Hi Bethe!
Its odd. There are 4 kids in my family and 2 of us have the horse bug. But I have it the worst. In fact, it gets worse with age. I honestly thought as a teenager that I would outgrow horses. But the obsession has only grown, and now in my 40’s, it continues to grow. My own kids love horses, but they are growing up with it. I didn’t. I wonder how that will affect them as they grow up? Will they want to live on a farm like where they grew up? Or will they want to live in the suburbs like grandma and grandpa? Or (shudder) will they go to the opposite extreme and live in a city? I can certainly see how the horse bug could skip a generation for the children of horse obsessed parents. But I could also see it just creating the next generation of horse obsessed kids. I don’t know. I can’t explain the obsession. One of the reasons I love COTH is the ability to be among like-minded horse obsessed people! Carry on.
I come by it honestly via my Dad. Polo, racing, hunting, eventing, etc.
But keep coming back for more, riding my third generation mare - and having those rides that are so together that you can’t wait to ride again. And know I had her, her Mom and her Grandmother, who all had similar qualities.
The first thought in the morning is wondering how the horses are, and the first thing I do is go out to feed.
Another twist…
I agree with what Chief2, Bumknees and Coloredcowhorse said about genetics…
How many of you out there wanted to “be” a horse when you were a kid? We used to play that all the time, we were a herd of horses running around, shaking our hair like it was our mane…:yes:
[QUOTE=HPFarmette;5485958]
I agree with what Chief2, Bumknees and Coloredcowhorse said about genetics…
How many of you out there wanted to “be” a horse when you were a kid? We used to play that all the time, we were a herd of horses running around, shaking our hair like it was our mane…:yes:[/QUOTE]
I did!! I wore out all my jeans at the knees playing horsie in the back yard. I even had a track with jumps 
i tell people to try to remember back when they were 10 and it was xmas eve and they were so excited they could hardly sleep.
that’s what horses are to me. i love everything about them. from personalities, basic care, to nutrition, tack and gear. there’s always something new to learn. they just never get old.
now i have children and i get to be here and see how they interact with the horses. my daughter squeals with excitement just to see them, and my son’s favorite toy is a miniature wheelbarrow and broom. he cries when we have to leave the barn and go back to the house. really, does it get any better than this?
[QUOTE=HPFarmette;5485958]
I agree with what Chief2, Bumknees and Coloredcowhorse said about genetics…
How many of you out there wanted to “be” a horse when you were a kid? We used to play that all the time, we were a herd of horses running around, shaking our hair like it was our mane…:yes:[/QUOTE]
Wow glad to know I’m not the only nut wanting to be a horse. I grew up in a big city. Nobody around me had horses, nobody around me wanted horses, and here I was, never met a real one, but wanting to be one, weird, huh?
I just thought I must have been one in one of my past lives.
It is my parent’s fault for dating, marrying having kids and then encouraging(corrupting) the kids into riding.
And continue the encouragement into adulthood!
Bethe & I grew up inthe same corrupt environment!
…What MistyBlue said…
Yup though Iused to sit on the side stoop when hte state fair was going on ( never mind it was about 10ishmiles from my house in the city) waiting for the loose( aka stray) horse to come galloping down our street so I could 'catch 'it and keep it. After all if the owner did not want it any more and let it go t was free game right? Or so my under 10yo mind thought…
Scary thing is one year I sat and sat for days. The one day I apparently did not empty my bladder well enough or had to muc to drink and had to go in to use hte bathroom is hte one day a horse did indeed come ‘galloping’ ( according dad who knew nothing about horses at hte time and every horse galloped no matter how fast they were going) down our street followed apparently quickly by people looking for said horse.
Go figures huh… ut I had it all figured out would keep horse in garage( just move parents cars out of garage even the 64 vette just purchased by dad). Keep horse in garage no problems and tie it out when it needed to go potty after all ya know horses are house broken just like cats and dogs.
Actually the garage in my brain could house cars and horse because our garage had one of those outcroppings on the end and surley a horse could fit in that. Yeah I had it all planned out… Broke my heart when parents kept saying no cant do that. When asked why they just said they cant do that never once brought up the fact that gee zoning regulations did not allow it OR that a horse would not fit in the outcropping of the garage etc…
My kids however recieved their fathers genes though when it comes to horses. They will take care of it in necessary but in general they would pefer not to be around them. Mr BK’s family tried to be horsie but just couldnt get it there. SIl #1 tolerates horses SIL #2 likes them and would like ot have one but has other things she would rather do. Neices yeah the typical like of horses but not ot the extent of giving up life for them.( they like having nails, face done professionally to much.) And they are not into the oh so fab green slime trademark clothing that comes with horses. One once actually say eeewwww gross you actually let a horse put that green stuff on you?.. Yeah like had choice in that… and that was the reaction of seeing a picture of me that was taken right after I got slimed.
My cousin and I would tie weeping willow branches together with twine and tie them around our waist for tails, and then go galloping or trotting around on a made up adventure.
We would get up at 5 am in the summer to ride, put the horses up for a bit, (pretend to be horses or play with barbies and horses), go for a mid afternoon trail ride, then we put them up and have dinner, then we’d get them back out and play hide and seek in the dark. She didn’t play fair, she always gave me the palomino and she rode the chestnut! Those poor horses didn’t know what hit them when we were out of school.
I think WITHOUT horses I would be insane.
It’s a way of life. End of story.
I think you are onto something cch :yes:
I’ve been horsecrazy since I could walk - maybe before then.
I did not grow up with horses but at 5 or 6yo befriended a neighborhood kid because she had the most wonderful rocking horse.
Then later - 10yo? - made friends with a girl who lived across the road from a TB layup farm & kept up that friendship long past its time…for the horses.
