How many horses have you ridden in your life?

[Jeannette_formerly_ponygyrl]

And for ridden, I’m counting swung a leg astride and gone forward for more than a couple minutes.

A multi-layered poll would be cool - of those 100 horses, how many have you ompeted? How many have you ridden more than 30 minutes more than once? etc?

Has anyone developed a color coded app which shows 3000 hrs on one horse, 60 hours split between 3 other horses, a few dots for quick catch rides, etc? That could be really cool to see! Especially if it were superimposed on a timeline… Did William Fox Pitt spend 3000 hours on one Shetland as a very young lad, then the next 3000 hours on 500 different beasties?

[notanotherone]

Easily over 100

[quietann]

I am only vaguely a long-term serious horseperson, and took a 25 year break from riding. But if you count them all – including the nose-to-tail trail mounts – I am well over 50.

Since I took up riding again, about 8 years ago, I’ve ridden about 30 horses. Lots of lesson horses, a few more from when I was horse-shopping, 3 “hired” horses, 2 greenies owned by friends who were training them and wanted someone other than them to ride the horses, 3 I leased, and of course the golden Morgan.

[Highflyer]

Probably between 150 and 200. My mom had us all on ponies before we could walk, and I am guessing I hit the 10,000 hour mark before I learned to drive. I’m not sure it did much to make me BETTER at it, but I’ve certainly done a lot of it!

[Appsolute]

I am guessing well north of 100. 5 years spent as a working student, split between an event barn and an H/J barn. Both barns had between 25-30 (plus turn over) horses at a time, and I spent time on every single one of them. Then the 7 years riding in, and teaching Pony Club, lots of swapping horses and getting on students horses in lessons.

Then I spent a few years restarting auction horses… I don’t ride a variety of horses these days, only have time for my one.

As for hours? Currently I am in the saddle about 7-8 hours a week. When I was a working student, between 2 and 5 hours a day, 6 days a week. Back when I was a kid? I would ride my horse all over hill and dale, sometimes my friend and I would head out in the morning, and return at sunset. So summer… Lots of hours logged, winter, more like a few a week.

More math than I want to do to add it all up!

[Huntin_Pony]

Let’s estimate - riding 56 years - first few and some in the middle perhaps only 2 or 3 per year but average I’d guess conservatively 5, so that would put it around 250 - wayyy too many to count.

I am grateful to them all.

[PhoenixFarm]

I’d guess I’m in the 140-150 range. I’ve competed in the 30-40 range, including eventers, dressage horses, cutters, and an endurance horse. Most of my competitions were events, though probably my most common activity while riding is dressage schooling–fixing or polishing the dressage and/or teaching new dressage skills to event horses is kind of my specialty, and always has been. Especially the hot ones (I had a trainer once call me Sominex Butt, lol).

[FLeventer]

Well over 100. Honestly ive never kept count. Twenty years of riding and riding a lot of different horses.

[Desert_Topaz]

At least 200, possibly over 300. Competed on 11 of them.

Holy crud I’ve been on a lot of horses.

[netg]

Because of school horses, barn rat tendencies, and showing IHSA in college I once counted close to 100 horses I had ridden frequently enough to develop some sort of relationship with, and with IHSA I have probably competed close to 100 horses. I would guess I have ridden somewhere around 200 horses.

[Blugal]

I’m in the too many to count club too. Lots and lots. And I still need lessons…

[yellowbritches]

Probably, if you go back to school horse days, I’m well over 100, probably closer to 200. I wish I could remember every single horse I’ve ever ridden! But I definitely remember the ones that taught me a lot (be it good or bad!).

I tried to count horses I’ve competed and was rapidly approaching 20 (most eventing, but some in other things), and that doesn’t count all the school horses I showed as a kid. 5ish of those were horses I broke OR started off the track. Two were ones I took from unbroke/fresh off the track to prelim. Two horses I started off the track (both tiny mares, oddly enough) have gone to YRs. I actually just realized that. Whoa.

[Winding_Down]

[QUOTE=Huntin’ Pony;7727952]
Let’s estimate - riding 56 years - first few and some in the middle perhaps only 2 or 3 per year but average I’d guess conservatively 5, so that would put it around 250 - wayyy too many to count.

I am grateful to them all.[/QUOTE]

HP and I are in the same cohort so I am guessing my numbers are close to hers. Unlike HP, I am not grateful to ALL of them… but certainly almost all of them. :lol:

[RAyers]

Over the past 41 years, last count was in the 400s for ridden (300 for more than 30 minutes more than once - hard core and single through my 30s) and around 70 competed in a variety of disciplines (gymkhanas, eveners, hunters, jumpers, reining, dressage, western pleasure, demonstration rides, etc.).

[Brooke]

I can’t begin to figure it out. Been riding for 62 years and much of that time was riding for others. Rode many school horses as kid, then as a teenager I began riding for a trainer…so many more there. Then I went to work at a show and sales barn, so horses were in and out all the time, and showed most of them. I can’t begin to remember all of them. After I had kids, I mostly rode my own, occasionally getting on a few for other people, and have had about 15 of mine. All of those I rode multiple times for more than 30 minutes. Well except for one that was truly crazy and I opted to get off!

[SaddleFitterVA]

Not that many.

Less than 10 as a child.

Maybe 30ish as an adult, and if you take out the one or two lessons or trail rides on other people’s horses, that drops down to 15 or so.

My ride statistics start in 2006, and since then I have logged a few thousand hours of rides. Before that, I always rode, but never tracked it.

My mom & stepdad bought ponies when I was between 11 and 16, that was my childhood riding. Up to 5 of them, but 3 were my regular rides.

That was the epitome of backyard horses. no lessons, no education, just get on bareback with a halter.

[scubed]

Probably around 250 as well. I rode everything in the barn growing up and then spent years catch riding and lessoning on lots of different horses.

[pologirl27]

Trying to estimate how many I rode at each barn, I come up with about 200. I have ridden about 100 repeatedly (polo ponies, lesson horses, leased horses, actually owning 3 horses) and the rest were one-offs. Racked up a bunch in IHSA! I have probably jumped half of them. Competed at least 70 different horses. It isn’t that I competed a ton, just a different lesson horse every show and then all those IHSA horses. And for all that, my current horses is my favorite

ETA: I am adding ones I went on a trail ride on with relatives, the mules in Molokai, etc. Not the pony rides where I was lead around, but independent rides.

[ddashaq]

Almost 30 years riding and probably 100-150. Spent years working at lesson barns in HS and later was a WS at a very large yard so those contributed the most. In the past 10 years, only a dozen or so-- I quit teaching/training and a few years later had an accident so I am much more reluctant to ride horses I don’t know. I have competed on maybe 15 total. Showing has never been my strength.

[flaxenfilly23]

Probably close to 300. It’s hard to keep count after a while though, lol. I’ve only competed about 20 of them in various events