[sam34]

My wife grew up around horses. I did not. She barrel raced, showed western, and trained horses. You're right. Back then (60's and 70's) regular people frequented the shows. The family wagon or beat pickup towing a horse trailer is a thing of the past. I'm amazed, any time we come across a horse show in our travels, at the expensive trailers and tow vehicles that are now a necessary part of the sport.

We had quarter horses for a number of years. We didn't show them. We ail rode them up by where our cabin is now and had access to some 6000 acres around our 34 acre property. We also trailered them other places for horse camping trips. At our high point, we felt we needed one for each member of the family, and a spare, so 6. It's probably been 12 years of so since my wife's horse died. We were down to 2 after my kids left the house, so we decided it was time, and mine went to a farm that used him for 4 h kids. We both have had back surgery, so the long trail rides of the past had to be short ones, anyhow. As much as we loved having them, it's an expensive hobby, and they really tie you down. I do know my kids are better people for growing up around horses, though. They all learned to ride starting when they were around 2.

 

[bitsybama]

@sam34 yes, we pulled a Shoop 2-horse with an old station wagon in the early ‘80s!

Also: in the fantasy world in my head, like some scenario where I win the lottery, I would love a cutting horse. I took my husband (not a horse person) to a horse show for the first time thinking he would love the jumpers but he was enamored with the gaited/walking horses. So, a string of those also after we win the Mega Millions. 😂

 

[Goldens&Friesians]

I have loved horses as long as I can remember! My neighbor bought a Shetland pony named Rose for his grandkids and allowed us to ride her whenever we wanted (if we could catch her!). So I kinda taught myself to ride on her.

Then a man from my church leased me a solid chestnut paint mare named Illusion that I showed in 4-H for a year. While I was leasing her 2 new 3 year old geldings were added to her herd. I fell in love at first sight with the tall bay gelding. I would groom him and pop on him bareback with just a halter and lead. Found out he was for sale. They said he was too stand off-ish! I couldn’t believe that because he would always come up to me and blow kisses in my face! We had our experienced friend come try him out to see if she felt he would be a good match for me (mom was worried he was too young and green). She felt he would be perfect to help build my experience without being too dangerous. So I purchased Colty when I was about 14. He is an appendix quarter horse standing 16.1. We had some green horse and green rider things to work through, but he was definitely a great teacher and helped me gain experience and confidence in both training and riding. I showed him in 4-H until I aged out.

Speaking of 4-H, remember my neighbor with the Shetland? He purchased a little quarter pony filly named Baby at an auction and asked me to do some training on her. Since my gelding excelled in western, I trained her in English and did the English classes (minus jumping since she was only 3) with Baby. After that I did start trying out English with Colty as well. Found out he’d rather drop dead than jump, but he was pretty good at equitation and hunter on flat!

After high school I attended an equestrian college for a semester and basically found out that if I wanted to pursue a training career I would have to move and be in the show world more. I wasn’t willing to do either of those things having discovered that I much prefer personal recreational riding and training horses to be nice trail mounts than the politics and expense of the show pen. I put a spotted saddle horse through a refresher course for a friend-my first experience with a gaited horse-during this time. She wanted a safe horse to ride trails or down country roads. I really enjoyed that type of training!

My next idea was to buy a Friesian filly to train. Having experienced the breed through friends who breed them I fell in love because they are the equine equivalent of goldens! I purchased a yearling named Danika, but 3 months later tragedy struck. She was out on pasture and her leg had swollen twice the size it should be. X rays revealed a break up near her shoulder. Took her to the vet college to see if anything could be done, but had to put her down. Feeling sorry for me some friends gave me a mini horse named Chica that they had rescued from an abusive situation. We helped each other heal. I trained her to drive and my little brother learned to ride on her. She is a spit fire and takes quite a bit to hold back to a walk while driving! She is now in her early 20’s and has developed pretty bad heaves that we are treating, but she can’t go like she used to anymore.

