JumpinBean
08-22-2008, 09:44 AM
Hi everyone!! I am the latest newbie! I live in Onalaska, WI...which is right outside of La Crosse.
My tiny little 10yr. old daughter & I are absolutely enthralled with all aspects of horses!! We got started by trying some therapeutic horseback riding lessons for my adopted son with some severe behavioral special needs. Sadly, he did everything possible to sabotage participating in the lessons. I figure I had already paid for them, so I tossed my youngest daughter (now 10...then 6) up on the horse...hoping her brother would see her enjoying herself & then HE'D want to do his lesson the next week. Nope!! Mikinzie's lesson looked so fun, that some weeks I would hop up & give it a try. I was in as much heaven as she was!! We had never ridden before...so learning to turn around & ride backwards, ride with your eyes closed while doing arm circles & eventually having enough balance & trust in the horse & side spotters to completely STAND UP on the horse's back was amazing! I found it was fabulous therapy for me to just get a chance to be in the barn...sometimes riding, sometimes just grooming, etc. Mikinzie volunteered to muck out the border's stalls for them! I about fell over!! (Sure wish she'd have that much excitement about scooping out our cat box!! LOL!) She started taking some regular walk/trot lessons. I couldn't wait for Saturday mornings to arrive so I could watch...it looked like sooo much fun! 1 day, I asked if I could ride during a lesson too. The instructor threw me on a (VERY) sassy bay mare & I was trotting over poles with a bunch of 7 yr. olds!! That didn't bother me a bit! Mikinzie & I live & breathe horses now. I think every article of her clothing has a horse on it somewhere!! (Horse undies are hard to find for a 5th grader!) I even found a lady in Australia that was selling Saddle Club clothing on Ebay & bought a HUGE lot from her a couple yrs. ago. Horse crazy doesn't even come close to how much we love our new found passion. I especially love it that we have found something we like to do together. My oldest daughter (16yr. old) & I adopt & rehabilitate geckos. She's got 2 bearded dragons (Mikinzie's makes 3!), a gecko, 3 cats, 4 mice & 2 baby rats. I bought my 1st horse 2 yrs. ago. We have more than enough mouths to feed & poop to scoop!! My son has an affinity for horses too, but not in the hands-on sense like my daughter & I. He likes them because Mikinzie & I do. He says he hopes to have a horse 1 day...when he can be nice to it. For him, that is a huge step...just realizing he can appreciate something but isn't ready for it yet.
A friend of mine found my horse for me. She is a country gal & we are city folk...very different entities around here. She is a true horse-whisperer if there ever was 1! Amazing @ helping horse & rider overcome difficulties, separate & together. My boy is a registered ApHA gelding. He was sooo sickly when I 1st saw him...a very pathetic specimen indeed! He was on his way to yet another auction...probably the kill pen this time! VERY malnourished, more worms than a bait shop, rain rot, horrible hooves, a scratch on his cornea & pneumonia. Once we got some antibiotics & lots of groceries in him....he looked amazing & hasn't been sick a day since! (Ok...he's pretty fat now, but after all he has gone through...he deserves it!!) My friend could see the diamond in the rough; very smart...almost too smart for my own good sometimes, kind eye, & willing...for her; since she knew what she was doing. Once he realized I was greener than he was...he constantly gave me a run for my money!! I learned A LOT very fast! For a while, I became so scared of him & his antics that I almost sold him. My friend told me to stop blaming the horse & to start blaming the rider instead. She did some very intensive work with me & my horse & we started to get back on track. Slowly but surely he came around to trust me. I have been working with a trainer that comes out to our stable on a few remaining issues & we are doing very well. He can be very stubborn sometimes...but I think he's just testing to see who is wearing the pants that day. I have named him Phantom. He is mainly black with white spots & a white 'mask' on his face...reminded me of Phantom of the Opera. He also liked to 'disappear' behind a round bale to hide when he use to see me coming out to get him for a ride @ night. When I put him back out in the paddock afterwards, POOF! He becomes part of the darkness...you can't see him out there anywhere!
