When I was younger, I started an equestrian bucket list. Thanks to movies like The Black Stallion, and Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken, I had gradiose dreams of galloping wildly through and into water.
Now, I’m fairly sure diving horses is one of the cruelest things I’ve ever heard of, and even if it weren’t, you couldn’t pay me to try this. After all, these drops into water are exciting enough:
Fine, fine, I’ll share it again.
In High School I got to live out my dream of galloping down a beach. It probably wasn’t quite as beautiful and dramatic as younger-Britt imagined, since Mac was still a stallion and being an absolute brat, so I had to separate him from the group. When I could finally return, we cantered back a half mile stretch, which was fun and thrilling, but the cool factor was marred by constant stallion screaming. Oh well- I suppose these things never turn out quite as we expect!
These days, I think my dreams are at once smaller and yet still grandiose. My fantasy is to have that perfect ride around a Training level XC course, and have one of those fist pumping moments of joy as we cross the finish line.
I’m sure it’s a long way off, but one can dream, right?
What’s your equestrian fantasy? Have you lived it? What’s next on your horsey bucket list?
Red on the Right 
Hmmm a good question. I’ll have to think about it.
Lately I’ve been living a lot of the stuff I dreamed about as a kid. Now I’d really love to do well in a hunter derby or get good enough for a rated show.
That’s great that you’re getting to all your fantasies! And I don’t think your goals are at all lofty- definitely more reality than fantasy! 🙂
those gifs never get old. ever! i think my own equestrian fantasies aren’t so different from yours, really. working hard and staying dedicated to the sport such that it culminates in that one perfect ride where everything clicks?!? yes please!
I guess we all dream of that perfect ride!
I’ve done the galloping on the beach. Multiple times now, but Ireland was one of the best. I’d really like to do xc with water, that’d be awesome. I’d also like to do more riding in other countries: I’d like to do tolting in Iceland, ride pasos in Peru, play polo in Argentina.
I highly recommend tolting!!!!! Most fun ever!!!! And Flying Pace 😁
I got to ride in Ireland too- definitely an experience! And seeing Bette’s pictures from Iceland, I think I may have to add that to my bucket list as well!
Ever since I was little, I always had the fantasy of riding my horse to school/work. As I sat looking out the window in the car on long trips, I’d envision me on the horse running alongside the car, jumping obstacles in the way.
I realize how unrealistic that is, but hey, you said fantasy!
Oh my gosh, I definitely did that too. And I always dreamed of going trick-or-treating on horseback. The logistics of all this of course never occurred to me as a kid XD
As a kid I always dreamed of being the youngest person to represent the US at the Olympics and I would be riding my horse at the time, Gypsy. (To bad I’m 31, Gypsy’s 34ish and retired…) I would also want to find a horse like The Black and win awesome things (and of course live happily on a deserted island living off of freedom and sunshine- in real life that would of lasted 40 minutes hehehe)
My more realistic fantasy’s (sort of) would be winning the AEC’s (our dressage has a looooong way to go for that to happen) and to compete in a proper 3 day. I’d also like to make it to Prelim and if somehow the stars align finish a 1*. But considering we’re still at BN we’ve got a lot of homework to do before any of those happen 😁
Hey- those goals/fantasies are totally doable!!
All of my initial equestrian fantasies (train a horse to Grand Prix and earn my Gold medal) are done and I’m kind of putting a hold on them for now. I definitely want my young horse to follow along my older horse’s footsteps though, maybe not to Grand Prix, but being a really fun horse to ride and train. I think one of my biggest goals now is to not make as many mistakes (or at least not the same sort of mistakes) with TC as I did in the past with Rico.
But I would like to jump again one day, and event for real- I evented kind of on and off through Novice for a long time without ever doing anything cool. But I need more of a budget for that since I haven’t jumped in 5+ years!
Riding Grand Prix… see that seems even more of a fantasy to me than my dream of that perfect Training ride! You have lived the dream, my friend!
I realized just the other day that a lot of my fantasies that I never really voiced have been achieved with my current horse (neck ribbons, showing over some bigger fences again, and just owning my own horse in general), but I’d really like to starting doing rated shows again, and one day when my baby horse is all grown up, I really want to do international derbies with her.
My big fantasy is to ride competently at the Grand Prix level in dressage. Probably not doable on my clumsy gaited nightmare (even though his cuteness and work ethic is second to none), but I think if I found the right resources and trainer I could still achieve this goal for myself. A more realistic goal would be to attend a fox hunt. It sounds like a blast. Getting to have a flask on your saddle all day and gallop the open fields with bunches of other tipsy and enthusiastic riders? Count me in!