About a year after losing Danika I purchased another yearling Friesian filly named Eisis. I had the opportunity to show her in our local horse fair’s breed demo as a yearling and 2 year old. She loved having all the people visit her stall and pet her! When she was 3 I lightly started her under saddle. Her first trail ride she acted as if she had done it her whole life. (Thanks to good old Colty who ponied her along on trails when she was younger putting up with her bouts of friskiness occasionally!) She became an awesome trail horse who would go anywhere you pointed her and particularly loved water crossings. She got a good many trail miles and camping trips in before tragedy struck again. Around age 5 she started being on and off lame on her back leg which was also becoming slightly crooked. We took her to get X-rays. They revealed that the joint on her back pastern had not come together as it should and was slowly slipping off to the side causing both the crookedness and the lameness. So I stopped riding her. Only she HATED that. She made such a pest of herself that I thought well if I am just going to have to put her down eventually anyway, I may as well let her do what she wants even if it means I have to put her down sooner. So I started riding her again just doing whatever pace and distance she wanted. At first she wanted to go just like she had before. But after a couple years the rides got slower and shorter. She still wanted to go though. Around age 9 was when she told me she didn’t want to ride as much and she was only ridden a few times that year. We stopped all together after that. At age 11, I knew I couldn’t put her through another winter as she was always much more painful in the cold, so that fall she was euthanized.

Somewhere in all this my sister and I discovered a group on Facebook called Horse Trails and Camping Across America (it is now called Horse Trails of America or HTA). We took our first trip west to southern Utah! That group was amazing for helping us locate horse motels or campgrounds along the way for overnight stops! Also got a lot of excellent info from locals on trails to ride in Utah. We did Buckskin Gulch, the old Paria townsite, Copper Slot, Moon Canyon, Bay Bull Slot, Willis Slot, Losse/Casto Canyons loop, and Bryce Canyon. We have also done the Michigan Shore to Shore ride. Over 230 miles in 10 days. Meet some awesome people that I still keep up with via Facebook. Fall of 2021 we did a south west trip. Spent a weekend at Kanapolis State Park in Kansas, then moved on to the south rim of the Grand Canyon where we rode down to the bottom on the Bright Angel trail and back up on the South Kaibab trail. That was the single most amazing thing I have ever done with my horse! He was 23 at the time and some said that horses can’t handle those trails, only mules. Well we found a contact who takes her horse down quite regularly and she told us that was bologna! You do however need a solid horse who won’t spook because one wrong step and you’ll be meeting God! They need to be ok with backpacks, trail runners and we found out on the trail that ours didn’t do too bad with helicopters as we had one fly right past us and drop supplies at the bottom. Definitely not a trail to take just any horse on! We also rode in a coupe different parts of the Tonto National Forest and Chiricahua National Monument in AZ. Then we stopped at White Sands in New Mexico, Caprock Canyon in TX and did a one night weekend in Mark Twain National Forest before we needed to get home to work and family. We do a lot of local trails and more local weekend camping too. And Colty has been many more places than me from South Dakota to Wyoming to Colorado and everywhere in between because my sister uses him to take my cousin places as he is the type you can trust with your toddler or your grandma. Hoping to get to Little Missouri State Park in North Dakota before my Colty’s arthritis gets too bad.

I still have Chica and now my son is learning to ride her. I also still have Colty who is going to be 25 in March. He was diagnosed with arthritis last spring and has a pill that he takes but only as needed because the vet said to use it the least amount possible as it can wreck other things if used too much. Fortunately he has largely not needed pills-only really in the fall when the weather changed. Also, my sister purchased two little mini horses one gelding (Revy) one stallion (Amos) who will be 3 this summer and I plan to help her get them driving. She had already taught them several tricks. She had a buckskin quarter horse/Arab mare named Kitty and a grulla paint mare named Missy who she does tricks and Liberty with. She uses them for her ministry Horsing Around for Jesus. She hopes she can get the boys driving as a team eventually and that they will be trustworthy enough to give nursing home residents rides. Chica is our go to for that, but with her heaves she really can’t do it anymore.

Anyway, there is my book of a post on my horses and horse history!

Guess I should include photos!

This is Danika:

This is Eisis and me in medieval costume for a breed demo:

Chica driving:

My sister and her mare Kitty doing her trick trained rear upon completion of the Shore to Shore ride:

Revy (sorrel) and Amos doing his newest trick:

Me on Colty and my son on Chica during his first horse camping trip:

My sister on her mare Missy heading down Bright Angel trail:

Me and Colty coming up the South Kaibab trail:

 

[bitsybama]

Awesome history, @Goldens&Friesians!

I’m sorry for your losses over the years; it’s so hard. I do love Fresians and got to be around one when I boarded at a small stable where a young one was growing up. He was like 17 hands when he was a year old! His owners have taught him to drive. They are just so gorgeous as driving horses.

Chica sounds fantastic - I have never met a mini without a huge personality! And a horse that doesn’t spook is worth their weight in gold … those trips are amazing!

