The unsung heroes of a lot of kids’ equestrian journey starts with their parents and as a 30 year old adult now,  I can say that without my parents sacrificing, supporting, and encouraging me so much I would never have continued to ride, nor would it have been financially viable. I have a lot to thank them for as I can imagine a lot of my fellow equestrians have their parents to thank for so much too, especially in their early years with horses.

Coming from a non -horsey family it was massive when after a few years of both my sister and I riding, that both my parents fell in love with the sport, so much that both of them started riding lessons in the local riding school at Annaharvey Farm.
At a time, at least one of us used to compete on a Friday night in the local S.J league and to this day we reminisce of how it was time well spent together.  Regardless of it taking your body 3 hours to thaw out after standing around watching people jump in the depths of winter, but I can tell you the curry batter after a long night jumping always helped.

Behind every young child who believes in themselves is a parent who believed first.

There are so many instances that my parents went above and beyond for both me and my sister when it comes to horse riding, like many of my horsey friends’ parents too. Like so many other parents of horse obsessed children, they helped us study for pony club exams, mended our ripped jods, tied our stocks before hunting, legged us up, put in our keepers after we mounted, fished out overreach boots from the water jumps,  drove us and our borrowed ponies around the country, dusted us off when we fell, told us when to cop on and get back on,  dried our tears when we fell off the same shit of a pony for the 10^th time, put up fences for us in the warm-up,  and cheered us on like we were Olympians even if it was only a metre class. My Mam cried anytime I won a rosette even if it was on a school horse that could have done the track blindfolded. Support to us was not a financial one like buying us a pony or the latest boots or helmets; it was simply being there in our corner when we needed them. And I am so grateful to them for that.  They believed in supporting the happiness that horses brought us. 

Irish mammies

My mam, for example, used to borrow jeeps, boxes, and sometimes even horses from her friends so that we had something to ride in pony club. I remember having a 17.2 Chesnut 4 year old sport horse in pony club doing my road safety exam, I must have looked like a pea on him at 14 years old and it was a horse belonging to a friend of my mother’s.  She also used to borrow riding jackets and plain numnahs so I wasn’t the odd one out in a showing field without any of the correct turnout. I still don’t own a show jacket to this day.
My mam used to help me in the yard I worked in when the boss was away and I had to find a way of bringing bales of hay to horses dotted around fields in our area. I was 16, so my mother would borrow a box, help me load a bale and unload into a field. She also used to come hacking with me in work, riding the super fit event horses at the yard and that was a little bit of magic being able to bring my Mam on a hack with me in work. Even if the horses were a little bit more exuberant than she was used to, I never remember her complaining about it. These little things made my life so much easier and it may seem trivial to some, but from a woman who was new to horses this was eminence and she just got stuck in, no questions asked. 

Irish daddies

As for my dad, one moment comes to mind that stands out. It was a Friday night and I was due in Mullingar for Interschool’s selections, if you didn’t show up, you couldn’t be chosen for the team. It was also the final of the winter SJ league in our local yard and I was leading with another girl for the overall winner of the maxi competition. Both horses I used for both events were borrowed too btw. But my dad drove the ring out of his van to Mullingar, I jumped my round then sped off in the van back to Annaharvey where my sister was warming up the horse I was to jump in the maxi. It all worked out as I got picked for the Interschool’s and ended up winning the maxi outright that night. But only for my dad that night and the Pegasus wings that spontaneously grew out of the transit, we made it in time for both rounds. And yes mammy, there was no speed limits broken that night. Promise.

My sister used to hunt during this time too. So my dad, used to get up at the crack of dawn every Sunday and bring Becky to the hunt wherever that may be, wait around for hours until the hunt came back and did it all with a smile on his face and with a dad joke for when Becky arrived back covered in muck and shite after a successful days hunting. We also used to make trophies for local competitions out of old horse shoes and these funded a lot of our expenses. And guess who showed us how to clean and weld all those rusty horseshoes? Our dad of course.

Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.

These are the moments I will not forget, the moments that made our childhood, which made memories I will cherish forever.  I can honestly say there aren’t too many other sports out there that all the family can get involved in.  I never thought that my parents would start riding, let alone have such an involvement with horses throughout the years.
My Mam and Dad don’t ride anymore. However you will still find my mother scribing for Dressage tests on occasion and my dad religiously does the start box at Annaharvey for the Eventing Ireland Events. My sister is threatening to come back to the sport soon too. So if you have had a childhood like mine where your parents sacrificed a lot of what they wanted (both financially and time wise) to ensure you had an amazing childhood, give them a hug or two. Because everyone in the horse industry knows that a childhood around horses is one of the best you could ever hope for, and the fact that I had my entire family on the journey with me for a lot of years, I will always be forever grateful.

Josie and Bob, thank you for giving us such a memorable childhood. I think it’s not until we are about to become parents ourselves that we understand the sacrifices that our parents made for us along the way. I don’t think any will argue, that a childhood spent in a saddle is always a good one.