Hi, I am new on the board (although I am an avid Chronicle junior reader) and I was wondering if everyone would take a minute to introduce themselves- their horses, hobbies (well, I guess it would be horses!), what they ride in, et cetera. I know that many of you already know each other (Portia, Lucien, Barb, Ben & Me…) but I would love to get to know you! I’ll start. I am fourteen and I live in the south, I have a children’s hunter and a large pony hunter, I love science, I want to be an ambassador to the UN when I grow up, and I love horses! I might be getting an adorable corgi soon (my yellow lab Jasper had to be put to sleep recently), I have a rabbit named Matilda, and a cat named Annabelle.
Hey Guys 
Im Erin Githens, Im 15 and live in Glen Ridge, NJ. I have two horses, Coco Dancer “Coco” who I show in CHildrens Hunters, M&S, NAL, and SLT. And Breathtaking “Bella” who I show in 3ft jumpers. I ride at Sterling Meadow Farm in Bedminster NJ. I also have two cats Marble and Puzzle. Well thats just about it for me! 
Byebye!
[This message has been edited by ErinElliston (edited 01-17-2000).]
Hi all. I have four horses. I have showen in juniors, childrens, eq, medal, and jumpers. This is my first year as an Adult rider. It’s different. I had a pony. I never really got to do the pony thing though. I think this thread was a good Idea. Now I know a little bit more about people that I’ve been talking to.
Odin11-
Louise is another dressage person, thought you might want to know.
I may as well jump in. I’m Courtney and I live in Waynesboro, Va. I work out of Charlottesville. I have a small farm and own 2 horses. One gelding that I show in hunter shows and one 2 year old unbroken filly. I’m planning on showing her on the line this year so wish us luck! I’m married and 29 years old. We have no children just animals. 2 dogs, 5 cats and the two horses. I love to meet fellow horse people from my area so if you live close by, feel free to e-mail me!
Hey everyone!Well, my name is Melissa and I live in Jax. FL. I show the A circuit hunters with my Children’s Hunter “I Love the Game.” Umm, I have 2 golden~retrievers, soon a jack russel! uhh…Im going to show in WEF,Feb.22-March 6th and and then Tampa the end of March. If any of you are going to be there email me!! well, umm, nothing else really to say 
, LoL, Email me!
I’ll go. Hi Ponykid, welcome to the board. I live in the Northeast and have two horses, one thourobred and one polish warmblood, both, unfortunately retired - so I’m grounded right now. I ride dressage, so what am I doing on this board?
- I like the people on this board
- I like the ideas expressed
- I may ride dressage(and love it), but I also love to watch hunter/jumper and am always willing to learn more about the disciplines.
As for age, well, lets just say that I’m considerably older than you are and leave it at that. And, as for what I want to be when I grow up – retired, so I can spend more time riding and being with my horses.
Have fun on this board, we’ll look forward to hearing from you.
I’ve only been on this board for a short while. My name’s Jordana, 34, recently married. I’ve got a 16yo TB gelding I show hunters, and a coming 2yo Oldenburg gelding who will (hopefully) be my next hunter. I’ve also got 2 cats, a calico and a tortoise-shell, who will be 10 in April. Been riding all my life (well, 24 years of it, seems like all of it!) and got my first horse (the TB) 10 years ago.
Off the thread, but Sparkles, sometimes things look worse before they get better. What does your vet say?
Duh - I forgot to tell you about my animals -
Joker (show name Sneak Preview) is my horse - a 10 year old TB gelding who I have had since he was 2! He is my baby! I also have a tabby cat named Sam. He is hysterical!
Glad to know a little bit about all of you!
What the heck. A good friend of mine laughs when the question of age comes up. He points at me and says, “She won’t tell… but I know for a fact… she planted the oak trees in the ring at Upperville!” I want to clear up that whole misunderstanding. I’m not THAT old!
