Wednesday, July 16, 2008

I was a horse crazy adolescent girl







*Pictures for this post were taken directly out of my teenage scrapbook, hence the look. And OMGOSH you have to love the way I labeled them. I used the word "spiff"... seriously, why does no one use that word? Ah, to be 15 again.*

It all began when my friend, Heather, moved into our neighborhood. She was horse crazy. I think one of the reasons her parents even chose to move into our neighborhood was because of the zoning that allowed people to have horses. We must have been in about the 5th grade when Heather's parents bought her a horse. His name was Crockett and we loved him.

Crockett & Heather & Me


Crockett was a Quarter Horse and he let us abuse him however we pleased. We rode him all over the neighborhood (which was a very large and rural place), through lakes, across canals, over haphazard overturned logs in the woods he would jump with both of us on his back. Crockett was perfect.

It wasn't too long, though, before one horse and two girls didn't seem to make much sense anymore. So Heather and I looked for another option. That's when I started shoveling poo. Down the street was a large barn of Arabians owned by a wonderful lady named Pam. Heather took lessons there and Pam let me ride her trusty lesson horse, Rama, as long as I took good care of her and mucked stalls a bit. Thinking back, Pam was a saint to let me do it. If I could find her right now I'd write her a letter of thanks.

I wish I had a picture of Rama, but I don't. She wasn't beautiful, though she may have been when she was younger. She was an old chestnut mare who was patient and kind to me. She could be stubborn, but she was smarter than the average mule and kept me out of trouble. It was on Rama that I took my first lesson, paid for out of the kindness of Pam's heart.

After I had advanced a bit, Pam decided I needed an actual horse to show. That was when I started riding Butch.

Butch

The two of us never really got along. He had no respect for me and I didn't care for him much either, but we were forced to deal with each other. Pam insisted I ride in a show and Rama just wouldn't do. So Butch and I dealt with each other.

Horse Show

Here we are at the show. It was a Dressage Show. Butch and I entered the ring and started our routine... but then I'm not sure what happened. I was nervous, he hated me, he jumped out of the ring.

I was so mad I couldn't see straight. I made him jump back INTO the ring and I finished our routine. Pam said she'd never seen me ride so well as when I was mad at that stupid horse. Needless to say I didn't win the blue ribbon.

Lindo

After that show I started riding Lindo. She was a beautiful black Paso Fino and she and I had a great time together. There was no pressure. The only horse shows I entered with Lindo were fun. She was gaited so she didn't bounce and we won every Halloween fun kid show where we had to balance an egg on a spoon or hold as much water in a cup as possible. She liked to run and I liked to let her run as fast as she wanted to go until sand started to blind my eyes and I'd have to nestle my head down close to her neck to block it. She could fly and I loved her.

I guess it was when I started to become interested in boys... or when boys became interested in me... I'm not sure. I started going to the barn less and less and finally I just stopped altogether. It's one of my biggest regrets. I miss the feeling of becoming one with that animal. I miss Lindo and how I could let her do whatever she wanted, go where she wanted to go, and just see where I ended up.

Some day I'll ride again. :)

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15 comments:

Kristen said...[Reply to comment]

You just described my daughter's dream childhood or so that's what she tells this suburban mom. One day . . . we may have a horse, who knows! That's pretty spiffy though!

DD said...[Reply to comment]

You know, I never got into horses. I wonder if its just that we need someone there to prompt us at a certain time in our lives, or is it just some people will flock to them and others wont?

This was a great story.

Anonymous said...[Reply to comment]

What fun memories! I have pretty much only ridden on the pony rides at a carnival. Once in college I rode a horse of a coworker. I was terrified and loving it at the same time!

Anonymous said...[Reply to comment]

Weren't you just the cutest equestrian?

Happy Mommy said...[Reply to comment]

Oh totally! He was a beautiful horse!

Dawn @ simply transparent said...[Reply to comment]

Every child's dream...you lived it!
"Sweet"!

Anonymous said...[Reply to comment]

Great post - pictures are CLASSIC!
Re: locally organic produce & farmer's markets type places: I found a website - localharvest.org and it lists several places in the Broward/Miami Dade area that offer organic co-ops, farmer's markets, etc.
Hope that helps! Thanks for your comment!

Jamie {See Jamie blog} said...[Reply to comment]

I was horse-crazed, too. Now I seem to be allergic, so my horse time in recent years has been rather asthma-attack-filled. (Still trying to figure that out because I'm not giving up the farm-with-a-few-horses dream just yet!)

Loved your photos!

Anonymous said...[Reply to comment]

This brings back memories of my horse lovin' cousin, Traci in Florida, not far from Pensacola, my home town. Okay...I give way TMI! Sorry....I'm a rambler!

Thanks for stopping by my post and commenting! And THANKS a bunch for the great compliment! I would proudly wear that title! ;)
Rena Gunther

The Buntens said...[Reply to comment]

Oh, my best friend used to show horses. What a fun thing to do as a child. I would love to get my girl to do this. hmmm

Great shots!

Big Hair Envy said...[Reply to comment]

Boys ruin everything, don't they?

Valarie Lea said...[Reply to comment]

You need to go get a horse! I want one, but my husband wont let me have one. :( I think he thinks he would have to end up taking care of it all the time. He is probably right.

Land of Lovings said...[Reply to comment]

I cannot wait to introduce my girls to the wonderful world of horseback riding! There is nothing quite like it.

I keep trying to convince my husband that we need to move to a farm and get some horses. I think he's afraid he'll be the only one mucking out stalls and is avoiding that like the plague!

Thanks for sharing!

Tammy said...[Reply to comment]

I totally was a horse loving girl. I rode when I was young and was reintroduced in college. It's been since 1990 since I've been on a horse and it makes me sad.

The Apron Queen said...[Reply to comment]

What is it about horses & teen girls? Pretty spiffy! :)

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