how far we have come.

bahhh words can not explain how much i love this pony. he's helped me so much.<br><br><br><br>i met pumpkin in like 2008 or 2009. i srarted riding him and then leasing him. after a few year something happened and i couldn't see him for about a half a year or so. then i went and saw him with his new owner and started him riding him there. eventually, we bought him. when i got him, we had never really created a bond. so i started working with him. i started getting to know him really well, what he liked and didn't like. we started off, to be honest, pretty terribly. because for about a month after we got him i couldn't really ride him because he got bad feet after we moved him. by then he was really out of shape. he basically held his head like a giraffe and i had to literally kick and smack him to get him moving. he moved horribly and didnt really listen. and i'm not going to lie, sometimes secretly i wanted to give up. but i didnt. after a few months i got him back in to shape but all we were doing was taking lessons pretty much. he started losing weight and i started to want to give up again which is when we both kind of started to fall apart. then some other stuff came up and kind of wrecked me emotionally.he was my "go to" and i needed him. i soon began to realize that having a horse isn't about jumping and winning ribbons. sure, that's a part of it but its not all that it should be. that is when we really started to click. eventualy he started behaving and listening to me better. then we moved. i started getting really serious. i worked and worked and worked with him. now, i have my horse to the point where he will literally follow me around. he moves beautifully and holds his head like a horse, and almost has a full frame when asked occasionally. when we first moved he wanted to be the one that followed other horses on trails and now he willingly goes in front. we can literally fly bareback down trails he we wont spook at a thing, i'm almost at the point where i can take him in the ring bareback, let go of the reins and lift my arms up, and -steer him with my legs-. we jump easily almost 3 ft bareback no problem. i can gallop without holding on, because i -know- i can -trust- him. if you have a horse, i seriously encourage you to get to know your horse. it helped me in so many ways that i cant even count on my fingers. i was pretty much emotionally wrecked. and just taking the time to help my horse, he helped me in return. it's not idiotic. it's quite special, actually.