When I read the subject of this week Weekend-Engagement ''Write about one single thing in your childhood (to the age of fifteen) that you enjoyed and value to this day.'' I knew right away what I appreciated and valued the most.
The moments I always cherish the most from my childhood were our horses and the farm where our horses were living.
This is Winnie the Pooh, our first horse. We didn't own him but it was the horse owned by a farm just a few minutes away from my home. Winnie is a little Shetland pony. I don't remember his age exactly, but he was almost 20 years old at that time. He died just a while ago at the age of 34. This little horse taught us a lot besides horse riding. I remember that we went jumping without a saddle in the fields. We used to fall down a lot but always stand up and try again. We used to ride through the big fields, as fast as possible until Winnie threw us of since he just wanted to eat all the gras and we spend a long time catching Winnie, since he liked the game to run away for us and just wanted to eat more. Usually, we ended up asking my mom to catch him since only adults could catch him easily. This little horse was definitely not an easy one for little kids, but it was in the end always a great fun to play with him. Or at least, mostly.
If winter came and there was good snowfall, we put Winnie in front of the sled, to race across the streets and the fields. Winnie probably loved it more than us as he was really excited to go as fast as possible. He loved the snow. I wish I had photographs of these moments, but unfortunately, I have none.
After the rain when the horse riding arena was more like a lake, he used to like it to just let him fall down in the water. I don't know any other horse who did that but this little bastard did. It is funny to look back at these events in the end. I ended up always being fine. On the moment itself it was quite scary though.
This picture is taken during another event. My sister is the one at the right, I am the one in the green sweater. We were riding through the water and you see my face being very concentrated, trying to make sure Winnie wouldn't let himself fall down in the water. Ohh he loved rolling in the water, that little bastard. This picture was also the cover off the horseridingclub magazine
It took a lot of responsibility to take care of a horse at a young age. When I was around 10 years old, I used to go to Winnie pretty much daily and I was the one who cleaned his stable. The owners fed the horses, but when they went on holiday we fed all the horses and chickens at the farm. first with the help of my mom, but I think we were around 10 or 11 years old when my sister and I did it ourselves.
After Winnie, who was just a small Shetland pony, we got bigger horses through the years. Some horses we "borrowed" from an owner for a year or two (for free or for an apple pie. That's how those things can go) and I actually got one horse from my grandma. That horse was called Dancer.
My parents rented a place for our next horses at the same farm. It is true that horses are expensive, and it made my father take extra work shifts. Parents in Holland often save up some money for their children's study. My parents decided instead that they rather wanted to give us experiences in childhood which nobody could take away anymore and let us pay for our study ourselves. At that age we were not able to work for our dreams. Now we are and both of my sisters work(ed) during their study. I am glad they made that decision, because whatever happens, nobody can ever take these memories away.
We also used to play games outside on the farm, like hide and seek. It made us spend a lot of time outside with our friends. And what is a nicer playground than a farm? Thanks to the horses, the farm became our playground. That was my little story about my childhood. I hope you enjoyed it :) Regards,
My grandma, Winnie and my little sister. Winnie has been even quite some times in our house which is not common in the Netherlands. And these weird things which look like traffic signs means someone turned 18 years old. Probably my older sister. I actually don't remember
Sascha
