Throwback Thursday (the serious throwback version)

 I recently had my mother raid her house for all the old photos of me riding, and the few she found are priceless. (They get cuter as you go down ...)

Grant, my main man. Appendix Quarter Horse, off the track. Showed prelim with his owner, and taught me not to jump ahead, jump huge jumps from a standstill, stop a bolting horse by galloping straight into 7ft tall corn, stick a multitude of bucks, and dodge bites when removing winter blankets. I 100% owe to this guy my sticky seat and love of galloping. He was a total handful, and I loved him to death. I'm 12 here. (Check out those rockin' glasses and iridescent blue breeches. Whaaat!?)

Rainy (I think). A cobby draft/paint cross. Too heavy to be the safest jumper in the world, and ended up being a straight dressage horse with his owner, I think. I'm 11 here.
 
Rusty, lesson horse extraordinaire! Pretty sure he was a large quarter horse. Excellent jumper, took me novice XC. Hardest horse in the world to bridle, and taught me how to bridle just about anything. I'm about 8 here.

Reine. I don't remember too much about this guy, except that he was way too big for me to get my legs around, yet somehow had no problems being piloted by the tiny gnat that was me at age 7. Also? Catholic school uniform polo as horse show attire ... winning!

And finally, Ernie. The horse everyone learned to ride on. I'm about 6 in this photo and it was my first year of riding. I loved this pony (and yes, he does look remarkably similar to Guinness. Yes, I have a type when it comes to horses!). Ernie lived to the ripe old age of almost 40. He had to finally be put down just a few years ago, but was giving lessons to little kids until the very end. He just loved his job!

Comments

  1. So cute! It's really cool to see the horse's that people grew up on :)

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  2. Love this. :) I love Rusty, haha! Looks so much like my boy! I have a type too. I love big bays!

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    1. Big bays are good! Rusty was a favorite of mine, he was the ultimate good boy.

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  3. Ernie is adorable!! He reminds me of my first pony - a Dartmoor mare named Fondly Marietta (Etty) - she lasted well into her 30s and was even carting my pre-teen butt around (leisurely) until just before she passed.

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    1. Aw! Dartmoors are super adorable! I think Ernie was a little Welshie. I don't know if we really knew for sure what he was.

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  4. Aww what a fun post! :) I love hearing about other people's past horses.

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    1. Me too! They really shape our riding careers!

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  5. Omg so cute! I hardly have any photos of me when I first learned to ride.

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    1. I guess photos were harder before we had these awesome camera phones to document every move our horses make. ;) These are the only ones my mom had, and I'm so happy to have them!

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  6. love this! I think we all have horse "types" to an extent. =)

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    1. Absolutely! Some people love spots, I love super coppery chestnuts! :)

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