Can we fess up to our ages, and how we keep going??

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JillA

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Following on from LonginTheTooth's great thread on losing the interest in riding, can we start a thread for us oldies?
I'll kick off - I am nearly 66 and have had horses most of my adult life. It gets harder, I have a handy little mounting platform in the corner of the school, and a VERY expensive saddle, but I do struggle with stiffness in my back and thighs. When I was young I could adjust my body easily to cope with bucks, rears and spooks - now, by the time I realise it is happening it is too late, I am just not supple enough.
What about the rest of you more mature riders - will you tell us your age and how you keep going (if you do)?
One thing I can say - older riders and wide horses really don't mix - my lad is really broad (not fat) but the mare I used to ride before him was narrow and deep, much much more comfortable and I never felt stiff after riding her - mind you that was getting on for 10 years ago. Cobs may be sensible (in an ideal world) but they aren't the most comfortable horses to ride.
When I was in my teens there was a lady in her '80s who regularly used to hunt - side saddle. Now I know why. But someone I know has a mother who is over 70 and rides out two or three times a day on youngsters. Hats off, I wonder what her secret is!
What about the rest of you - do we have any exceptional older riders on here?
 
Go you :) I was speaking to a lady in my local tack shop the other day in her early 70s that still does show jumping!
 
I'm 15 years younger than you but feel very old sometimes compared to the majority on here!

Lost Friesian last year - very wide but very comfy. Went out to get a nice schoolmaster and came back with a 4 year old ISH. I work full-time, have 2 horses at home (the 2nd is a 13 year old ex-racer who has been with me since he retired from racing as he was a tortoise) so don't have the luxury of not getting out there in all weathers.

Have had 2 recent falls SJ and XC within space of 4 days (think tense rider and very bold youngster) so have decided to let my daughter be my crash dummy and event him this year (or at least until he is less green). I run a company so can't afford to be off work for any length of time, especially if it's self-inflicted!

I keep going through glucosomine, vitamins and dogged determination.

Today I went for a 2 hour hack with daughter - half way through I really really needed a wee, but had to wait until I was in the vicinity of a stile to be able to get back on board and then when we got back home said daughter asked me what on earth I was doing. I was sat on horse doing 'windmills' with my legs. Unblocking my hips was my answer :o
 
Well done you ! Im also finding that getting fit and staying that way requires more effort now too.
I'm 54 and have been riding two years. I'm really enjoying it and have reconnected with my inner child :D I share a cob who is very comfy to ride but I probably have quite flexible hips still although my bony seat bones take a bit of a hammering. Lessons are quite challenging physically as I have an instructor who's determined to make me work hard. My one hour once or twice weekly lessons are pretty full on. I was away for two weeks and had my first lesson after almost three weeks off and was amazed not to be stiff yesterday however it's kicked in today.. Ouchies:o
I enjoy jumping but will probably concentrate on dressage at some point although I like the idea of doing endurance. I hack out too and just recently took my courage in hand and took ASBO cob out alone for the first time ever.
I keep looking at horse's but can't decide what I want plus I travel a lot so it's not quite the right time just yet.
About to view an equestrian property too so who knows what's next. :D
 
I am 68 and have been riding since I was 11. As far as I am concerned it is "horses for courses" In my case a 14.3 Arab X Welsh who is now 20. He may not be the most exciting ride in the world but he suits me. He is forward going and totally bomb proof.He also stands rock still when I mount and dismount. I try and ride him 4 or 5 days a week. I hope we will have many more years together.

I also go out with The Ramblers once a week and walk between 8-10 miles. This helps with my fitness.

One indulgence is that he is on full livery so I have no real work to do. However I always make sure that I am the one to groom him and clean the tack. I could not be happier.
 
Great thread and hurrah for us older riders. I read the "lost the will" thread too but couldn't think what to add which might have been helpful. But, I'm 59 and have swapped the big moving warm blood of my younger years for a lovely highland who is the light of my life. Safe but not a slug by any means and he's given me back a waning will to ride. I now ride 4-5 times per week, hacking, flatwork lessons, dressage comps which we love. Did a bit of modest jumping over the winter just for a change (blessed with an indoor school) but really prefer to keep my feet on the ground tbh.
 
i know a lovely lady who is 72 this year, she rode her first psg dressage test three years ago. and is still competing at that level. a wealth of knowledge but a tiny lady a real inspiration x
 
Late sixties. Not ridden for a while due to being so ill but hope to ride again soon. I have two youngsters to train.
 
I am 54 next month, work full time nights and have three horses. I have ridden since I was tiny but had a long break whilst bringing up my three children. I got back into horses eight years ago when I got my lovely cob mare, Blaze. Now I also have my 6 yr old, Jasmine, whom I started myself three years ago and last summer I took on my friend's endurance mare. Physically I am coping ok, although this winter has been long and hard. I did lose my riding mojo a bit during the bad weather but now that the sun is shining I am making plans to do all sorts! I don't compete seriously anymore. I really can't be arsed :D but I enjoy fun local events, long rides and having a join round the stubble fields at harvest time!
 
I am 53 soon, arthritic, overweight, don't ride just drive carriage, but I still love going to yard early to do my horses, I did wonder why I still do it during the snow, then yesterday was so lovely in sun. My teenager is hooked on Polocrosse so that keeps me going.
 
