Uploaded July 2016 | Updated September 2026, 7 hours ago
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I feel sad for having to announce this right now, but yesterday I said my goodbyes to Ruffles.
I decided to lease Ruffles 3 months ago because I had grown tired of lessons and really just wanted to leisure ride and do my own thing. The day I went to try Ruffles she was extremely worked up on the ground but behaved lovely for me under saddle. I wasn't sure if I wanted to lease her because she seemed somewhat unstable but I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and just blame it on a bad day so I chose to lease her.
On our second ride we had a bit of a freak accident when tacking where I discovered she gets very uneasy being tied up and thus reacted quite dangerously. I seriously thought I had made another decision too quick and that perhaps she really wasn't suitable for me. But I stuck with her and gradually learned to be more patient and take my time with her. After that day, things were great and I had so many good and relaxing rides on her. Taking that extra time to get to know her helped loads with my initial anxiety around her and I gained confidence as the weeks went on. When I was able to get her to canter in the arena off a cue, something her boarder said she didn't know how to do, I was so proud of her and felt so accomplished. She was also the first horse to ever buck me off, and then she promptly abandoned me on the trails and took off. That was a very big day for me, I'll say, but I'm grateful that I had that experience with her. She gave me the amazing experience of being able to just run through the forest without a care and I was so happy with her bravery over jumps.
Ruffles reminded me so much of my first lease horse Cheyenne that it felt impossible not to grow fond of her. She was exactly what I needed over these past few months. I had her through all of the bad things that went on in my life recently and I'll forever be grateful for that escape from all of it. The more I went to see her the more I feel like she grew to like me and it warmed my heart because I hadn't ever expected it from her. I really did grow to love and appreciate this horse. She made me so proud after almost every ride. It breaks my heart to walk away but I came to a crossroad in my life where I had to make a choice between two things that I love. I also feel refreshed enough to go back to lessons when the time comes and I can't thank this horse enough for everything that she gave me. I will miss her immensely.
{ hd makes things pretty }
I feel sad for having to announce this right now, but yesterday I said my goodbyes to Ruffles.
I decided to lease Ruffles 3 months ago because I had grown tired of lessons and really just wanted to leisure ride and do my own thing. The day I went to try Ruffles she was extremely worked up on the ground but behaved lovely for me under saddle. I wasn't sure if I wanted to lease her because she seemed somewhat unstable but I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and just blame it on a bad day so I chose to lease her.
On our second ride we had a bit of a freak accident when tacking where I discovered she gets very uneasy being tied up and thus reacted quite dangerously. I seriously thought I had made another decision too quick and that perhaps she really wasn't suitable for me. But I stuck with her and gradually learned to be more patient and take my time with her. After that day, things were great and I had so many good and relaxing rides on her. Taking that extra time to get to know her helped loads with my initial anxiety around her and I gained confidence as the weeks went on. When I was able to get her to canter in the arena off a cue, something her boarder said she didn't know how to do, I was so proud of her and felt so accomplished. She was also the first horse to ever buck me off, and then she promptly abandoned me on the trails and took off. That was a very big day for me, I'll say, but I'm grateful that I had that experience with her. She gave me the amazing experience of being able to just run through the forest without a care and I was so happy with her bravery over jumps.
Ruffles reminded me so much of my first lease horse Cheyenne that it felt impossible not to grow fond of her. She was exactly what I needed over these past few months. I had her through all of the bad things that went on in my life recently and I'll forever be grateful for that escape from all of it. The more I went to see her the more I feel like she grew to like me and it warmed my heart because I hadn't ever expected it from her. I really did grow to love and appreciate this horse. She made me so proud after almost every ride. It breaks my heart to walk away but I came to a crossroad in my life where I had to make a choice between two things that I love. I also feel refreshed enough to go back to lessons when the time comes and I can't thank this horse enough for everything that she gave me. I will miss her immensely.
![Edge of Town [New Horse]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_wOKGN44z5o/mqdefault.jpg "Edge of Town [New Horse]
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My new lease horse, Willow!
Hes a 15 year old Arabian, and hopefully soon to be my little jumper! He and I will be working with a trainer every week to work him up to jumps and hopefully we can show a bit in the future too!
This was only our third ride so please no critique, Im not used to riding hot horses but hes such a sweetheart and I think hes the perfect step up for me. Im really excited for our journey, and its funny to me how much he looks like Blackjack. :)")
