Anybody ever ridden their own horse to the wedding?

Not ridden her no but I did toy with having her pull me to my wedding in a cart/trap/carriage. But we are getting married so far from where we live anyway so it wouldn't be a possibility now.

Yes I'm doing this!! I'm having my yard owner get her ready and trailer her down to my parents' house, then I'm riding from there to the Church - it's only about a mile. I am slightly anxious about not wearing a riding hat as I am VERY strict about never getting on without one, but there's no one I can as I'm having a beehive style do.

So excited to find someone else who's doing this, everyone I've mentioned it too thinks it's a fab idea but also think I'm slightly nuts! What's your dress like? And more importantly, what's your mare like?!

When's your wedding? Will you be doing anything particular to prepare her? I'm hoping to get some kind of large skirt / petticoat to train her with (with riding hat and proper boots!) and will also box her over to my parents' village at least 3 times to ride the route so nothing is spooky (although she's not usually spooky in summer - just sharp as a razor in winter, little monkey!)

Hiya

I always thought about doing this with my boy too but the preparation was too much on my day.

How will your horse react to having a dress draped over his quarters? How will he react to having you approach him with a big white dress on? How will you get on/off? Your dress will get dirty before your at the church.

I have heard of some brides taking a lot of prep over this. Getting a big white sheet and getting the horse used to you wearing it and getting on and off with it on and also having it draped over their back.

The no hat thing also was a big issue for me.

I did break him for driving but as he is 18hh I couldn't find a reasonable carriage to use for the day.

I gave up in the end but he played a huge part in my day in other ways. He's on my wedding video and it's the BEST thing EVER.

Enjoy if you do decide to do it

Nat

My YO will do most of my prep on the day itself; my dress is only knee-length so not such an issue and she'll wear an exercise sheet which will keep my dress clean. In all honesty, I don't care if it gets a bit grubby - having her involved with the day is more important to me than having a spotless dress.

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Nope- mainly due to the above and the fact she has been prone to shy at a blade of grass that moved the wrong way!! Also she is a 15.3hh thoroughbred and my dress is huge-would swamp the poor thing!! there were other practical reasons such as distance but, although fine to hack normally (I expect the odd few moments of madness) I don't think either she or me would be prepared for a wedding day trip

would have loved to though!

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Are you ready for this..... !!

I live about half a mile away from my church stoo o i will get a car to the pub which is just around the corner & get on her there. I have two horsey friends who will be my grooms for the day (sooo grateful to them!) so they will bath, groom & tack up & will take Kira there & wait for me to arrive. i have a big mounting block to help me get on. I thought it would be nice to have my dad lead me down the road carrying my shoes so i'll be barefoot whilst i'm on her. the distance i'll be riding her is only about a 2 min walk, not far.

The car will have ribbons on it so if it rains it will be my back up plan.

I'm not fussed about wearing a hat, i think it would ruin the whole look.

My mare, Kira, is very forward going but totally bombproof, i might do trial runs a few weeks before the wedding & buy a crappy old prom dress or something for 99p on ebay to check she's ok with the dress draped over her - though i know she'll be fine.

I will lay a bed sheet of some sort over her quarters & saddle to keep my dress clean, she will have been bathed that morn or night before so shouldn't be too dirty ?. I toyed with the idea of hiring a side saddle but i decided against it as it's a bit too different for her & me!!

My dress is fitted down to the hips then a slightly slinky skirt, i also bought some really cheap ivroy wrist length bridal gloves from ebay to complete the look & so i can pat her without getting greasy hands, i'll take them off before going in the church (give them to my friend/groom)

My grooms will look after her during the ceremony (massive green for her to graze on) & might borrow a friends shetland for company depending what she's like on trial runs. Im also going to leave on her as the people in the church wont get to see her!!!! When i come to leave I will use the mounting block again & have my new HUSBAND lead me off up the road to the pub around the corner where we will jump into a car again to go off to beach etc for photos.

Everyone thinks it's fab idea & such a personal thing for me to do, they're not all that surprised that i've chosen to do it as i've been horse mad since day one!

Glad you're going to do it too, fire your questions at me if you need any ideas/advice etc hun!

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Here here,a girl after my own heart!! You only wear the dam thing once so make the most of it

Please post piccies of your ponies with some info about their breed, age height etc girlies, would LOVE to see them 7 hear about them

Of course you can sweetie!

Never one to shy away from showing off my girl....!!

I bred her myself from my once-in-a-lifetime mare, who I lost in a freak accident last June (broken leg) which broke my heart ☹️ but it's lovely to still have her lovely daughter. She's about 16hh, irish draught, rising 7yrs and has a real sense of humour! This is a pic of my instructor riding her (I've been out of action for 6 months with an ankle injury and am only just riding again!)

No because my boy would not cope well. He is a nightmare on his own bless him.

My best friend rode side saddle to her wedding and looked stunning! The pony had a rug on his quarters the same colour as her dress and he was all plaited with ribbon in his main and tail. She said the only thing that made her slightly dirty were the reins so just bear that in mind. She had a strong friend lift her off of the pony. We had everyone apart from the groom come out to watch her arrive and take photos.

Hello! I would LOVE to do this but after thinking about it all I decided it would be a bit too much hassle so have opted for a horse and carriage instead.

