Hi, my name is Elise and I recently bought a new thoroughbred gelding, named Tripp. I’m thirteen and have been riding horses for about eight years. I started out riding at summer camps, then took lessons on ponies, then rode my mom’s horse Zeus.  Zeus is a big boned warmblood that won’t spook at pretty much anything. I’ve been riding Zeus about six years and he has taught me just about everything I know about horses and riding.  He also taught me you should never leave a horse unattended by a bag of carrots!
   
I couldn’t have asked for a better horse to start riding on.  Zeus was eighteen at the time and had done everything; cross-country, show jumping, you name it.  Also he was always quick to forgive if I ever made a mistake.  I still remember the day I got frustrated while I was riding him and I threw the reins, almost over his head, while he was trotting. I had no control over him.  Thankfully he’s the kind of experienced horse that would just slow down to a walk.  Although Zeus didn’t mind it, my mom did…I’ll never do that again.

When I had been riding for about two years I decided my favorite thing to do was dressage.  So I went to some local dressage shows.  However, after about a year when I had gained some more confidence jumping, I decided that was my favorite thing to do.  For the next year Zeus, about twenty-one, built up my confidence jumping, through positive experiences. Then, we entered in our first combined training event, and we had a blast!

It wasn’t until the last year or so that we realized we shouldn’t keep asking Zeus to jump higher and work harder as I progressed, because of his age and sometimes stiff joints.  We decided the best thing for him was to semi-retire him, and leave the hard work to a younger horse. That is where my new horse Tripp comes in. He’s twelve and doesn’t have as much experience as Zeus, so we can learn together.  It was quite a change after riding the same horse for so many years.  It was a while before we found Tripp. However, even after we decided he had the right attributes to be my new horse; it was a long process to have our vet check all of his joints and the rest of his body in a pre-purchase exam to make sure he would be able to handle jumping and hard work. However, thanks to Zeus I feel confident that I have enough experience to help Tripp gain more.

By Elise -  Age 13