Have the forums played a big role in your life? The Chronicle would like to know what the forums mean to you. Have you made any special connections, created decade-long friendships or met anyone in real life?
Share below, or you can email Kimberly at kloushin@coth.com.
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I migrated here after my original Horsey BB (Equisearch) became too - & I’m quoting our dear, departed county here: “too what color halter should I get”
But COTH was the suggestion of a now disappeared poster (oldpost - IIRC) from both BBs.
She became my 1st IRL friend from this board.
That friendship lasted only a couple years, ending when she literally “unfriended” me for some transgression 
.
Best I could determine it had to do with the sale of one of her homebreds. Sale never happened as she put roadblocks up for the buyer that I questioned.
Next I met donkeyman - still posting under a different handle - through the Giveaways & she gave me my lovely WB for the cost of transport.
COTH connections continue:
Met ASBownme (?sp) at Villa Louis where she was showing her lovely mare.
Met k__? (I forget her handle) at my very first National Drive*
Where she was my nanny for my very first solo outing with my then 3yo mini.
*after reading of the event here from a poster whose daughter went regularly
Met goodhors at the same venue & hope to see her & DH again this Fall 
Finally, met Foxglove who continues to amaze me with her horsemanship & multidiscipline skills - she’s the ant 
to my grasshopper 
- as well as being a lot of fun to talk horses wth.
The forum gives me access to an amazing wealth of knowledge, answers my questions on horse health, training, farm mgmt & with Off Topic everything & anything else on Earth.
Plus entertains with the occasional Trainwreck.
And has added to my vocabulary:
Asshat
Aghasted
Inverness
etc 
ETA: corrected the ant/grasshopper analogy
I’m on the introverted side so I haven’t met anyone here. (Though I’ve often thought how funny it would be if one of my barn mates or riding buddies were a member here! Small horsey world so you never know!) What I’ve enjoyed about COTH is the variety of perspectives I’ve found on the forums. Posters come from all walks and levels of the horse world, so it is interesting to read to different opinions and ways of doing things. I’ve learned a few things from this, and rethought a few other things. Sometimes opinions and people clash, but even in those threads I’ve learned things. Sometimes posters offer potential solutions to a problem I never would have considered or knew about. In other words it’s a good resource for knowledge, looking at things from different angles, and entertainment. My favorite threads tend to be older longer ones where people have shared experiences or stories about their equines. For example, growing up as the horse crazy but horseless kid, Pony Club wasn’t an option for me, so I’ve enjoyed reading threads with posters telling stories of their own Pony Club experiences when they were kids.
I originally found COTH forum when my horse was stolen by the woman I leased him to. I used these forums to locate him by asking folks to keep an eye out for him on sales ads, someone from here went to see him as a fake buyer-- he was for sale by his new owner (sold by the lease-thief to her unsuspectingly). She took photos and helped me connect to the girl who had him. I purchased him back, and more COTHers helped me ship him across the province, took him in when he arrived close to the border (did I mention he was sold to Canada from Washington state?!), boarded him until I could drive up and get him. So, quite frankly, COTH saved my boy and reunited us.
I have learned so many important things from all the different forums here, especially the horse care and off topic. I feel like I have been able to share my lifetime of knowledge with others who were seeking answers. I’ve cried, laughed, gotten mad and found solace from so many posters. I’d love to meet so many of the posters here in real life-- what a fun bunch of (mostly) ladies! I come here to join a community of passionate, talented, diverse horse lovers. I can always get an answer to a question or a shoulder to lean on (or cry on) no matter the topic.
I also enjoy the international perspective-- so many of us love all things equine and it’s so great to read about how horses are “done” in other countries around the world. This also crops up in the Current Events forum-- which can be controversial and contentious, but also allows us to keep on events as they happen, all over the globe.
I’ve met a few of you in real life- I know Horsepoor very well.
Sorry in advance for the too long post.
I’m, apparently, elderly now. As a girl, COTH was the only horse magazine I convinced my parents I absolutely had to have. I was so excited every week when my copy showed up in the mail!
When the forum started, I was too busy with work, husband and horses to join in the talk, but I was a lurker for years. Any time one of my horses had an issue, it was here that I came to search the threads for answers and suggestions.
It was always so helpful and reassuring to find other horseowners who had felt the worry and frustration of various health and training issues and had come out the other side. A vet can give textbook information, but another horseowner who has experienced the same problem can offer advice on the day-to-day nitty gritty of actually dealing with it. The amount of knowledge freely offered by generous horse people here has truly been a gift.
I have found other posters to be intelligent and forthright in expressing their ideas, even when we don’t agree (CE, I’m looking at you). I have also so appreciated the wonderful sense of humor of so many here. I can’t count the times I’ve laughed out loud in reading, usually just when I really needed something to laugh about.
I lost my last horse one month before COVID lockdowns started. I finally stopped lurking and joined the board. It has been my lifeline. The members here have let me express my grief while sharing their grief in the losses they have experienced. They have cried with me, and I have cried with them.
This board has allowed me to still feel like a horse person. Being a horseowner over five decades was what defined me and was where I was able to be the best me. Being here means I don’t have to lose that.
Thanks so much for this community, It is honestly a joy to be a part of it.
