her way back home. Bonnie dropped me off on her way back home into a ditch which left me with a broken hand and concussion. I wasn't able to ride for a while and by the time I was able to ride Bonnie again she had coliced and had to go in for emergency surgery. This put her out of work for the next year and a half. At the same time, me and my mum were struggling financially, which meant we had to give up loaning Bonnie.

In 2016 I started going to college where I studied equine and learnt how to be a groom. By this time I hadn't' been on a horse for at least two years. I left college in 2017 and i wanted to ride again but this time my own horse. i was looking for something that me and my mum could both ride and share but we couldn’t find anything in our price range. so it was either going back to college to carry on studying equine or it was to get a job. I applied for many different equine jobs but unfortunately, nothing came back. So I went back to college but this time for animal care. i was only in college for a month when i decided it wasn't for me and that i wanted to work at a yard and having my own horse. So I started looking for both again while studying animal care online.

My mum, whos a therapist, had gone back to the yard that we once loaned Bonnie at to help the owners. they started talking and offered to help us buy a horse as they knew we weren't in the best position. And offered to give me a small job at the yard helping them with their horses and animals when they went away.

Me, my mum, and the owners of the farm were all looking for the perfect horse. We spent ages looking, but the next time we went to the yard the owners had found a few options that they thought would be a good match.

We read through each advert and ended up looking at a horse called Peggy’s Delight, or how we know her, Penny. In Penny's ad, it said that she was a strong horse that needed a confident rider.

I went home that night with my mum and in the car, I was saying how I didn’t think Penny wouldn't be a good match as I wasn't a confident rider.

We still went to see Penny the following week and I had it in my head that I wasn't going to ride her if she does need a confident rider. I'd already told my mum that I was going to ask the owner to ride her for me to see how she is. But by the time we had gotten there and the owner asked me if I wanted to ride, I was saying yes and jumping on. I could feel that she was strong but she listened very well and she responded to voice commands so that was great.

And we bought her. The first horse I'd ever gone to see and we'd bought her straight away. Almost a year on and we're already planning on competing. We've only been riding together for about three months but we've come so far, I was so nervous when I started again, but now I can't wait to ride.

Sometimes I sit and wonder about where I would be and what I would be doing if I'd never started riding horses.