Tuesday, November 2, 2010

In the beginning. . .

 . . . .I rode the dog, but there are NO photo's of that!  
Just this "slide" and some other raggity pics, documenting the beginning of my Love affair with all things horse!


I read this wonderful Post that "GREY HORSE MATTERS" wrote, and it got me desiring to tell you all my riding beginnings,
Here goes!

The above slide is of
my PONY TRIXIE and me...must have been fall of 1969-cause I got that -NEW-Light Leather Bridle, for my 8th birthday!
Trixie herself, was my 7th Birthday present.
Recently mom went through  "some" of our family photo albums, and gave these to me yesterday.
I was complaining about not having any photo's of my Trixie pony.
 Sorry to say, very poor quality images here, as I took photos of really OLD photos!
(yea, I'm feeling it)

I was wanting and wishing that it could be me, upon those wonderfully large and amazing horsey creatures, my mother and sister  floated  the sky upon.
So, they thought they would give me the chance to FEEL what it was like up there.
At  4 years old, when they did set me up on Bunny mare, my sisters first horse....they had no idea..
( THAT EQUINE LOVING GENE GOT IGNITED!)

NOW-I WAS HOOKED on horses!!


My sister and mother, were responsible for my" horse gene" as it is described.
Mom, in her younger days in Grants Pass, Oregon


And again mom, many moons later, and now with 3 daughters (two of which she passed the" Horse Gene" to).
This was part of our 10 acre parcel. Dad had made a track for us to ride on. My mother is on "Verda's Star" Washashe Grand Dam.

My sissy on one her first horse rides ...and my mom reliving her childhood dreams, through passing the "Horse Gene" to her!



My Sis rode that dream through United States Pony Club, then "evented", all over the countryside... then had a successful side business, giving dressage and jumping lessons. She also worked  10 years with the Portland Mounted Police, training horses and riders for the downtown work.
 She is on My mare's half brother, here.



 Before the pony and even the dog riding...for me...was the "Stick Horse"


I soon became tired of that stick pony...the dog came next, but before I got into too much trouble with that
dog...they found me a pony!!

I loved my Trixie pony! She was the best ever, and we went absolutely EVERYWHERE.
 I was eight in most of these photo's, our first snow!
The large field below us is where I had to ride, when I was grounded.
My father had made a track around it and we set up jumps sometimes, on the flattest areas. There also was a creek that ran through the middle. The creek made for hours of fun, jumping  and walking in it! At our fence line, a nieghbor boy, Mike Nickols, lived...he had a pony too...but was afraid to ride it.

My sister's trailer behind Trixie,Victor, the German short hair and I





THIS (below) is my ABSOLUTE favorite photo of us...because, it is the only one that captured us with a saddle on my pony. I never rode with saddles...just bareback!
 That saddle was what I sat upon in the photo of me on Bunny(above) when I was 4. And,
until last summer, it was my Favorite saddle to ride Washsahse mare with!

The photo is my favorite also, because of the Apple tree in the background. I had a tree house in it that tree my Pa made for me!



My Little Shetland/Welsh Pinto pony Trixie, took me to so many cities...only touching 1 or 2 roads back then. That was before housing developments were so popular.

We'd take off from our driveway in West Linn, travel down to "Chaffy's fields", go through  "Green Fields". The "Green Fields were a series of fields and trails in between them. Altogether, there were 8.
And by a rough estimation of miles, since I clock miles with my GPS frequently now, it may have been 7 or 8 miles- to my pony riding partners barn, over looking the Willamette River.

 My Pony riding pardner, Lisa Shennamen, was my  baby sitters daughter.  That was convenient!
From there, we would ride private fields down to the city of Willamette, take a road through the city and then join up with a series of fields and trails- all the way to Lake Oswego.
The Lake Oswego Hunt Club was where my sister rode in Pony Club.
 I dreamt of riding in the BIG ARENA!


Oh, so many stories to tell...but this is only the "Beginning" so will leave the other tales, for another time.


Adieu for now ~happily in love~ Still riding into the sunsets, thanks to My Trixie pony and now,
 Washashe mare!

25 comments:

  1. Absolutely wonderful. How cool that you kept that saddle all these years, too.

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  2. Thank you for that little trip down memory lane!Thoroughly enjoyed it.

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  3. I also passed my "horse gene" to my daughter...I only had a small paint gelding when I was 15/16...we rode alot on the local gravel roads sometimes with buddies, sometimes by ourselves...I sold him when I got into boys which really bothered my mother...we kept track of where it was until he died many years later...when my daughter was growing up, we never pointed out the horses in the fields because she wanted one so badly that we didn't want to bring on the begging...she got an interesting, stubborn chestnut gelding when she was 10...she competed at the 4-H State level with that grade guy...what a bond...we had him until he died at 28...he's buried in our back yard...she now has a very large draft/paint mix mare...I have so many wonderful stories about her...not too many about myself, though I do ride occasionally now...wonderful thing to have is the "horse gene"...

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  4. I live over in West Linn now, and I can't imagine being able to ride my horse all the way to Lake Oswego from here let alone down to Willamette. You were a lucky little girl!

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  5. Love those old photos!! I only dreamed of having a pony at that age.. but adopted an old race horse when I was 18 and haven't been without an equine companion since.

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  6. Wow KK, awesome story and photos! I'll have to get my parents to dig up old riding pictures. Thanks for sharing :)

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  7. and HOW cute were you KK, lovely pics.

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  8. What a wonderful team you and Trixie made! And so nice that you grew up in a horsey family. For me, it was Jingles that lit the fire. Jingles was my aunt's neighbor's pony, and they would let me ride him when I visited. He had a red bridle!!

