In the June 2009 Horse & Rider article "I Chose My Breed Because." we highlighted 14 favorite breeds of horse owners around the country. As horse-magazine editors we found it too hard to pick just one favorite breed, so here we share our first-breed experiences, as well as some fun pics.
APPALOOSA
Juli S. Thorson, editor & associate publisher
My first breed involvement was with Appaloosas. My parents and grandparents helped introduce them to my home state, North Dakota, while I was growing up there in the '50s and early '60s. As a child, I loved the distinctiveness of individual Appaloosas--that it was so easy to tell one from the other. As a teen, I loved how their individuality seemed to somehow transfer over to me. I was not a "cool" teenager in most respects. But my having a horse, and a uniquely visual APPALOOSA horse at that...well, that almost provided me with enough coolness factor to make up for it.
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- From left: Sherry, the unregistered Hackney Pony who was the first horse in Jenny's family, with Jenny's youngest sister Caroline, 10, astride; sister Mary,12, on Showgirl, a part-Arabian mare; and Jenny,14, on Tigress, her unregistered Thoroughbred/Quarter Horse mare, in El Dorado, Calif.
HACKNEY PONY
Jenny Forsberg Meyer, senior editor
My family's very first horse was an unregistered Hackney Pony--how's that for unusual? We'd gone to the dispersal sale of a local pony breeder in Elk Grove, Calif., around 1965, intending to just watch. Then, my sisters and I begged and badgered my mother into buying a pretty little sorrel mare with a flaxen mane and tail.
I don't know if Sherry-the-pony was typical of Hackneys, but she was a wonderful children's mount. She had just enough spunk to be fun to ride, but there wasn't a mean bone in her body, and she was very willing. When I rode her with my friends, both of whom had full-size horses, I never felt under-mounted. Sherry could easily keep up with them. My sisters and I rode her proudly all around town, and more than once a passerby would stop and ask if she was for sale. She most surely was not!
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- Debbie, at 15, running along with her 3/4-Arabian filly, Sal, in Ohio.
HALF-ARABIAN
Debbie Moors, contributing editor
While I'd ridden several breeds as a youngster taking riding lessons, the real experience I had with a breed was with my 3/4-Arabian filly, Sal, when I was just 15. As a child who'd had a steady diet of Walter Farley books, I first loved how Sal really brought to mind the equine mystique for me. When she charged around the pasture, her neck arched and her tail flagged. She was a storybook horse come alive.
But what I really came to love about her was how sensible, well mannered, and willing she was. Her responsiveness to me gave me confidence and pride through those gawky teenage years. (Note: To read more about Debbie and Sal, and horse safety with kids, see June 2009's The Riding Family, "Lessons Learned," page 14.)