 

[DblTrblGolden2]

I grew up on a farm with a steady flow of horses. We normally had between 10 -15 at a time. My grandfather was known for buying, breeding, and breaking horses back in the 50's. That was long before my time. When I was growing up we always had horses around. I would show at the state fair, we had halter, trail, and the last day of the fair we would have pony and horse races. I loved the races.

When I got married my husband was terrified of horses, so for a few years we just had golden retrievers. We still had horses around the farm, just not that I personally had on my property. When my oldest son was four he begged for a pony and I ended up buying him the meanest shetland anyone has ever owned. (of course it was child safe in the ad) That led to me buying myself a nice quarter horse and we started trail riding around the farm, and in MD, VA, PA, TN. By the time my boys were older we had four quarter horses and two paints. My husband insisted on having a paint so he "could tell which horse was his". LOL He was a good sport about the horses, but always made it known they were mine.

I currently own part of two roping horses with my son. My son is a team roper. He absolutely loves it and I credit that mean little shetland for teaching him how to really ride a horse. I had major neck surgery last year and am feeling better then I have in a long time. I've been toying with the idea of buying a reining horse. I'm old enough to know better, but I have to admit that it's just one of those things I want to do before I'm too old.

Goldens and horses were my best friends growing up on a farm. Once you've had that connection with either one the desire never goes away. I also think there are overlaps in the way I rode and trained my horses and how I handle my dogs. I catch myself making noises I made when riding while I'm training and especially heeling with my dogs lol

 

[Goldens&Friesians]

I grew up on a farm with a steady flow of horses. We normally had between 10 -15 at a time. My grandfather was known for buying, breeding, and breaking horses back in the 50's. That was long before my time. When I was growing up we always had horses around. I would show at the state fair, we had halter, trail, and the last day of the fair we would have pony and horse races. I loved the races.

When I got married my husband was terrified of horses, so for a few years we just had golden retrievers. We still had horses around the farm, just not that I personally had on my property. When my oldest son was four he begged for a pony and I ended up buying him the meanest shetland anyone has ever owned. (of course it was child safe in the ad) That led to me buying myself a nice quarter horse and we started trail riding around the farm, and in MD, VA, PA, TN. By the time my boys were older we had four quarter horses and two paints. My husband insisted on having a paint so he "could tell which horse was his". LOL He was a good sport about the horses, but always made it known they were mine.

I currently own part of two roping horses with my son. My son is a team roper. He absolutely loves it and I credit that mean little shetland for teaching him how to really ride a horse. I had major neck surgery last year and am feeling better then I have in a long time. I've been toying with the idea of buying a reining horse. I'm old enough to know better, but I have to admit that it's just one of those things I want to do before I'm too old.

Goldens and horses were my best friends growing up on a farm. Once you've had that connection with either one the desire never goes away. I also think there are overlaps in the way I rode and trained my horses and how I handle my dogs. I catch myself making noises I made when riding while I'm training and especially heeling with my dogs lol

How did you get your husband to ride??? AND let you buy more horses??? Mine is also scared of horses and thinks they are way too expensive. I got him on my gelding a few times when we were first married, but he is just so nervous! Oh, and reiners are awesome! I rode a low level Reiner in college. You should do it! Broke ones are usually super nice/safe. The one I rode in college wasn’t fast enough to spin me off or slide me over her head, lol!

 

[DblTrblGolden2]

How did you get your husband to ride??? AND let you buy more horses??? Mine is also scared of horses and thinks they are way too expensive. I got him on my gelding a few times when we were first married, but he is just so nervous! Oh, and reiners are awesome! I rode a low level Reiner in college. You should do it! Broke ones are usually super nice/safe. The one I rode in college wasn’t fast enough to spin me off or slide me over her head, lol!

I'll never really know how I got him to ride. I think I just finally wore him down. I did buy him the most child safe, beautiful red and white tobiano paint I could find. I bought it from an older lady who needed money for cancer treatments for her dog. She literally drank coffee with this horse every morning while feeding it ginger snaps. I think he knew that if this frail little old lady could ride this horse he had no excuse. He's still terrified of any other horse though.

