Hello there all! I am from Calgary in Canada. I've had Heather's book for years now, and finally thought it was time to join EE to share stories, get tips from others etc. BTW my username is Naiad, which is a type of water spirit in greek mythology (presently reading a book on Helen of Troy, so this name came to mind when I had to invent one!).
My horse story is this! I took up riding as an adult. Bought my first horse in 2005, his name is Skeeter - former school horse who is a dream (15 yrs old when I bought him) and a great love of my life. He went permanently lame in 2007 and my heart broke. He is now retired with me, and is very spoiled and happy (he has a delightful fun character).
I started leasing/loaning a horse in 2008, Clydes/tb cross called Amigo - a dream of a horse, at the time a 6-yr old with the calm mind of a much more experienced horse. I moved Skeeter to the same barn as Amigo. Then last summer I got sick and nearly died (on a ventilator for a week). During recovery from my illness, the chance to buy/adopt Amigo came up, and I knew that this had to happen - my illness clarified more than ever what matters most in life!
I *love* classical dressage and Amigo is an amazing horse to work with on my riding (I am a rather novice rider). Skeeter does some clicker training and 3 yrs post-injury is much better and he seems to want to do a bit of light work - so long reining may yet happen again (he loves to putter about on long reins!).
Sorry this is so long, but I love my horses!
Amigo photos, including some fuzzy riding stills taken from a low-resolution video. Excuse any horrible riding positions etc., I just wanted to show Amigo in action!
Skeeter photos, including him doing clicker training, and sticking out his tongue which he does when he is relaxed/happy!