I was five when Santa delivered my first pony. Rode almost nonstop with camping, dog shows, field trials, foxhunting, and a couple of rock concerts thrown in. Showed when and where I could through high school with various horses. Saw the Disney movie, The Horse Masters and decided that was much more to my liking than Med school. Completely disappointed my father and headed off to England for Porlock Vale Riding Academy. Once back in the states, taught lessons, broke youngsters,worked for a Quarter horse fellow awhile, whipped in for a hunt, ran a couple of boarding barns and lesson programs,judged some,then bought this farm,scaled down the boarding and mainly taught.
I consider myself semi-retired now. I have 20 some ponies here on the farm of varying ages. Stand four stallions and show youngsters on the line. Once in awhile, I sell one.
Three, soon to be four, dogs. One cat, a canary and a Yellow Nape Amazon parrot.
Other interests include, architecture,antiques,ancient history,clocks,gardening,traveling,[there’s no place like Rome!]anything from the Federal period,and reading.
One son. Who is nearly perfect.
This board is great fun. [Plus, it makes me work on sentence structure and correct spelling.]
[This message has been edited by farmgate (edited 01-15-2000).]
My turn! This is great! I’m Lisa, 36 years old and have been riding for 20+ years - eek! I’ve got 4 horses. I couldn’t part with any of them…I just keep adding to the farm! I’ve got 2 Qtr/TB crosses, 1 TB and a brand new WB mare. I’ve got a toy poodle, and 5 barn cats that meticulosly patrol the property which is just above Harrisburg, PA.
I train in Chester County, I know ‘Joker’ very well…and I think I know SoEasy as well!
This board has been great, I guess I’m addicted too!!!
Hi, I’m Jessica. I’m 29 and live in Cambridge, MA. I’m an English teacher at Dan vers High School. I used to ride a lot. I don’t anymore because of time and money. I’ve been taking lessons at Castle Neck Farm in Hamilton, MA.
I grew up in East Haddam, CT and had a pony, then a horse at home. I took few formal lessons, save the school of hard knocks. My first pony was Ann Guptill’s pony, Pumpernickel, a 12.2 half-Hackney, quarter-Morgan, quarter-Welsh. She knocked me off on a daily basis. Then I had Willy, a strawberry roan 12.0 pony. I rode him bareback all the time, even to church! I tied him up in the graveyard! Then I had Phyllis, a Quarter Horse/Morgan mare, 15.2, who was a doll and taught me a lot. Then we moved where we couldn’t have horses at home. I went to high school in Old Lyme, CT. I babysat for a couple that had polo ponies, so I got to ride them.
After I went to college I started riding again at some local-yokel places and took formal lessons. Then I went to ride with Wynn Weischet at Cedar Brook Farm, on the suggestion of my part-time boss, Katie Battison’s mom. That’s where I met Katie Battison, then a short-stirrup kid. I moved around a bit in college, but bought a off the tracker, named Lorenzo – a rogue who trotted around with his head straight in the air for an entire winter. But one day he decided it would be easier to be a hunter and went uphill from there. We did Conn HJ Adult Medal Finals in 1993. He did NEHC and Rhode Island Jr Finals that year with his half lessee. I rode with Beverly Vars then. After college I worked for Practical Horseman for a little while and lived in West Chester, PA. I kept Lorenzo (show name Merchant of Venice)at a really nice, dream private facility. An excellent junior whose parents owned it helped me with Lorenzo and showed him for me while I did the local adults. I moved back to Connecticut and Lorenzo stayed there on lease, but I did the Local Hunters at Devon that spring of 1995. We got a fourth and, with Rachel Baker up, a first and a fourth.
