Re: what age did you start riding?

We lived opposite a livery yard in the middle of the country. Guess I first rode when aged 3/4 and my Mums friend had a chestnut mare called Brandy. She put me in front of her on the saddle and off we went. From then on of course I wanted to learn so my parents let me strat lessons aged 5 at a local riding school. I can still remember the ponies i rode and loved.

Spent many years hanging out at stables helping out and its taken me this long to have one of my own

Re: what age did you start riding?

I initially started when I was about 3, my step gran used to live in the mannor house of a trecking stables in Dartmoor and we used to spend the summer holiday's there. They had a little dapple grey mare called Heidi that no would ride coz she supposedly bit, kicked, bucked and bolted so the trecking stables used to let my parents take me out on the moors on her for free. Every morning they used to round the ponies up form the fields and they wouldall come haring down intot he stable yard where they needed to be caught, tied up and groomed ready for the days trecking and that was it I was addicted!

Started having proper riding lessons when I was about 5 or 6 and then when I was 7 I was offered a  little welsh mountain pony to ride who again was apparently a nightmare and no one would ride him! My weekends were then taken up at Noddy's yard learning stable management (basically mucking out all of their horses, sweeping, water, hay, grooming and feeding which was lots of hard hard work but I loved every minute of it! Noddy's owner gave me lessons which mainly involved how to stay on as that pony could buck and bolt with the best of em! 

When I outgrew Noddy I got Magic on permanent loan when I was 9, unknowing that he was a rig nd my education on how to handle a handful continued!  

Re: what age did you start riding?

I was eight at Cargo riding school in Carlisle.  From then on it was a mixture of lessons, riding holidays until I found somewhere just outside London where I could hack out each week and rode this lovely little 13hh ride and drive Fell pony.  I first started riding her when she was six years' old, she was bought as a 2yo and she was my dream pony.  I last rode her when she was 26yo before she went into a long and happy retirement in Reading.  I have had many happy memories of hacking through the woods on her which will always stay with me and she was so good on the roads, you felt really safe on her.

Re: what age did you start riding?

 I think I must have been... 6 or 7. I had wanted to go for ages and finally my parents let me. However, I started at a large riding school where there wasn't a lot of focus on the beginners so it took me a long time to get going. It probably didn't help that I was only going for half an hour every two weeks but hey ho. 

After a year or two here we moved house and I joined the lovely little yard where I ride now. I love this place with all my heart and I quickly progressed to riding for an hour once a week which is what I do now, sometimes more. The horses have more character here (not sure I'm always happy about that! :P) and they are all lovely. My instructor is wonderful and even gives everybody Christmas presents which must cost a lot as she teachers quite a few little kids. I've made so many friends here and have never regretted the day that I started riding - not even when I'm riding a complete luinatic and I'm holding on for dear life!

Re: what age did you start riding?

Last year at the age of 34, its never too late to learn anything. x