Mom was totally non-horsy but humored me by ferrying me to lessons before I could drive myself.
My Dad & his sister rode livery horses in Chicago’s Lincoln Park back in the '20s.
For me it is horses, no other animal stirs me the way they do.
[QUOTE=HPFarmette;5485958]
I agree with what Chief2, Bumknees and Coloredcowhorse said about genetics…
How many of you out there wanted to “be” a horse when you were a kid? We used to play that all the time, we were a herd of horses running around, shaking our hair like it was our mane…:yes:[/QUOTE]
Oh, yeah! I grew up in the city, but spent a lot of weekends at my family’s beach house in Waveland, MS (gone now courtesy Katrina). It had a huge front and back yard, and I would “canter” all over pretending to be a horse, “jumping” over flower beds, etc. My grandmother thought I had lost my mind.
I don’t know about the genetic thing. I have a pretty big family, and I am unaware of anyone I’m related to, back to my grandparents generation, who were into horses.
I have no idea how to explain to others why horses make me a complete person. I’m not sure I can explain it to myself. All I know is this: there is no better smell than burying your nose in your horse’s neck; there is no better view that looking through your horse’s ears while you are riding; there is no sense of peace like spending time on a rainy day, alone in the aisle of the barn, grooming your horse.
Thank God my husband just goes along with it! My mother, on the other hand, is completely mystified. In her opinion, horses “just seem like a lot of work.”
[QUOTE=Chief2;5485302]
Of course it’s in the blood! We all have ancestors that relied on horses for their daily work and/or transportation. But once the generations beyond that point got past the industrial revolution, many dropped horses out of their daily lives altogether and never exposed their children to them. Now, someone finds they have a fondness for horses, and they wonder where it all came from!
…
Seek, and somewhere in your ancestral past, you will find horses! :)[/QUOTE]
This is true for me. My great grandparents came to this country from Poland, and my grandfather kept in touch with our relatives overseas, even visiting them on occasion. My relatives in Poland kept horses for farming their small plot long after it became fashionable and practical to own a tractor.
This topic strikes a nerve with me.
I’ve been horse crazy from the wee years and spent hours and hours pouring over picture books with pictures and descriptions of breeds. I had a poster of same for years and years and my heart was set, from early on, for a bay TB with black points. I fantasized about riding that very same horse to school and racing across the acres and acres of my childhood home. It was quite fantastical, but it was very real to me in my youth.
In grammar school, by third grade, the “mean” boys had labelled me as “horse”, instead of my name. It pissed me off at the time, but I think they were on to something!
I had some infrequent forays into horses in my adolescent years but they fizzed out because nobody in my family could understand or support my interests.
Long story short, I became involved as an adult and I now own 3 TBs. I’m immersed 24/7 in horses. My two eldest children are also horse people. Sometimes I wonder if that is because their biological father is a Native American. There is no other way to explain their affinity and expertise.
I can’t explain what a horse does for my soul. My family would dearly love that explanation because most of them don’t get it and I can’t explain it.
Nevermind what I’d REALLY like to be doing with my life (which involves horses and very little income!).
When I was young, my grandfather told me that I reminded him of his grandfather, who was obsessed with his horses. He died at a very old age, if i recall in his late 80’s, in a carriage accident.
My interest in horses has always been- my parents said I had the bug from the moment I could communicate about it. We lived in a 'burb outside NYC- no horses to be found.
I rode as a kid, as much as my parents would tolerate, both were not into horses, and really resent it to this day. So in my free time I’d tack up my younger brother and long line him around our yard. I’d stable him up at our swingset. And when I got in lots of trouble for that I’d resort to riding my bike and treating it as if it was a horse. My arena was the culdesac- and my bike, too, had its very own stable and feeder. LOL
The bug has only gotten worse with age.
I too come from a family with no horse or animal lover in anyone’s memories. Still there is one possibility, a distant relative who died young in WWII was an artist that sketched a very good picture of a dressage horse and rider. The picture was lost but when my grandfather showed me a photograph he had of the artwork I got goosebumps.
I also used to pretend I was a horse as a child and treated my bicycle as one. As a preteen I moved on to training the neighbours’ dogs to jump obstacles until my parents caved a bit and got me a dog. I also trained him to jump and set up courses in the basement of our house when the weather outside didn’t cooperate. Its too bad there weren’t any agility trials nearby to where I lived.
Horses really are like an addiction, I think I start going through withdrawl symptoms when I have more than two days away from them. I don’t even need to ride all the time, just feeding my girl a carrot gets me my fix!
I’m another one with a horse ‘thing’ going waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back (honestly, I never remember not wanting something to do with horses - admittedly that may be my mom’s fault because the first time I might have seen one irl, I was 2, so that’s pretty young to get the bug) and I always tried to teach our dogs to lunge… Never worked very well.
There’s not a lot of ‘horse’ in my ancestry in terms of massive horse farms, but plenty of people who by necessity would’ve had and used horses, and then my mom seems to have an excess of cousins and aunts/uncles who did the ‘horse’ thing to some degree. (I think there was one race horse trainer, and at least one person who used to fox hunt…) Apparently one of her uncles was really sad when it turned out my mom was kind of afraid of horses (weirdo) because he thought she was built to look really good riding. (Long legs, leaner muscle - he’s right, she had the ‘hunter’ build when she was younger, particularly for the time period.)
Of course, none of these people were local, so when my horse obsession persisted, I had to make do with lessons. sigh
Tonight it gave me somewhere to cry with someone who didn’t ask questions or try to talk back.
I don’t explain it. I don’t think I could.
I don’t even bother, anymore.
I forget the originator of this statement, but I think it holds true:
For those who understand, no explanation is necessary; for those who don’t, none is possible.
'Nuff said. 
