I WANTED TO BE A UNICORN 🦄 Or, why I picked up riding again at 42 (Plus a canter transitions lesson)

[@lornaperry17]

I wondered what your history was! Thanks for sharing.

[@augustday5912]

Thanks for sharing. For so many of us, horses are an addiction. I rode in pony club for 2 summers as a kid, but took 15 years off due to being a child of a single mom barely making ends meet. My life changed when my husband gave me gift certificates for 3 riding lessons for Christmas about 25 years ago. I took those 3 lessons, started working at the barn in exchange for riding, rode anything they would put me on and finally got my first horse in my 30s. Next thing I knew I was a working student for an eventer and the journey led me to going south for 9 winters to train and compete. Now I have my own farm with 2 retired horses and one lease, but am stuck here with no trainers around. I'm bored and lonely and love watching inspirational videos of people working towards their goals and dreams. Keep it up!

[@GPwithme]

What an incredible story. Thank you for sharing!

[@marthastarot]

Beautiful journey! Horses along with dogs, cats and other animals come from the Angelic realm - all about teaching us about love - loving ourselves and others. Thank you for sharing your story!

[@GPwithme]

I love that. ♥️

[@michgeeee]

as someone else who started riding as an adult and had some confidence issues, have your own horse that you can consistently ride and build trust with is truly the best thing for getting over any fear and really being able to learn skills at a deeper level -- with a good trainer of course!

[@GPwithme]

Yes, this is why I half lease!

[@Lorke010]

Not being able to ride when you want to and because of external reason is really tough. I am happy for you that you got through it and can now live it. Falling can really affect your mental and confidence, it’s so hard to get back from it, it only needs one fall it doesn’t matter if it’s a bad one or not and there it goes. You are doing so good, thank you for sharing your journey! I love the idea of doing the trip away on a ranch and ride horses, I would love to do that🤩

[@GPwithme]

Thanks for the kind words. I highly recommend the riding trips! The ones I went to were Enchantment Equitreks in New Mexico and Shambhala in Costa Rica!

[@2.0mommy]

I’m so happy you actually did this video!! I’m on my way out but I’ll definitely watch it later. Your were so cute at 10 with those red and white pinstripe pants lol 😂

[@GPwithme]

Thanks for the encouragement! And lol I’m considering recreating that outfit 🤣🤣🤪

[@katienardi3185]

You deserve a horse

[@GPwithme]

That’s very sweet of you, thank you. ♥️

[@myhappygecko2895]

On that big horse ya don’t look as bad as ya think. I leased a 17.2 angel who was slow but could jump 3 feet and do cross country but not speedy and took work to make him go. I knew the entire time I rode him he was too big for me. So bouncey. I adore him tho. I am much happier on a smaller horse like 15’s. I have a 15’3 dude now who is still a little big but he’s my sweet so it’s fine 🤣. For my weight I think he’s the correct size. I am so sorry you got hurt. It’s important not to ride horses that have issues imho at our age. Gotta take the time to find sweet ones. All horses of course can have a bad moment. Mine bronced me after too long a lesson and I didn’t trust me gut about how his trot felt weird. He could have thrown me and didn’t. He’s my best boy. Such a sweet story. Keep ridding!!! That white horse looks perfect for you size wise your canter looks better! I had a friend said pretend your having sex 🤣😭😭 which grosses me out but I think she just meant the hip movement! I’m in the exact same position as you I want my canter better and I don’t canter enough. At the moment my horse has not stayed sound enough the past year for me to get there but the vets say it’s possible with injections and better shoe angles. So waiting on the feet to grow and slowly injecting all the things. We did hocks last week so we will see how it goes. Bought my first horse. Went lame a month later. 😅

[@GPwithme]

Yes, I've heard the s-e-x thing and I'm like "Hmmm. Not sure what ya'll are doing out there lol." I do know what the movement needs to be as I used to do it just fine; my problem is getting my body back to a place where it can handle it due to my spinal issues. Best of luck with your horse and I hope s/he gets better enough to canter soon!

[@2.0mommy]

Wow, you have a great horse origin story! 🥰😍 I think a lot of people would’ve given up and not even bothered getting those lessons to go on that vacation. You’re tenacious!🔥🔥 It’s scary though, seeing how easy it can go from a horse working out to suddenly not be able to ride it anymore. That concerns me when I think about buying a horse one day. I need a much older horse to make up for my inexperience, but I could end up paying all that money and the horse gets lame for some reason. Its seems like such a big risk. 😢 I’m curious about this because I have ZERO experience (other than a few trail rides here and there), are the skills you’re working on now needed for trail riding? Or are you just wanting to advance your skills in English riding? Because I look at you and I’m like, you’re a pro, what more do you have to learn?😂

[@GPwithme]

It is a big risk, yes. You don’t necessarily need an older horse; just an experienced and calm one, though those tend to be pricier. All of the skills I’m working on make me a better rider, period, for both of our safety in the arena and on the trail. It’s actually safer in the arena because if (and when) something goes wrong, you’re contained and will fall into sand. On a trail there’s lots of places to bolt and lots of things to fall on so having as much skill as possible keeps you and your horse safe. Also, the things I’m learning apply to western riding as well (minus the jumping piece, which I’ve barely begun). It’s all good equitation. I find that the more I learn, the more I learn I have to learn, if that makes sense. But that’s one of the amazing things about horses!

[@2.0mommy]

@@GPwithme yes that makes perfect sense. I really appreciate you sharing your story and being so vulnerable. Thanks also for the feedback! Oh one more thing, how much would you say (I know it varies by location and there’s a lot of variable) but how much would a horse like you mentioned go for? 😬 I know more than 4k but hoping under 10k. Is that a thing you’ve seen?

[@GPwithme]

@2.0mommy I think probably $10k and up but there are definitely exceptions to that rule. Sometimes if you establish yourself as a leaser at a barn you come across situations where you can find an excellent deal. I really do recommend at least half leasing and taking lessons before making any decisions, and when you do buy, bring your trainer or a trainer.

[@2.0mommy]

@@GPwithme thanks for the tip about building a relationship and potentially getting a better deal. Unfortunately where I live, there isn’t opportunity for that. It’s strange since I live in a farming community so you’d think a lot of people would have horses, but I guess because it’s so rural (northern Maine), the average income isn’t too high. The people that have horses, just have 1-2 for pleasure and don’t lease them out. The only lady “near” me that gave lessons, just had to sell her horses. The lessons were more of a side hustle as she works full time, but she just couldn’t afford them anymore. She was heart broken. I asked if she knew anyone else and she told me of a place an 1hr 40 minutes away. 😬 An opportunity came up with a friend of a friend, and I’m basically just going to beg her to teach me lol 😂 Anyway, sorry to ramble. Keep the videos coming. If you want to grow on here and monetize your channel, I highly recommend watching Roberto Blake. He’s a cut to the chase kind of guy, but I appreciate his experience. Trying to grow my channel too and his videos have been VERY helpful.

[@GPwithme]

@@2.0mommy Oh wow. Yes, that makes a lot of sense re lack of horse places. I'd say I take where I live for granted, but that's not true since a large part of why I moved here was because of the horse community. I'm glad you have a lead, though! Honestly, I'm also a little woo in the sense that I believe when you want something enough, the right opportunities tend to come about. And patience - which I am not the best at lol - is a stupid virtue haha. Thanks for the RB tip, and for the chat!