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  9. Oh, very nice, KK! I was older before I got to indulge my pony fantasies.

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  10. What a great post. I enjoyed it a lot. So how did you end up with Wa mare? How come so many of her relatives in your families riding past? How neat.

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  11. Weren't you and your ponies the cutest little things ever. Loved all the pictures,especially your mom. I can see where you got your horse gene from.Glad you liked the post.

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  12. Trixie was the cutest pony !! And you are adorable with her! Love the pictures of your mom and sister riding.

    Great story =)

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  13. Love this post. It's wonderful that you have horsey pictures of your family - and Wa's! Super cute :)

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  14. How great that you have all those photos! Thanks for sharing.

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  15. Wonderful photos Kacy! Trixie was a special friend. I can imagine you riding everywhere. Child's play. Laughing and giggling. Fearless. How fun to relive those memories more vibrantly with photos. Thanks for sharing.

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  16. Thanks every one
    ..loved hearing of your childhood s too..
    Your either having the gene or passing it.


    Washashe came to me Sydney, through many years of my mother breeding her TB mare ( Verda' s Star ) to be able to give my offer my sissy a horse to train, ride. The first filly contracted Strangles...from my pony Trixie. Survived, but was severely stunted. Sold her...then, Verda had another filly ( Wa's Dam) Me Osage or"Feather"...she was trained by my sis, sold for 7,ooo with breed back rights..she was TB but was able to qualify for warmblood standing. My sis bred her to a TB race horse that has the same liniage as Secretariat..and got
    Washashe. There's alot more...later post!

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  17. LOVE your pony! My first pony was evil, but taught me how to be a fierce rider! My mom passed me the gene :)

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  18. Oh, those photos are too cool!

    Have you ever told us how you got Wa-mare? How on earth did you end up with a descendant of a horse you used to ride? That's so awesome :)

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  19. Really enjoyed your early beginnings! The old crinkly photos are perfect. In one of my older posts I also boasted memories of the pleasures and privileges of of my first and best-ever Welsh-quarter horse Chipper. We too were inseparable! Loved these fond memories that made us who we are today! Hope to hear more....

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  20. oh how gorgeous .....my Trixie was even the same colour as your Trixie .....obviously bit bigger. What a cute pony.I can see why you loved her so much.Lucky you for having a horsey Mum.My sister and I had an up hill battle all the way with a Mum that hated horses.I'm glad to say she has mellowed with age though

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  21. Oh Kacy!!! I found this post yesterday morning and have had it on my computer all day yesterday and into today. I forwarded it to my mom. Thank you for sharing the photos and memories! I knew your sister rode, but I didn't know about your mother!!! How great and fun and amazing! You and your little pony - well, I have to tell you that you guys were soooo adorable! Very, very cute. The apple tree, sigh, and your tree house - oh, the very best! "Chaffy's Fields" and "Green Fields" these are names like right out of a children's book from England or some magical place. But, of course, you do live in a magical place and back in the day it must have been even more magical - no roads! You certainly lived in a fantasy world. That is why we all ride now, right? You on Wa and me on the boys, and all our other blogger friends on their sweet ponies - we are chasing around all these wonderful memories of our childhood rides. Your memories and trail rides from that time are surely better than anyone's though. Your trails NOW are the best too! (You are quite a commercial for the state of Oregon!) Does your mom still ride at all? You make me laugh dreaming of riding in the BIG ARENA back then. And, even now, you dream about the big arena - but you have to listen to what your Wa mare is telling you. You really are riding in "The Big Arena" everyday out on the trail. That is the biggest and the best arena ever. The man-made arena is just a poor substitute! (That's just my opinion! lol!)
    Thanks for posting your amazing childhood photos, KK!

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  22. JUlES~
    Oh I am laughing at tearing at the same...
    To share these life changeing (did't know at the time)times with freinds here and to have them understand and share enthusiasm(as YOU did)is so heartwarming for me and validating.

    I have Adored reading of others stories, as they were rekindled in the mind's eye, reading of my times.

    Wish we all would post the "BEGINNING RIDES" on the blogs we have...I love them!

    Love ya Jules...we do live in blessing with magical, wonderful families and HORSES!

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  23. Oh loved this!!! Love Trixie,what a great pony she was I'm sure! She looks like Misty!

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  24. Oh KK, I truly enjoyed this post. You and Trixie were sooo cute!
    I could tell you are a ponygirl (in Dutch that would be 'ponymeisje'). I've missed that stage in my life :-) I begged and begged my parents for a pony, or riding lessons at least, but since we lived in an apartment in Amsterdam with only a balcony, and stabling a pony would be far too expensive, fat chance of having my own one. But when I was 12 my parents finally gave in. I was allowed riding lessons. I'd grown tall enough by than to ride a real horse, so that's why I've missed the fun time real 'ponymeisjes' had riding and playing with their ponies. But I'm making up for all that big time, with our stables at home and our wonderful horses. I've tried riding Naloma without a saddle, but I'm quite attached to life and she can be so fast and jumpy... and I'm not as souple and 'bouncy' as I used to be (ahum). So not the best idea ;-)

    And I have to say, I love your comments to my posts too. I'm so glad Theo survived his ordeal. I hope he'll stay well. Colics are always worrying and horrible. Give Theo a cuddle from me please ;-) And Washashe too of course.

    It's so nice to have such warm and caring and loving friends, albeit on the other side of the world and via all sorts of technical wizzardry ;-)

    Big hug!

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