As a compromise I'm going to do a trash the dress style photoshoot with my mare afterwards - I have visions of photos of us galloping through lush green fields with my veil blowing in the wind, but to be realistic about it she's more than likely to freak out and dump me on the floor instead xx

This is kira:

Looking a bit wild here the lil poser

I've had her for 11 years, she's coming up 14 this year, connemarra x tb 15.1hh. The most fun horse to ride ever, so sharp, yet so bold, a hunter trial demon!

50's pinupbride she is amazing, absolutely stunning. Looks like she rides a lovely dressage test.

Somebody asked when my wedding is, it's 22nd September 2012

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That really made me chuckle ?

I would have loved to do this but my mare has just been retired due to arthritis and gid knows what else in every leg going!! Bless her. Such a shame as I know she would have been fab and she is grey so would go really well with the dress etc but hey!! May see if I can have some photos with her afterwards with my dress as would have loved to have her involved but I just wont risk her feeling crap and lame for days after just so I could have what I wanted, she is worth more than that to me (had her 11 years)

In her hayday!!
Now as a retiree at 19!!!!

Shell657 glad to see I have a date twin who is horse mad too!!!! And we have had our guys the same amount of time too!! Sppoky.

Where are you getting married??

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Hopefully you will have many more happy yearsof cuddling together, she's a beauty!

Loving the pony photo fest!

Thanks Shelley, I'm really proud of her - she's green for her age as she's had a foal herself so had almost 2 years on maternity leave herself. She's been back in work a year, but as I said, with my injury I've not ridden for the last 6 months so she had 3 months off, then once I knew I'd be operated on and would be off for another 3 months, I arranged for my instructor to ride her for me once a week. She's coming on well, so hopefully we'll get out to a few parties this year.

My H2B is expecting me to arrive with green slobber on my dress ? We've booked a car to take H2B, then bridesmaids, and then my parents to the church. As a safety measure, I'm having the car with my parents follow me so any traffic whipping up behind me will be slowed down by them rather than sailing up her arse! Also if it rains, I'll get in the car instead and do a trash the dress shoot with her instead.

My nephew, who is horsey and will be 9 y/o, is desperate to lead me to the church but we're going to arrange to meet him a minute away - don't think it would be practical for him to lead us the whole mile!

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Yay!! ? I'm getting married in Morwenstow which is in North Cornwall, how about you?

I am also keeping a horsey theme running through my wedding with horse shoes on my stationery & table confetti etc, my tables are named after Grand national & cold cup winners & i've kept a load of kiras old shoes which i will clean up & spray silver & decorate with ribbons & pearls, they'll then be hung up around my marquee

Will never refuse to flash a piccie

His name is Hector and he's an 18hh IDxTB who I have owned since he was a yearling.

He's out on loan at the moment which is breaking my heart but with work, family and the business, there aren't enough hours in the day [:'(]

Nat

I would have loved to but getting married abroad!! Did think about riding to the venue we're having a party when we get back but I have 2 and wouldn't be able to decide which!!

I'm doing a trash the dress with the boys a couple of weeks after the party as then it doesn't matter what happens to my dress. We've got a wood and lake at the yard so going to go down there with both of them along with H for some nice pics ?

A friend has also recently designed us a logo for the invitations and that has a bit of a horsey reference to it which is nice. Before I met H2B he'd never been around horses......fast forward 4 years and he now gets up at 4:30am to muck out while i ride before we go to work!!

Pics of the boys -

I have seen this once before, the Bride came in on side saddle, which looked very cool.

From a photography point of view I would say definitely go for it! Regarding all practicalities etc, I couldn't possibly comment, not being from the horsey fraternity!

On the subject of horses and weddings, I've just got back from watching War Horse and saw our wedding church in the film - the beginning was filmed in the village where we're getting married! Exciting! x

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I am getting married near Camberley Surrey. We are incorporating her some how into the day as we have a story board of us as childrena and growing up. Yours sounds fab I am sure it will look great.

How exiting ?

Yes yes yes!!! I’m getting married June 2022, and can’t wait to ride my boy to the venue from the church, which is like 1 mile up the road… My friend and her daughters are going to be My grooms for the day, so everything will be under control so I don’t have to worry.
I’m going to get a cheap dress from eBay, and just try riding him in it, but he is 100% bombproof!
I’m going to get a white duvet or sheet and just put over his hind quarters so I don’t get too dirty… I just can’t wait to have him incorporated in our wedding😌

Its a shame that no one will see you as they will all be in the Church. For those that want to include their horse I have seen it done in the same way as a dog who would visit after the ceremony. You could keep it as a surprise, this wedding did just that, the bride disappeared and as everyone was gathered she made an entrance on the horse, the below riding shot there was someone leading the horse that I photoshopped out.

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Awww, he's gorgeous! That will make for some amazing photos.

I started this post way back in 2012, and I'm happily divorced now!! 😂😂😂 but doing this was the best part of my day 🥰

At least I have these memories xxx

View quoted message Aww Thankyou very much!!! He sure will 😌

My photographer went on to use us for her own personal photo shoots as well, look how stunning my girl looks ❤️

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I'm sorry things didn't work out for you with the marriage, but your photos are lovely - she's a beautiful horse x