Has anybody here actually ridden a Horse and/or Pony before?

[StormBlaze 992]

my entire childhood and early teen years was just horse focused. I used to ride every week. a friend of mine's Mum owns a livery yard so id get to go riding there too. My mum is very horsey and used to ride a lot until she had me. Ive not seen her on a horse ever tbh just photos of her on them.

But I also used to be a part time stablehand and we had a shetland when i was a kid. My Mum's old pony, but he hated his back being touched so he was more of a pet pony than a ride.

Since I left school, I have had no horse contact at all other than police horses or seieng them at shows. Ive not ridden in 10 years and it just makes me very sad not to be around horses anymore. =(

[Gabriel 560]

My mother owns a horse farm with my stepfather so yeah, I have attempted riding with horses and ponies before. I suck at it big time though and usually just settle down and help with the errands instead of dragging myself to the riding courses with my sisters.

Edited February 7, 2018 by Gabriel

[omgamapwny 51]

My mum shoved me on a horse (she was very into horses) when I was about 3 or 4...and I tipped straight off the other side haha

[Equus 91]

I used to own horses. More like fat pasture ornaments, but horses nonetheless. Only rode occasionally, mostly when I volunteered at the local therapeutic riding center, but haven't in ages.

[Le Trotteur Sauvage 13,051]

No still haven't ride one, and still looking for a horse to rent 

[Roughtek 54]

I used to ride all the time, back when i competed in the California Gymkana Association,  i did that for a few years, but then lost interest, but I do still ride every once in awhile.

[TBD 17,254]

I have ridden a bull (fun sport but dangerous btw) but a horse? I wish. 

[Cwanky 17,571]

I think as a young child in Elementary School I rode a pony. I definitely remember riding a horse on a trail in Yellowstone. The ride was quite rough and I had no control. You really must be careful when riding any animal of those sizes. One wrong move and you can badly injure yourself or die. 

The Yellowstone incident was almost a fiasco since my mom tried to take pictures of a baby cub and the momma bear began rising up in defense and nearly startled the horses. Fun times.

[Guest]

Never actually. Not a fan of IRL animals overall :^)

[Quadropus 171]

When I was probably about 6 my mother took me to her friends farm and wanted me to try out horse riding (with a adult of course), I remember it starting off slow then suddenly it started galophing, probably one of the most scariest things that happened to me since I was afraid of heights and was on a giant horse.

[Will Guide 21,360]

I got to ride a horse in a (ride-around) fair when I was in my early teens. Since then the only horses I see are the ones at Disneyland.

[Nyactis Mewcis Catlum 672]

I've ridden on horseback before! Actually, quite a few times. Unfortunately, I'm blanking on the exact locations, though I think one time was in Colorado. Always hurts my pelvis something fierce, though. 

Actually, one time the horse my mom was on bit the butt of the horse I was riding and my horse just took off. That was pretty terrifying! Obviously, as you can see I live to tell the tale afterward, but I'm not a professional horseback rider so it was nerve-wracking waiting until the other horses caught up to me.

[JonasDarkmane 19,785]

As a kid, I did so many many times. During the Summer, I would nearly always take Summer courses in horse riding and I would have my own horse to look after. 

 

As I reached the age of 10 or 11, I think, it was when was the last time I ever rode a horse. I was at a farm riding a horse when it suddenly took off and I was not able to hold on. Fell down and the horse ran over me. Got myself bruised up all over my body. 

That was the last time I ever rode a horse

 

[King of Canterlot 9,603]

I've ridden a full grown horse before, at my cousin's farm some 3 or so hours south of where I live. It was pretty fun actually, at first I was kinda afraid the horse would throw me off, or it would gallop really fast and would try to jump the fence, throwing me off, but it didn't. My cousin walked alongside me and the horse at first, and then as I got more confident she let me ride the horse around the corral all by myself. It was good experience, though it's been a few years now since I've been down there. 

[Jokuc 8,173]

Maybe like once or twice when I was a little kid when they had these family days at school.

[The Kaeya Simp 13,988]

Nope, I don't particularly want to due to ponies usually bucking people off when they're wild or just not "trained to get used to it", which means they're clearly in distress

[Roughtek 54]

been working alot lately, but finally got some time in to ride today, here is a pic with my horse, Breezy

[Kevin Tang 2,426]

Like a pony related TV show but don't like real life horses

Ughh the irony!

[Longhaul 6,841]

My aunt took me once, and I had a very nice time.  I forget how old I was. 

[Porrot 96]

I used to take lessons when I was a teen, but I suffered from anorexia at the time, and I got so sick and weak that I wasn't strong enough to continue after just a few months. Also, the tutor was a bit of a jerk. He seemed to think that aggressively yelling instructions and putting me down was the best way to teach me. I couldn't cope with that kind of treatment.

(Horses are cool, though. I just went walking on the beach with my dog this afternoon and I met a lot of people riding bareback along the shore.)

[Stone Cold Steve Jobs 22,440]

Yes. My hat blew off into a 2 gallon pile of crap.

[Alex Kay 20]

I took all of two horse-riding lessons in my late teens, and I couldn't really get the hang of it (it was English saddle where you had to post, and I just couldn't do it; wish I'd had a chance with Western saddle instead). And I'm sure I'm not alone in this, but after the lesson I wash shown how to groom the horse, and that is the part I enjoyed. I'd much rather groom and nuzzle and clean up after horses than ride them. It was very soothing and therapeutic, both for me and the horse. Then I got to feed him carrots, and he was a happy boy!

[Feather Spiral 1,892]

On 5/7/2018 at 7:41 PM, Porrot said:

Also, the tutor was a bit of a jerk. He seemed to think that aggressively yelling instructions and putting me down was the best way to teach me. I couldn't cope with that kind of treatment.

OMFG this so much. I didn't care much for the yelling bit, they kinda have to be heard; but being talked down at every failure was just shit.

When I took the exam and my bullheaded mare needed over a dozen tries to jump over one obstacle, the tutor said I was "lucky" the horse had jumped at all and "if I were her, I wouldn't even have jumped".

Keep in mind, I was riding the only for recreation - whereas many others (mainly girls about my age) were training for competitions and stuff. But I find it hard to believe she flat-out forgot, because I sure wasn't the only leisure rider in the club.

I'd missed the previous year's exam, too, and the tutor knew that - she was the one who'd decided to let it slide and allow me into the next level.

I think she was saying those shitty things to take out the embarrassment at her own terrible decision.

Edited May 11, 2018 by Feather Spiral

[碇 シンジン 27,431]

Yeah though these days I'm pretty much scared of them

[Vinyl.Scratch 63]

I had a little black Shetlandpony when I was a kid, I still miss him and his black deep understanding eyes. He was my best friend ever back then.