B&S BH: Why the heck did you start?

From Mel at Boots and Saddles: Why did you start riding?

I have been horse crazy for as long as I can remember. Ever since I was a tiny child. I remember being the only kid at a kindergarten play day event who chose the horse-riding rather than swimming. 

After much begging I finally started riding lessons when I was 6 years old (1st grade). I haven't stopped since.

My first riding lesson. I remember Willoughby the {naughty} pony.

I am the *only* horse person in my family. And I have a large family. I used to joke that I had a mutant horse gene. 

But it turns out maybe it wasn't a genetic fluke. Maybe even with a non-horsey family, it was nurture not nature...

Enter Camilla. She was my nanny from when I was still in utero to when I was maybe 2. I have no memories from that age, but I met her as an adult when she and her family visited from Sweden about a year ago. 

That is when I learned that she loves horses and used to tell me stories about them when I was a teeny tiny baby.

So there you have it. The reason I have been horse crazy for as long as I can remember - the reason I started riding and continue to enjoy everything about horses: stories I can't even remember from a Swedish nanny from when I was an infant.    :)