My daughter, Mikinzie is just a tiny little peanut. Her favorite movie is Spirit of the Cimarron & says 1 day she will have a mustang stallion. (Okie dokie, Dear!) She LOVES to do the games in fun shows & amazingly leaves the very experienced riders in the dust. She doesn't have her own horse yet, but rides a different friend of mine's 4 yr. old percheron gelding. Those 2 are completely in LOVE with eachother!! He comes flying to the gate (& that is A LOT of effort for a percheron to haul that much horse!) when he sees her coming & mopes when she isn't with me. For being so young & green yet, he has never put a hoof wrong with her up on his back...even when others are running, bucking, snorting (& farting!), he just walks & trots around the outdoor arena as proud as a peacock! He'll do anything she asks! She usually rides bareback since I can't find a 13" or 14" saddle that will accomodate her tinyness & his massive size. (Do they make youth saddles for draft horses?!) His owner says he acts like he is "Mikinzie sour" when she rides him. He isn't as careful or attentive & really acts like he'd rather head back to the barn to look for his little girl. Spike's (the percheron) owner also has a 2 yr. old bucksking gelding named Dylan. Dylan is also in LOVE with Mikinzie & she with him. He looks just like Spirit when he gets running around like an idiot with his playmates! She can't wait until he gets broke next year. I am sure she will steal him from my friend to ride as much as she does with Spike! My friend has had 7 cancer surgeries in the past. Right now she is in remission & loving spending time at the stable with us & her 2 big fur-babies. She just told Mikinzie & I that if anything happens to her in the future, she has willed her horses to us since she sees how much we love them & knows they would be pampered for the rest of their days. What an amazing gift from an amazing friend!
Well, that's us in a nutshell. Dreaming of 1 day (hopefully soon!) getting our own little farm so we can have our pal(s) with us 24/7. I'm pretty sure we'd have to build a bedroom out in the barn for my daughter as I doubt anyone would be able to pry her out of there once we get 1! I look forward to meeting all of you & getting lots of tips & suggestions!!
:o) Linette (JumpinBean)
My tiny little 10yr. old daughter & I are absolutely enthralled with all aspects of horses!! We got started by trying some therapeutic horseback riding lessons for my adopted son with some severe behavioral special needs. Sadly, he did everything possible to sabotage participating in the lessons. I figure I had already paid for them, so I tossed my youngest daughter (now 10...then 6) up on the horse...hoping her brother would see her enjoying herself & then HE'D want to do his lesson the next week. Nope!! Mikinzie's lesson looked so fun, that some weeks I would hop up & give it a try. I was in as much heaven as she was!! We had never ridden before...so learning to turn around & ride backwards, ride with your eyes closed while doing arm circles & eventually having enough balance & trust in the horse & side spotters to completely STAND UP on the horse's back was amazing! I found it was fabulous therapy for me to just get a chance to be in the barn...sometimes riding, sometimes just grooming, etc. Mikinzie volunteered to muck out the border's stalls for them! I about fell over!! (Sure wish she'd have that much excitement about scooping out our cat box!! LOL!) She started taking some regular walk/trot lessons. I couldn't wait for Saturday mornings to arrive so I could watch...it looked like sooo much fun! 1 day, I asked if I could ride during a lesson too. The instructor threw me on a (VERY) sassy bay mare & I was trotting over poles with a bunch of 7 yr. olds!! That didn't bother me a bit! Mikinzie & I live & breathe horses now. I think every article of her clothing has a horse on it somewhere!! (Horse undies are hard to find for a 5th grader!) I even found a lady in Australia that was selling Saddle Club clothing on Ebay & bought a HUGE lot from her a couple yrs. ago. Horse crazy doesn't even come close to how much we love our new found passion. I especially love it that we have found something we like to do together. My oldest daughter (16yr. old) & I adopt & rehabilitate geckos. She's got 2 bearded dragons (Mikinzie's makes 3!), a gecko, 3 cats, 4 mice & 2 baby rats. I bought my 1st horse 2 yrs. ago. We have more than enough mouths to feed & poop to scoop!! My son has an affinity for horses too, but not in the hands-on sense like my daughter & I. He likes them because Mikinzie & I do. He says he hopes to have a horse 1 day...when he can be nice to it. For him, that is a huge step...just realizing he can appreciate something but isn't ready for it yet.
