I was re-reading my posts and I realized that I don't really give much background information on who I am and where I came from before I found Island! So, here is the first part of my story:
My riding life started in very unusual circumstances. I started riding when I was 9 (I am now 23). Well I tried to start earlier, I think when I was about age 6 or 7, I told my parents that I loved horses more than the world and that I wanted to ride! (bare in mind I'd only ever seen pictures of them at this stage) And so my mom organized with a lady called Lyn (she played an extremely big role in my riding life later on) and I went for a lesson. Well lets say I showed up for a lesson.
I got there, super excited, and she brought out this adorable skewbald Shettie called Pie. I saw the pony and blatantly refused to get on. Scared to death. Who would have thought haha so Lyn tried to make me feel guilty about Pie having to go back to the paddock by himself while all his friends got to work in the arena, but I had no sympathy and cried my eyes out for fear of having to get on.
So about a year later we went on a holiday to a Malaysian Island where the hotel offered horseback rides on the beach. Being a little older, and still loving horses more than the world, I decided that maybe I was ready to face my fears. My mom and I went to book a ride, but I was too young to do the horse outride and they had a donkey outride for the smaller kids. So I agreed and off we went. I was on a lovely donkey called Percy. And dear old Percy sparked an equine love in me that will never die. I even tried convincing my dad to buy poor Percy and have him exported to South Africa hahaha
So I returned home, determined and not afraid anymore! I moved to a new school and made friends with another girl that rides. She invited me to a riding camp and so I went on my first camp and started my official HORSE riding life ;)
The camp was a week long and you got a horse to look after for the whole week. You had to catch it from the field, tack up, untack, feed, groom and take back to the paddock. But oh my gosh it was fun. We did two lessons a day, one morning and one afternoon, and some theory on horses in-between. We also did outrides and we had a horse washing competition and we played around the horses all day long. It was like heaven! Here is me on Duet, a highly pregnant, dead broke, fantastic school mistress that endured my horrible first riding style:
But she taught me how to stay on and how to enjoy horses and she helped me to start to get a feel for horses and that you could trust them.
Here I also learnt the joys of gymkhana and how much fun looking after horses is. I had my first night outride and horseback treasure hunt and I was taught how to look after a foal (as one mare I had for a camp had a foal) and how to groom and feed horses. It was also here where I experienced my first death of a horse and the immense sadness that goes with it (a horse had died in the field from eating a poisonous plant). And where I experienced my first show and the absolute joy there is to be found in receiving a rosette and taking a victory canter past all the spectators!
I went on a few more camps at this farm, and learnt so much about these amazing creatures! It was also here that I had my first big fall. I had gotten more experienced (each camp you move up a level if you show adequate improvement) and so I was riding a younger horse, Skim, and a friend and I were waiting for our level's group to do our jumping round so we decided to play a round of touchers on the horses. My horse slipped and we both fell and he slid right on top of me. I broke my wrist and my ego. But I did get back on the next day and finished the rest of the camp (the 5 days that were left) broken wrist and all!
Shortly after my first camp, I also started taking weekly lessons at a very big jumping yard in Johannesburg and attended several pony camps with them as well. I rode once a week and I really enjoyed it. At these stables I learned the finer art of riding, correct seat and hands and all that. What it is to work with stabled horses as opposed to horses living out by the hundreds. I also learnt how to ride bareback and it was here that I experienced my first foal being born, Brandenburg Ursula she had been dubbed and she was beautiful.
I remember the older kids and teenagers that rode and stabled their own horses here and how I always wished to one day be like them. I had such admiration of them, and of course jealousy at their beautiful big horses!
This is me on a mare, Caramello, that taught me the very basics of riding:
So in 2005 I had to live in Iran with my parents and there I continued to ride , which was an incredible experience as their ways of teaching and just the lessons as a whole was completely different than what I was use to. Here I got taught a lot about myself as a rider, as they focus on seat and balance. This is a photo of me riding in Iran, just to give you an idea of what it was like (this is also the first horse that broke my toe by standing on it):
The great thing about living in Iran during my first year of high school was that my dad promised me my very own horse once we returned to South Africa! And this is the first part of my story, on how I from being dead scared to being an horse owner :) the rest of my story (of me actually being a horse owner and all the joys and sorrows that come with that) will be in my next blog!!
There have been many other horses and ponies in between these that I have failed to mention, not because they had no impact on my riding or that I didn't like them but just because these really stand out and if I had to mention them all I would probably be writing a book and not a blog.
Love,
Lawquii
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