When I was young I lived in a lot of places. I was born in Schenectady, NY and up until the age of 8 I lived in Albany, NY. I have tons of memories being raised in the city. I remember walking to school as young as 5 years old (uphill both ways, barefoot, in the rain). I remember playing outside until the street lights came on. I remember having a ton of neighborhood friends to play with and never running out of things to do. When I was young “life” was different than it is nowadays. Adults didn’t freak out like they do today. I loved being little.
I look at this picture and I can actually remember the day it was taken. Living in the city back in the early 70s the only chance I got to see a horse was when the traveling photographer came around to the neighborhood with their pony. The illusion that I’m a “regular” at riding is easily disproved with the lack of horse riding equipment. Heck, I didn’t even have on shoes let alone chaps. Little did I know that my life would be turned around when in 1976 our family was uprooted from the city and moved into the Foothills of Upstate NY…the country.
When we moved to the country it was a dramatic change…dramatic! There were many years when we didn’t even own a television. It wasn’t because we couldn’t afford it, but living that far in the country there was no TV reception anyway. Instead of playing with neighborhood kids I had to learn to use my imagination and play with fallen leaves and snow. I remember one of my favorite things to do when I was young was to play at Alligator Island, a make believe oasis I had created far back into the woods near a small creek. I played there for hours.
Riding horses became a reality, not a orchestrated photo opportunity like when I was living in the city. Families actually owned cows and horses and occasionally I was lucky enough to be invited over to go horseback riding. I learned to ride both bareback and English style and found that I preferred riding bareback because it felt so much more natural. I don’t think I would have ever been London 2012 Olympic dressage material, but I think I was pretty good rider.
Do you have any childhood memories that stand out for you?
This is a featured post by Equestrianclearance.com.