P.S. And thanks to everyone for sharing the wonderful photos of all the critters. They’re always guaranteed to bring a smile. 
Every time I would Google search some horse related question, COTH would come up. I lurked for a long time before joining. I’m glad I did.
I have only met one COTH’r in real life and that was simply by accident. A couple others I am FB friends with, and one I regularly am in contact with via email (we don’t really live close enough to get together). Heinz57 and JB.
I so enjoy the diversity yet common-ness of all us horse people. When I can’t find an answer, somebody can at least commiserate. I no longer show but I can “keep up” by reading the forums. I get to live vicariously thru others! I’ll never breed a mare but I love to read about and see the baby pics from others.
If you have a question, someone out here has the answer.
I love Clanter’s stories and pictures!
I’ve learned things I would not have otherwise known. About keeping, caring, training, etc.
I just like feeling part of something bigger while I’m in my little corner of the world.
Back to add (Shame on me) a poster whose handle I cannot recall, who started our friendship by mailing me a hardcover copy of a beloved childhood book.
Prompted by a thread on here about horse books.
We now email daily, consider ourselves Sistahs & if I can manage to travel, fully intend a IRL visit.
If she’ll have me 
I joined the forums in 2001, and they changed my life…
Ok, that’s a bit dramatic… let me try again.
I joined the forums in 2001, and immediately found a group of like-minded people that I both admired and related to.
Listening to their stories about going to shows and the related ups and downs (“The Barbie Cow goes to a show” comes to mind) gave me the inspiration to go out and find a trainer, and start showing again. Reading the breeders’ posts about babies and stallions gave me the courage to breed my beloved mare, and the community here supported me through her pregnancy, and the first few years of her foal.
The memorable posts ranged from the absolutely hysterical “Willem tells the secrets of life,” “The Golden TaTas” and “The saga of the 700 Pony” to the heartrending such as Rolex’s baby, “Two Planes Just Flew Into the World Trade Center” and the loss of “CactusKate”
The phrases “Sending Jingles,” “Numping and Finging” and “What The Fruitbat” became staples of my (and my friends’) vocabulary… and speaking of friends…
I have made SO MANY friends because of this forum. Some I’ve met in real life, and they’ve become legit friends, some I’ve only met online, but talk to almost every day…
As people have drifted away and the feel of the forums have changed, I haven’t been on here much… but… they definitely impacted my life in a HUGE way when I needed it the most.
Where to even begin. How about yesterday. I’m out mowing on my zero turn and for the first time in my life unknowingly hit ground bees and took some hits. The first thing I do is run in the house, come to the COTH forum and do a search…“ground bees”. Sure enough there was advice and it worked! Onion juice.
This place is Angie’s List on steroids. I built the barn of my dreams after at least a hundred hours pounding COTH for every detail and do you know that damn barn is nearly perfect.
All from other posters giving their time and caring enough to help. And I pay it forward too. And let’s not even get started on how being here is relaxing. What all is going on with all these other horse folk? I love it.
Because of the forums I’ve also learned to be more careful with my words AND developing taking other people getting mad less seriously. Words alone can be so hard to interpret.
I remember getting burned at the stake on the UDBB for suggesting someone get a warmblood as she thought THAT was the reason she couldn’t do better at shows. I was being sarcastic but that’s how words get you in trouble and it all went wrong. Little ole me with my little Arab at USDF shows holding my head high somehow got all twisted like I was the reason others couldn’t dare to dream. Learned a lot from that mistake and never made it again.
I’m grateful for who all and how this big engine runs. On the rare occasion the board is “down” I realize just how dependent I am on this place. Thank goodness this addiction is positive.
I have been on this forum since 2007, when I had my first experience with a metabolic horse.
Back then all I knew about metabolic issues was how to spell the words. There were many forums in those days, this was the only forum where I found actual help.
If I want to know anything of substance regarding horse health, I come here.
I met my former trainer Jumphigh83 and one of my best friends, Xctrygirl on the forums.
I joined in 1999 while expecting my son. My profile vanished and I rejoined in 2001 or so. I have met friends and lost friends here. I’ve rejoiced and mourned so many times. I have laughed and argued and shared and worried and prayed as a result of these boards.
With my MS and its disabilities I just cannot have horses, I have land but I do not have the physical energy and strength to take care of them properly, and I just do not have enough money to board, farrier and vet work. So I take lessons now at a really good stable.
I do not know how many times I’ve told my riding teacher about things I’ve read on the Forum, including stuff we both use a lot. I have bought a lot of tack based on stuff I read here, including my beloved Fager bits, BOT stuff, the Fenwick “happy hat” (face mask) and my Pegasus Butterfly saddle. I’ve tried a few riding methods for the little, picky stuff,Haas brushes (the horses I ride say Thank You!) and I KNOW if I run into an unsolvable problem that someone here probably has dealt with it effectively.
I have learned SO MUCH on the COTH Forum horse sections.
And I love the time I spend on the CE Forum, so many knowledgeable people suggesting stuff to read and discussing stuff sanely. In one convenient place I can find information on both sides of an issue, and the skills of my fellow Forum members in curating the media have led me to good, sound knowledge. Thank you all for this!
I spend hours a day here. Since I am disabled the Forum fills up hours of empty time with knowledge and discussions about what is most important thing in the world, HORSES!
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