Riding the Traditional Gypsy Cob

Meet the beautiful Gypsy Cob and join me for a ride on a champion Stallion! In this episode I head to Willowsway Stud in England to learn about the breed and get introduced to their mares, foals and stallions!

🎬DiscoverTheHorse is an equine education project, equestrian vlog and adventure series that documents my journey to ride every horse breed. 🐎 Ride along with me and meet amazing horses from around the world!

✨ Featuring Willowsway Stud in Cumbria, England.

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#HorseRiding #Equestrian #England

00:00 Riding Every Horse Breed
00:22 About the Traditional Gypsy Cob
01:24 A Single Horse Can Change a Life
03:40 Meeting the Mares and Foals
05:27 Stallions and Hair Care
06:41 Quest Ride!

[susannahJ]

You’re travelling the world to ride every breed of horse? That brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “globe trotter” 😁 🌍🐎

[crowkraehenfrau]

50 years ago, the only time I ever jumped massive outdoor jumps, I rode a Gypsy Cob in Cornwall. I felt safe with him like a baby in the mothers arms. He did all of it himself. I held on to the massive mane and let him do his thing. I'll never forget him...:-)

[sweetmele]

Stunningly gorgeous horses the Gypsy cobs are

[wolfco]

Thomas has some opinions to share at the end. His ringing endorsement is definitely worth a listen. What a beautiful breed. You can almost feel the strength of their build through the camera, but it was more than clear that these boys and girls enjoy working with their human coworkers.

[GypsyGirl]

I owned my own horse as a teenager (30+ yrs ago) and always had a dream of one day owning a gypsy. I'm 48 yrs old now, found my gypsy (1yr old silver black tobiano filly) and we just sold our house in suburbia, bought 2 acres in the country and we are going to have her and rescue horses...at 50 years old, with no experience, and it's all going to be amazing. Gypsy cobs are food for the soul. We are in love with her and I'm guessing we won't stop at 1.

[nozee]

Wow, one is prettier than the other, breathtaking!
The horse that changed my life forever was an arabian mare, flying more than moving in her paddock, I was around 6 or 7 years old and in riding school and fell in love for that breed forever. 🦄

[vjseegers]

Yes Alyssa, there was a horse that changed my life. Her name was Tinka Montana a Gypsy Cob and she passed away at the age of 25 last december. I owned her for more then 13 years and we had such a connection that we understood each other with the blink of an eye. We had so many adventures together and she saved my life twice too. She was a very intelligent horse with a strong personality. I still miss her every day. Now i own a dream of a 5 year old Gypsy Vanner called Ella, who is such a sweetie. She is in training now under the saddle to get used to trafffic and so on. Soon we will start her training for pulling a horsecart.

[kriskay]

Another amazing breed, one I would definitely love to ride as well. The horse that changed my life is a beautiful quarter horse stallion named Cacahuate. He taught me so much about horses and I've never had such a deep sweet connection with a horse until I started riding him. 💖🐴💖

[dobermommartha]

Alyssa…I adore your Quest! I’m still that 8 year old girl (currently 65) who wants to have one of each horse you are showing. I must share that I have been blessed with a mare that changed my life..a black Peruvian Paso named Rosa…she taught me so much about riding, horsemanship and most of all love…riding her spoiled me

[Anni_Mau]

Such lovely horses! And nice people too!

Yeah mine was Ivan the Mérens pony. He was a pony at my riding school and I think as far as I remember they got him and another Mérens from some meadow where they were neglected but supposedly had been ridden at some point and also been coach horses. They were absolutely terrified of whips. So... don't know what really happened to them before.

He bucked me off more times than any other pony ever did (and that is saying something because I was always riding the bucking ponies and was basically glued to the saddle at that point. I thought I knew all the tricks and it didn't faze me much anymore because I knew I could sit it out.)

