My dad has told stories about going to a camp for "troubled teens" (he says he wasn't) that he was invited to. They got to pick their own horses. He picked the most scarred horse he could find. He says the owner couldn't ride him and neither could his son. But he could. He said he won every race.
One of my dad's sisters also has a love for horses. She has one that has the same build as Flicka.
My dad's dad also likes horses.
I don't know about my mom's side.
So if you think the horse craziness is genetic I got a big dose of it from my dad's side of the family.
My real involvement with horses started when we moved from the country into a town. I was seven.
A year later I found out that there were horses a mile down the rode. How or when is a mystery to me. The Specific day I remember quite well.
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Daddy, can we go see the horses?
How about we do that tomorrow? I have things to do right now.
Ok.
Daddy, can we go see the horses?
Alright let's go.
We walked a mile down the road to where I knew the horses where. Unfortunately they weren't in the pasture or the paddock. Disappointed we turned around for home. At that moment an elderly lady was walking down the road. She was coming back from a walk.
Did you come to see the horses?
Shyly I said yes
Do you want to come down to the barn and see them?
We walked down to the barn and a lady was talking to an old man. And there was a little boy riding a little black pony.
The elderly lady told the old man that we had come to look at the horses and he asked if I wanted to ride.
Yes!
The little boy got off and I got on. The old man instructed me on how to go, turn, and stop. He led me around the trailer for a few turns and then let me ride alone.
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That was the beginning. I convinced Aleythia to come with me. From there It went from a day a week to two days, two days to three, and progressed until we were coming over as much as possible.
At first we didn't get to ride every time we came over. Sometimes he wasn't there and we couldn't ride if he wasn't there. We learned how to take care of horses and what went into it. After a few years we started riding Santana and not just Blacky. We helped Terry with all sorts of stuff. A few years later we just started calling Terry when we wanted to ride. Terry got Flicka and we started her training. When we were done with the horses we would go inside and watch football or basketball with Terry. And then he said we could ride without telling him...
It has been about seven years sense that first ride on that little black pony. 2013 and we're riding seven horses a day (ok, not every day, but when we can we do). The little black pony is still around, but we don't ride her anymore. I've started showing. I'm getting out into the horse world and learning as much as I can. I never turn down an offer to ride a different horse. I've learned much and I still have much to learn.
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