14 heartfelt confessions of a horsey mum
If you're a horsey mum there are one or two things you're bound to be guilty of — from using Mane & Tail conditioner on your children to picking them up from school in your breeches. How many do you admit to...?
1. I love my kids – but I also love dropping them at school and knowing I have six uninterrupted hours to hang out with my horse.
2. I slightly resent the school holidays for eating into my riding time.
3. I am much better at plaiting my horse up than my daughter. Her hair is too silky, and she just doesn’t stand straight.
4. I’ve actually used Mane & Tail conditioner on my daughter when her hair was particularly tangly. It worked a treat.
5. Yes, I’m the mum who turns up to pick my kids up in jods, muddy boots and a parka covered in dubious stains of horsey origin. Luckily my children are too young to be embarrassed… yet.
6. I sometimes forget when it’s parents’ sharing assembly, but I never forget when I’ve got a cross-country lesson booked.
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
7. I’m getting riding lessons for my daughter just so I’ll always have a hacking companion when she gets a bit older.
8. I bought her a complete riding wardrobe just because she looks insanely cute in it. To be honest, I bought her riding stuff before she was even old enough to ride, for that reason.
9. I wear a My Little Pony T-shirt that matches my daughter’s. She’s four. I am 40. I know no shame.
10. I buy huge bags of carrots and parsnips every week — the Sainsbury’s delivery man obviously thinks I am a carrot and parsnip-obsessed nutter. These are not destined for the family dinner table, however, but my horse’s feed bucket.
11. I washed my horse’s rugs in our washing machine, and blocked it with horse hair.
12. I told my husband I needed to use our joint credit card to buy a load of worming and flea tablets from VioVet for the family pets, but sneaked a pair of new breeches in there (lovely Caldene Carter ones – I recommend them.)
Like this? You might also enjoy reading these:
15 types of Pony Club parent you’re sure to recognise
Riding holidays to keep your children happy
13. I also used the joint credit card to buy my horse a new rug. Well, she looked cold.
14. And some treats.
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
Amanda Vlietstra is a freelance writer and editor who’s worked for a number of national magazines and websites. Having thrown herself back rural living with gusto since moving from London to Buckinghamshire in 2012, she juggles her horsey life with work and two small children. She claims to do dressage, but really just potters about having fun on her 14.2hh Belgian Warmblood mare, Roxy. She also enjoys a good gossip over a coffee in the tackroom!