The horse that made me the person I am today - by @connie.equestrian
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My dad has always loved horses.
Ever since he was a young boy he would save up money himself to buy ponies and care for him on his own. It was never about having anything fancy, it was just a strong and passionate love for these beautiful animals and I think this was what inspired me with my pony.
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Around the age of 6, I began to have the odd ride on my dads horse and I fell in love with riding instantly. Something inside just clicked and I knew I wanted to ride as often as possible.
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When I was about 7 or 8, we decided it was time to get me my own pony. Being quite clueless, my dad ended up buying me a 14.2hh Welsh Section D. He didn’t know much about the breed and I’m sure he wouldn’t have bought me a nutty welsh if he had have known more about the breed!
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The pony was lightly backed and only knew the basics of being ridden. Her name was Rebecca and she was such a gorgeous girl. However, being young and nervous I was TERRIFIED of even standing near her and barely knew anything about how to act around her.
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Then came the time for me to learn how to ride properly and get to grips with her. We didn’t have access to an arena or enclosed space so my dad used to lead me round the woods on the weekends and I always looked forward to it. However, learning on her was not easy and there were plenty of tears shed.
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After about a year being lead around the woods, we decided to step it up and the lead rein came off. I remember my dad used to run by my side panting to keep up with us. He got very fit in these few years!
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Next we began riding together with me on a lead rope by his side. We had so much fun. In these years, I only had two lessons at a friends yard and other than that, I taught myself to ride with the help from my dad.
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A few years later, my dad built an arena for us both to ride in. It was so so amazing because finally I could ride on my own more and in a safer area.
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The past couple of years have been incredible and we have experienced such amazing things together. From hunting and cross-country to riding on the beach, to competing and SO much more.
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The main reason I am sharing my story is because Rebecca has completely changed my life.
She has given me courage, strength, confidence and determination that has made me the person I am.
Despite the endless struggles that I have faced over the years, it was all worth it.
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We have jumped 1.10 and came 2nd at our first hunter trial last year, as well as competing up to 80cm in showjumping and arena Eventing.
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Hopefully this proves that no matter what pony or horse you have, and even if you don’t have the corn blue, lime green AND the blueberry le mieux matchy sets ;) you can still achieve your dreams.
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So I urge you to take what you have, be grateful for it, push past your limits and use it to create something amazing.
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If you would like to follow our journey head over to my Instagram by clicking here, thank-you for reading!
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