My sons roping horses are high powered in the arena, but are professionally trained and have amazing ground manners. If I'm messing with them and they move I instantly hear "you better watch it". 😂 🙄

I may just have to buy a retired reining horse. I just want to learn the patterns and play with it. The spin me off and slide me over their head is the part I'm worried about. lol

 

[Megora]

^^^ I said NO when looking at this picture. 😅

@OP - I'm not as into horses as I was growing up. First started riding when I was 3. Got serious by the time I was a preteen and started competing in schooling classes in my teens and amateur when I started working after hs and bought my first horse (both bought with my own money from working). First car cost me $5000 back then and my horse was double that. And I got a good deal on him because I knew him and he liked me. I bought him because some people out east were looking to buy him and I didn't want to lose him. This was a chestnut who would throw anyone who got on him and immediately took a hold of him. And people who tried doing it the other way, he'd blow off completely. He was an awesome show horse. You took him out into the big ring with people cheering, and he just came alive. <= I think the things I love about showing my guys in conformation stem from that flying feeling I got while going around with my "show-butt" horse who loved showing. That flash and flare. All the more so since I showed saddleseat.

He had a show career ending injury to his suspensory - so after 2-3 years of showing, I had to retire him. Which quite honesty was good for my bank account. Showing horses is insanely expensive if you are doing the big shows and classes. LOL.

So I just did trail rides and riding just for fun with my horse for a few years after that. And he got to be more like a big dog to me than just a horse (that's a good thing). The bond we had was the biggest thing in those years. When he was young and even as he got old, I was the only one he'd let catch him when he was out in the field. If I was not going to make it that day, they would put him in runs instead, to give them a chance to catch him. But I'd go out there and didn't even need to call him - he'd come running. That bond and loyalty is what made him so wonderful. He was just turning 30 when I lost him to what was probably cancer (he technically colic-ed, but it was because of a tumor). Even that last day, I walked into the barn and he raised his head and called me. I'd been teaching classes and helping kids get ready to show + helping work horses, but after he died, I was done. I've not been able to go back to horses ever since - I miss "flying" but I don't miss the bills. The bond I had with my horse made them all worth it.

 

[JerseyChris]

If anyone thinks dogs are expensive, they need to take a look at horses.. LOL.. my best friends wife barrel races and now has both their kids doing barrels and roping..

 

[DblTrblGolden2]

If anyone thinks dogs are expensive, they need to take a look at horses.. LOL.. my best friends wife barrel races and now has both their kids doing barrels and roping..

And if you think that’s bad get involved in dirt track racing. We traveled the country and our son dirt track raced for years. Dogs, horses, boats, absolutely nothing compares.

 

[JerseyChris]

And if you think that’s bad get involved in dirt track racing. We traveled the country and our son dirt track raced for years. Dogs, horses, boats, absolutely nothing compares.

I know more than I would like on dirt track racing. I have worked with people that do it.. Crazy money and more time involved. There is a dirt track a few miles down the road from me. I have raced cars, boats when I was younger.. Nothing is really cheap. lol

 

[MushyB]

View attachment 899376


^^^ I said NO when looking at this picture. 😅

I was going to say the same thing but my head was spinning from the imagined vertigo and terror of glancing over the edge of the trail there....yikes! Super cool but that's a big fat NOPE from me

 

[JerseyChris]

^^^ I said NO when looking at this picture. 😅

My stomach gets woosy just looking at this picture. Not a chance I would do that, my luck I would be on a suicidal horse that would take me with them,.. LOL

 

[Goldens&Friesians]

Nope, horses aren’t cheap, even when you don’t show them! Back when I bought Colty I only paid 1500 for him. With his pedigree, conformation and temperament he wouldn’t sell for any less than 8,000 under the same conditions today. Back in 4-H I had some serious western show people offer me big money for him because he is really nice. But I could never sell him! We are able to keep the horses at my parent’s house and my sister recently purchased 2 acres that we are currently working on putting up fence and fixing up the old barn. So we don’t have boarding fees to pay. Plus my sister is a barefoot farrier so she does all our horses and doesn’t charge me anything since I groom her dog and let her use Colty for riding lessons. So we don’t have farrier fees either. And on our trips we try our best to stay at state parks or on BLM land since that is free dispersed/dry camping (that’s bureau of land management, I had someone all confused thinking I meant black lives matter and they were wondering why they would be purchasing land, lol). We tent camped or threw a tarp down in the back of the stock trailer for a long time; just got an older but good shape gooseneck trailer with a bed, fridge and sink (that we have yet to use as most horse camps we go to don’t have water hook ups). It is only 23 ft long but fits 4 horses and the bed so it feels pretty luxurious compared to our previous arrangement! We can use those extra stalls for hay, water, grain, spare trailer tires (last trip we had 3 blowouts and seem to always have at least one trailer tire blow out per trip so always have 2 spares!) Hay prices are insane though. We were paying $2 a bale for high quality hay when we first got horses; now we pay $6-7 a bale and we are in an area of the country were good hay is “cheaper.” But those are some of my cost saving things that we have been blessed to be able to do.

