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Happy Birthday!

I consider myself a walk-trot novice rider, since I've never been able to own a horse of my own, though I have been making do with the horses at the therapeutic riding program I volunteer with for my real-horse fix for many years. In spite of a lack of practical experience in the saddle, when I started volunteering it wasn't long before I was asked to become an instructor based on my teaching ability and my willingness to acquire as much book learning about riding as I could get.

Occasionally an experienced riding instructor would be invited to give the instructors in our program a lesson or two. On evening, during such a lesson, I was riding Molly, a small (15.2) red roan draft horse who was up to carrying me. When the instructor asked the class to canter, I shifted into the center of the ring because I wasn't sure I was ready for that. Then I decided to try it. So I asked Molly to canter. It took a couple of times of asking but finally she shifted to that gait. One stride and I was on the ground!. It was at that point that I decided that I would be content to stick with walk-trot work, since I was way too old to be falling off horses.

Molly, bless her heart, stopped moving as soon as I left her back and stood there looking down at me, plainly asking, "What ARE you doing down there?" I got up, located my glasses, led Molly to the mounting ramp and got back on, much to the surprise of some of the people there. I wasn't seriously hurt, thank goodness, but really had no desire to go falling off again.

ID 441

ID: 20894. I usually breed drafts, but don't mind trying to breed up!

Sadly, I don't have much experience with horses, but my mum breeds dogs and I help her out a lot! This is the story of an ex-broody my mum had, and why we both agreed that if reincarnation is real, we want to come back as certain peoples dogs.

Now, this dog is a Pomeranian, so small and fluffy. She hated the show ring, probably because in part my mum tried to show her when she was in a wheelchair (this happens more often than not) and the poor girl got her foot ran over by the wheels. She also hated the table.

Anyway, this girl wasn't that good at live birth so once she hit those three c-sections, my mum desexed her and rehomed her. Some people may think the rehoming is cruel, but my mum can't hold on to every dog she has ever had and provide them with everything they need. She found a great home for this girl in an older lady who adored her.

Now, my mum loves to hear updates about the dogs she has owned, especially bred, and this new owner loved to talk about her precious baby. My mum got emails, detailing the following:

The lady had hard wood floors all through out her house, and while running about the Pom had a small slip. From then on she was cautious about walking on the wood, like someone would expect. However this lady was very concerned that her dog wasn't running happily about and went out and got rug to place through the house, so her baby could run about. She then worried that the poor girl might want to go somewhere where the rugs didn't lead, so went and got her house carpeted.

Everyone knows that what you feed your animals is very important, so this lady made sure that her baby girl had plenty to eat. She had the option of kibble and water all day, but for breakfast that expanded to raw mince, cooked mince, and milk. For dinner, porterhouse steak was sometimes offered as well.

It was starting to lead into the summer months, and this lady was worried about the heat affecting her little Pom. So, despite my mum saying that she'll find places to lie down that are cold, like the dirt in the garden, the lady went and got sails put in her back yard.

When out shopping at a pet store, the pom jumped onto a dog bed, which suddenly meant that it HAD to be bought for her to enjoy at home.

Her daughter had a jack Russel type dog, and bought it over one day for a meet and greet. This Pom could get a bit grouchy around energetic dogs, and so of course she growled at the terrier to tell it not to jump at her face. The lady got it into her head that her baby didn't like the terrier and so banned it from her house....

And that is why every single time someone asks me about small dogs, I make sure they know that they are JUST dogs and don't need to be babied....some people don't listen....

Happy Birthday! 8-} :bz

Hmmm..
Ok
So this was my first lesson at my new barn (after my evaluation ride), I was on a Welsh/TB stud. First off Rupert when you pass his stall he sticks his head out as if he wants pets but he pins his ears and bares his teeth (stinker). But he is a good/fun horse to ride from what I remember.
Back to the story.
I was asked to sit the trot without stirrups. Ok great. But I with the horrible insecure seat and legs and bad overall position, I start to squeeze with my legs to stay on. He gets a bigger trot then canters, now at the time I had not done much canter work, he goes through one corner. Then with the next corner I come off the side and land on my back. I left a imprint in the dirt for the longest time! A memorable first ride their. Now I have been riding his half brother. I've been at my barn since January and now I might have a working student position!
Happy Birthday Again!
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14374

Happy Birthday. Mine is Monday. I want to share a story of a mare I used to own named Cinnamon N Spice.

She was a 12 3 hand pony mare that had major trust issues. I taught her and she taught me how to forgive.

She was badly beaten when I got her to the point that she had scars on her face and was blind in one eye. She was known as a man killer. She literally would try to hurt a man. Once I figured that her issues was trusting men my husband started helping me with her. In a year we taught that not all men would hurt her one of the funniest things with her was if my hubby approached her with no hat she would get scared and turn her back end on him and for me I couldn't have a hat on because she never saw me in one. She was a peculiar mare but one that I loved with all my heart.

She also taught me to forgive. I learned to let go of my past through teaching her to trust again. We taught each other and I am thankful that Cinnamon was a part of my life for 10 years.

Thank you!

Thank you!! I hope you enjoyed your birthday!!(: