Then luck came my way. I went on a school camp and rode a horse properly on my own for the first time. It was yet again another fat grey pony *grin*...with a nice temperament and a rocking canter, he was called Rajah and I spent the whole week at camp getting up early every morning (and I mean early, like 5am!) to see him..breaking the ice in the creek so he could drink...I loved that pony! :) Obsessed aren't I?:)
I managed to convince my father to let me ride regularly..so off I went every weekend to a place called Willow Lodge, where I went on trail rides riding very neglected horses which I wish I could've bought and given them better homes. My favourite horses were Cody, an Appy gelding and Sunny , a chesnut Clydesdale gelding. Sunny by the way was a good jumper and when it came to a fun race, (he LOVED it..as most trail riders were too scared to go at more than a walk...we managed to win against a thoroughbred. Tell me how a purebred clydesdale can do that :)
As time wore on my stepmother got sick of driving me to Willow Lodge and I no longer got to visit my beloved Cody and Sunny. Instead, I got to have riding lessons all day for one or two days each holidays at a riding centre on a stubborn but pretty good mixed breed gelding named Sidney (Sid). Sidney taught me practically everything about riidng. The previous horses I'd ridden had taught me how to stay on..but not proper jumping style, dressage basics etc. Sidney also taught me how to stay on when he bucked *grin*. I rode him in the holidays for 2 years and become pretty good friends with him. Most other people didn't like him, but his personality went with mine I guess! It is possible for horses to like certain people :).
Soon I got too old for that riding centre which catered mainly for people aged 14 years and under...so I had to kinda stop going..then horseriding become more of a rarity. Riding lessons were too expensive and parents refused to take me to them and they were too far away and not public transport accessible. So I had to resort to riding horses on holidays.
By this time I *Desperately* wanted a horse more than I ever had...I was old enough to own one, had a job to keep one and knew enough to keep one. I almost got to lease an Arab gelding, 5 years old, named Champagne Charlie. Unfortunately that fell through as result of my parents' dislike for the idea. Then I got offered a warmblood gelding...but that fell through once again...as the owner got someone closer to where she lived to have the gelding, as I was interstate. Then...I almost leased a Quarter Horse x Thoroughbred gelding named Sir Miller from a friend...but her parents didn't like the legalities involved..
After that, the only time I saw horses was on holidays..that's where I rode Khan , a beautiful Anglo-Arab cross gelding. The most beautiful horse I'd ever ridden and if I could buy him now, I would. He was a trail ride horse but he'd do wonderfully in dressage, I found that out when I got him doing dressage movements and moving perfectly...And how he ended up at a trail ride place I do not know.
One day though I hope I will have a horse...I can only dream....and dream I will! Dreams never die..if they do, it is only because you have let them die. Once I have a full-time job I will be looking at leasing to buy or buying a horse....my ultimate dream in life is to become a riding instructor ( I LOVE teaching people how to ride) and to run an equestrian centre.