 

[Megora]

I know more than I would like on dirt track racing. I have worked with people that do it.. Crazy money and more time involved. There is a dirt track a few miles down the road from me. I have raced cars, boats when I was younger.. Nothing is really cheap. lol

I will say that spending all my money in my 20's on my horse kept me out of trouble.

But I was small fry compared to some of the people I remember teaching back then. LOL. I suspect some could drop a lot of money on horses and still have plenty to get in trouble with...!

One guy would come in and he looked just like Richard Dreyfuss from What About Bob. He had 5 daughters from age 3 to about 11 who he would bring to classes. My memory is fuzzy but I do remember the daughters had funny names like Bridle (that was the oldest one). I remember thinking "What the heck". We taught his older kids and he taught and worked with the youngest. All of them showed, but the barn did the trailering and boarding at shows for them (they paid, we did). They owned and boarded 2 horses + a pony for the youngest.

At the time, I vaguely remember just thinking the whole family was weird but they were crazy rich.

 

[MushyB]

Loving seeing how many horse people are also dog people 💜

Me too! I loved horses as a kid, but my family didn't have the resources to allow for more than the occasional pony ride. In my mid-20s I moved to CA, and made friends with someone with a horse.

In Feb. '98 we were supposed to go to lunch, she called to cancel b/c the ranch she boarded her horse at had flooded (a levy nearby had broken and 6' of water raced through overnight, super scary and so lucky none of the horses died or were hurt), and she needed to go down to help empty the hay barn because the wet hay could spontaneously combust, and I offered to come along to help.

The woman who owned the boarding place appreciated my help, and offered for me to come ride whenever I wanted.
I started going down on weekends, and we became friends. Fast forward to a Saturday in Oct. '99, she called and said she had a horse she wanted me to meet, a flea-bitten grey Arab, and that weekend I unexpectedly became owned by a horse, my Georgie. 💜 I lost her in early '03 to navicular.

On Christmas '02 I was gifted a Polish Arab from my friend; the two of them had never clicked, and I'd been riding her while trying to rehab Georgie's navicular. Leah and I were a great team, and did many miles on trails in CA together. She had a suspensory ligament injury in June '05, and I spent almost a year trying to rehab her. It was reinjured in Feb. 06 and I retired her after that. She was happy being a pasture ornament at a friend's ranch in Oregon until she passed a week after my dad in Aug. '17 (forever known as annus horriblis as I also lost 2 dogs that year too). I was able to be with her when she passed, which was tough, and I miss her still.

Today: still best friends with the boarding barn owner, although these days I ride her horses. Fulltime work, 2 kids (tween and teen) don't leave the time, or finances, for horses right now, but I will have my own horse again, probably in about 3-5 years. It will be a gaited horse, Rocky Mountain or similar; I want one no bigger than 14.5 hands and I've been spoiled by my friend's gaited horse - no more posting is a-ok with me

 

[FurdogDad]

And if you think that’s bad get involved in dirt track racing. We traveled the country and our son dirt track raced for years. Dogs, horses, boats, absolutely nothing compares.

I know more than I would like on dirt track racing. I have worked with people that do it.. Crazy money and more time involved. There is a dirt track a few miles down the road from me. I have raced cars, boats when I was younger.. Nothing is really cheap. lol

I've been involved in various forms of auto racing.....drag racing, road racing, asphalt and dirt circle track racing. It's all expensive now.....
My experience with horses was back when I was 14. My mom passed from breast cancer and the pastor at our church had 2 horses, a very spirited horse named Rascal and gentle Tennessee Walker named Rex. I learned to ride western on Rex. Haven't been on a horse in probably 40 yrs but have some pretty good memories from back then and it definitely helped me through a tough time.

 

[Tagrenine]

Haha i love horses! I showed English (hunters) in high school and jumpers after college. I’ve had TBs, a Mustang, a QH. My favorite thing in the world is riding in other countries.

My first two horses were rescues, and they were great. My next was a baby TB that I still own. We’ve grown up together lol. I got two more throughbreds to train and sell. Then I got a QH and Mustang for trail riding.

I’ll add more pics in the next post 😂

 

[Tagrenine]

Not my eyes being closed in the first pic 🤣