Then Lorenzo came back north and went to a barn in Norwalk where he did the A circuit for little bit with a junior. When the lease was up, we went elsewhere with my friend/trainer who I’m trying to track down (Matt Izzo, if anyone has heard of him). Then he went back to the Norwalk barn and promptly got colitis and lost 200 lbs. I moved him to Cedar Brook Farm and showed and lessoned with Wynn. But then I moved to Atlanta and couldn’t afford to take Lorenzo, so he stayed on lease. I returned in August to the CHJA Hunter/Eq Finals that I had qualified for and got a seventh in the Hunter Classic and a callback in the eq. I sold Lorenzo to his lessee and in 1998 he was NEHC/CHJA Adult Hunter Champion. He is semi-retired now.
While in Atlanta I worked at a camp in the riding program and got to ride some nice and lots of not-so-nice horses. One was a 13.3 racking pony who jumped 3’6"! I also rode with Elizabeth Warmington while I was in Atlanta.
Then I moved back to New England. I’m married two years and just found out that I’m pregnant – so no riding for a long time 
I don’t anticipate having the money. Ah, sacrifices, sacrifices. I’m actually happy, don’t worry.
So, that’s me!
As mentioned, moving this forward…
.
This was a neat idea! I am 25 and live in Alabama. Can’t figure out what I really want to do! I have been teaching lessons lately. Have 1 one horse named Noble (Over Exposed) a 10 year old tb who at the moment is at Auburn. She had surgury Saturday morning. But she is doing better they say! I am married to a great guy who doesn’t think to much of horses but after this weekend has become attached to her! We were gonna have her for sale but he really likes her now 
! We have 3 dogs a yellow lab Duke, a jack russell (gotta have a least 1) Tucker, and a fox hound named Kirra. We live 2 blocks from the beach so we are always there.
I have been riding since I was 13 so it is in blood forever. Started in short stirrup then childrens and jrs then tried jumpers. So that is about all! Again great idea 
I’m 33, married and live in Michigan. I currently have a 8 yr. old OTT TB mare who I show on the H/J circuit (she did exceptionally well this past year - 7 Champion/Reserve Champion year end awards ).
We also have two labrador puppies (Tyler & Ivy) and a VERY large cat (18+ lbs).
I work part-time as a Marketing/Admin Manager so that I can be home from the barn when my husband gets home from work. It works well and he’s 110% supportive of my riding, but lately he’s been hinting at the idea of starting a family. Yikes!! Maybe after this show season . . .
Hey guys whats up? This was a great idea!
I have had so much fun hearing everyones stories and backgrounds.
k, I am 15 I have one children’s jumper and one baby green hunter. I have been riding since the age of three. As for my future, when I get out high school I hope to go to college with a riding program and hopefully work with horses for the rest of my life.
Nice gettin’ to now you guys, see ya around!
Hey
I’m Sarah, I’m 15 and from right outside Washington DC. I started riding at 8, always a pony rider - I rode around at local and “A” shows on anything I could (which were often some VERY nice ponies) until two summers ago when I scraped up enough to lease a large green pony mare from Woodhall Stables in VA, Always The Fashion aka “Sassy.”
I’ve been riding and showing Sassy at local and “A” shows ever since.
Well this is a good chance to introduce myself since I have been hanging around here for about a week now!
My name is Claire and I am 22 years old. I have been riding since I was small but not
seriously until about 6 years ago when we moved here from England. I worked as a groom and have ridden cross country,dressage and hunters and jumpers. I have owned my own horse for just over 3 years now, he is a 15.1hh 9yr old, bay TB gelding called Boston Mac and I trained him myself - my greatest accomplishment so far! He is a very smart horse which means there is never a dull moment. At our debut show we only entered three classes so as not to overwhelm him and we got two thirds and a first! What makes life even more interesting is that 2 years ago I had a bad accident while riding a friends horse and I broke my back. My legs are paralyzed and I am in a wheelchair but I
still want horses to be my life. I take care of my horse and I have been riding him and
figuring out how to do things in a different way. Jumping is out for now so I am leaning
more towards dressage and hope that I will be showing again by the end of the year.
I also have two very fat cats and some fish