A friend of mine found my horse for me. She is a country gal & we are city folk...very different entities around here. She is a true horse-whisperer if there ever was 1! Amazing @ helping horse & rider overcome difficulties, separate & together. My boy is a registered ApHA gelding. He was sooo sickly when I 1st saw him...a very pathetic specimen indeed! He was on his way to yet another auction...probably the kill pen this time! VERY malnourished, more worms than a bait shop, rain rot, horrible hooves, a scratch on his cornea & pneumonia. Once we got some antibiotics & lots of groceries in him....he looked amazing & hasn't been sick a day since! (Ok...he's pretty fat now, but after all he has gone through...he deserves it!!) My friend could see the diamond in the rough; very smart...almost too smart for my own good sometimes, kind eye, & willing...for her; since she knew what she was doing. Once he realized I was greener than he was...he constantly gave me a run for my money!! I learned A LOT very fast! For a while, I became so scared of him & his antics that I almost sold him. My friend told me to stop blaming the horse & to start blaming the rider instead. She did some very intensive work with me & my horse & we started to get back on track. Slowly but surely he came around to trust me. I have been working with a trainer that comes out to our stable on a few remaining issues & we are doing very well. He can be very stubborn sometimes...but I think he's just testing to see who is wearing the pants that day. I have named him Phantom. He is mainly black with white spots & a white 'mask' on his face...reminded me of Phantom of the Opera. He also liked to 'disappear' behind a round bale to hide when he use to see me coming out to get him for a ride @ night. When I put him back out in the paddock afterwards, POOF! He becomes part of the darkness...you can't see him out there anywhere!
My daughter, Mikinzie is just a tiny little peanut. Her favorite movie is Spirit of the Cimarron & says 1 day she will have a mustang stallion. (Okie dokie, Dear!) She LOVES to do the games in fun shows & amazingly leaves the very experienced riders in the dust. She doesn't have her own horse yet, but rides a different friend of mine's 4 yr. old percheron gelding. Those 2 are completely in LOVE with eachother!! He comes flying to the gate (& that is A LOT of effort for a percheron to haul that much horse!) when he sees her coming & mopes when she isn't with me. For being so young & green yet, he has never put a hoof wrong with her up on his back...even when others are running, bucking, snorting (& farting!), he just walks & trots around the outdoor arena as proud as a peacock! He'll do anything she asks! She usually rides bareback since I can't find a 13" or 14" saddle that will accomodate her tinyness & his massive size. (Do they make youth saddles for draft horses?!) His owner says he acts like he is "Mikinzie sour" when she rides him. He isn't as careful or attentive & really acts like he'd rather head back to the barn to look for his little girl. Spike's (the percheron) owner also has a 2 yr. old bucksking gelding named Dylan. Dylan is also in LOVE with Mikinzie & she with him. He looks just like Spirit when he gets running around like an idiot with his playmates! She can't wait until he gets broke next year. I am sure she will steal him from my friend to ride as much as she does with Spike! My friend has had 7 cancer surgeries in the past. Right now she is in remission & loving spending time at the stable with us & her 2 big fur-babies. She just told Mikinzie & I that if anything happens to her in the future, she has willed her horses to us since she sees how much we love them & knows they would be pampered for the rest of their days. What an amazing gift from an amazing friend!
Well, that's us in a nutshell. Dreaming of 1 day (hopefully soon!) getting our own little farm so we can have our pal(s) with us 24/7. I'm pretty sure we'd have to build a bedroom out in the barn for my daughter as I doubt anyone would be able to pry her out of there once we get 1! I look forward to meeting all of you & getting lots of tips & suggestions!!
:o) Linette (JumpinBean)