He did the wildest combos of bucking, spinning, stopping, sprinting away, trying to rub your legs off on the wall... but it was different every time. I could never feel out a rhythm to stay on because he always hit me out of left field with something. At one point I told the owners I wasn't going to ride him anymore, because I got scared and thought it was too dangerous. I couldn't figure him out.
(Not to mention these were all ponies I was supposed to learn from technically - well it did teach me great posture lol)

Anyways the stable was very focused on horse-oriented riding, the way that was most healthy for a horse and taught us why we did certain things and how it strengthens which muscles etc. and he was frequently checked health-wise. His gear was checked etc. He did have some problems with his bladder but even after "fixing" everything he was just as likely to buck.

At some point I got back on him because I really loved him. He was super funny and had so much personality. It took a while to get him on my side but I just had to work out that extremely fine line of not letting him get away with things because he knew he could and also not putting too much pressure on him because he'd lock up on that and then explode. Firm and clear but not too firm and take it all with a sense of humor. That was extremely hard for me. I must've been around 14 at the time I think.

One time when he started bucking and pulling his head down I just basically threw away the reins and told him to go forward and that really took him by surprise I think and he just stopped and walked on lol
Before that I probably always tried to pull the head back up. It did take longer than that one time to fully break the habit but I wasn't so scared anymore.

In the end I rode him with and without saddle, we did little jumps, whenever he did test the limits again it was playful and I laughed and it was fine. He was the best once that inital seal was broken and it was the one horse I ever really felt like he was working truly with me as a partner through and through. I had to earn it but when I did he was the absolute best. It took years.
I never had to work so hard to win a horse over before or after.
He was absolutely not a pony for a riding school obviously. He did have to work sometimes other than with me but he probably didn't earn his keep in the slightest lol.
The stables were great though and looking out for every pony's needs as much as possible.
I had said to them 'before they'd sell him I'd buy him' (but I was still in school at the time...).
When I left for work after I finished school I still came back every other week to visit and ride him and around that time a friend of the owners lost a horse and needed a partner for their other horse and they tried to contact me to see if I wanted to buy him but there were technical problems with my phone and I didn't see it in time. When I came back 2 weeks later he was gone.

Absolutely heartbroken. But they did explain what had happened and showed me photos of his new home and even gave me the contact details of the new owners and told me I was welcome to visit him.
But I couldn't bring myself to do it. I thought I couldn't go through saying goodbye to him.
Now 10 years later I wish I had. It would've been extremely hard but coming to his empty box and not finding him out in the field either truly gutted me.
I'm glad I took some videos and lots of photos of him even though the videos aren't great at least I have them still. I rode a lotttt of ponies and horses and they were all great in their own way but he will always always stand out

[Starspices_Adventures]

Yes a special horse has changed my life, Captain is his name. He is a welsh cross pony. Beautiful looking but I don’t care about how he looks. He was the sweetest and he helped my anxiety go away. He was a very very special horse! Thank you Captain!

[Marymooau]

Dodger was my dream horse what was my heart horse. He was an Australian stock horse. Chestnut 14.2hh. He passed away in 2019 at 20 years of age. I was devastated. We were the best team for so long. I still miss him.
Love from Toowoomba Queensland Australia 🇦🇺

[SK-jqum]

They like their horses like they like their weddings.. very flamboyant. 😂 more hair, more feather, more everything. They are more of a dog than a horse in personality. They are truly something out of a fairy tale. Some day, I hope to be lucky enough to call one mine.

[marieprovencio]

Love all these wonderful stories!!!! Very nice!!!

[neverforsaken]

Thank you Alyssa~ I am living vicariously through your videos!

[berylemeraldnose]

soooo pretty! every horse i have ever rode has changed my life a little bit but sometimes a little is a lot :)

[pamgrat]

Solaris buenno is absolutely a stunner!!!! But just hearing of Gypsy Cobb I think they are my favorite breed

[yeswing]

Fell in love with Thomas and them all. Will watch again. Love the color varieties!!!!
How could you choose just one?

[bright-eyed]

My first horse, at age 13, was a 3 1/2 yr old half Arabian stallion that had just started work in the arena. He taught me so much that carried on in my work with horses and was so ‘wise’. We had a lot of wild adventures, too. He really did change my life and I agree that is it amazing how horses can do that. 💙 Also, gypsy cobs are so stunning and the ones I’ve met have been so sweet! I love watching your journey

[falcolf]

Awww, I love Thomas, he's so adorable and pretty ❤