I'm 58 and been riding 33 years, having bred most of my own. I'm now at the end of my breeding line with the best I have ever bred being a rising 4 year old KWPN, who was supposed to mature at around 16.2, and is now just coming on for 17.2! :eek:

His mum, who was with me all her 18 years, had junior at 17, and he was her first foal. Sadly I lost her to suspensory ligament problems in 2011. During the period she was pregnant, nursing, and then lame with her leg problems I didn't ride much, and I very much now know how stiff and inflexible you can become after riding daily for many years to find virutally no riding over the past 5 years.

Fortunately junior is incredibly well behaved, and for a baby, very balanced. But he is very big moving :o. Having been decked by a friend's horse recently (the first time I've come off in nearly 20 years :mad:), I am now very protective of myself, and with that some of my confidence and courage is waning. :(

Up until this week I have been working full time, but am now taking early retirement, slightly enforced due to voluntary redundancy, so I am hoping to put some more effort into his training.
 
55 next month. I've just started pilates to get a bit more flexible though the instructor thought I was very supple. Not supple enough for a 5 year old WB/TB. I've been hacking out and yesterday had second canter. Am going to be driving her, it's easier on the bones and the competitions are a bit more relaxed as well, but I would like to do a little very low level dressage.
 
Pilates! I didn't start riding til I was nearly 50, bought first horse as 50th Bday pressie and last horse was 60th pressie from husband. I'm 65 this year and I love every minute of it. I've now got a classy dressage horse who is not easy and takes some riding but pilates keeps me reasonabley supple and I do some cardio work as well to aid fitness. I do try not to fall off though as if I do I usually break something!Hey i don't feel old just more mature!
 
Oh my Goodness - I am now feeling much younger. I am 53 and have a Section D on DIY livery. I work full time. I am at the yard by 7.00 am, work by 8.30 am, back at the yard by 5.00 pm and home by 6.30 pm (winter) and anything between 7.00 pm and 8.00 pm in the summer. I have to admit that poo picking this winter has been really hard in all the mud.

I ride 5 days a week. I am arthritic in the knees and hips (although, funnily enough riding doesn't affect my knees. I have just invested in a sheepskin seat saver. It makes the saddle much more comfy.

My pony is 10 next month and I was starting to worry about how many more years I will be riding him. I now realise, hopefully, it could be for the 15 or so years. Perfect!!

I do have the problem of coming off when he rodeos as I don't bounce any more and really do tend to hurt myself. My husband is desperate to ask me when I will stop riding but, luckily he has more sense! :)
 
HelenS said:
Up until this week I have been working full time, but am now taking early retirement, slightly enforced due to voluntary redundancy, so I am hoping to put some more effort into his training.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the world of enforced retirement :) I was made redundant about three years ago and it's allowed me to finally have me time. Especially now as my baby boy is now at university. :D
 
Great thread! I have just turned 54. I'm still enjoying my riding, though I'm very much a happy hacker and my horse is getting on a bit as well so is not so challenging as she used to be. (though can still throw the occasional buck!) What I am finding harder is the constant drudgery of getting up at 5am and fitting in all the chores as well as working full time. Then there's all the time I devote to riding club work too. I just seem to feel so tired all the time at the moment (and I'm getting awful grumpy in my old age) :(
 
Loving this thread. I'm 46 and lost my darling world last year ... my 32 something year old cob / soulmate. I was silly and badly advised and way overhorsed myself with a 6 year old iSH with back issues who reared thru pain ( he is is good experienced hands now in training). I'm now starting again with a 14 year old haffie and feel great and my 14 year old NF type Bransby rescue will also get going again this year. Things are great and I'm enjoying my riding again.

This reminds me of the H&H piece on older dressage divas the other week Yayyy older ladies are it :D:D:D
 
Hi
I'm 52. I was a riding school rider who took a 15 year break due to circumstances. First horse was a 50th birthday present and have just got another as first boy is 15 now
I had a very severe back injury and have back pain every day but both my parents died within the last 2 years and that has made me determined to make the most of things.
 
I am not quite 50,but find this thread most encouraging. I was beginning to think I was daft to be aiming to lightly back my 3 yr old KnabstrupperX this year,but leave real work 'til she is 4+ and train my KWPN to GP over the next few years.

I do worry about my fitness and suppleness,but I don't feel that much different to 10 years ago...........although I am starting to struggle with heavy lifting e.g. bales of hay and even bags of feed(reduced to 20kg or even 15kg whereas they always used to be 25kg!):(
 
Hi I am 52. I work full time and have 3 horses between OH and I. We both hunt all winter and used to compete loads but haven't for a while. Am determined to do something this year....even if only a CR competition

When we hunt I take a wooden step OH made to get on with. People used to take the mick. Now they are all queuing to use it too.:D

Sometimes it is a struggle but then I remember we have one life only so just get on with it.
 
Im 50, have been riding since I was 6, bought my first horse when I was 16 and had horses on and off until I was 36. Then had to give up due to circumstances (no money) and honestly thought Id never have another horse. Then 5 years ago I was able to buy another horse and havent looked back. Im fortunate to only work part time so have afternoons free to do all the chores, now keep my horse and a pony for grandchildren on DIY livery. I love all the stuff that goes with horse ownership, I definitely feel better for the exercise. It is harder now than it was when I was 30 something but I do have more time so I dont suppose that matters, I am more cautious now as well but again, no bad thing really. Pony is 8 so hoping he and I will have a few more years yet!
 
Hi im 52 rode as a child and stopped at 14, picked up the reins again 20 yrs ago and have ridden regularly since then,i work part time and have 4 horses at the moment 2 retired, 1 post injury rehab t/b coming back into work who is a pocket rocket and a stunning 18hands tb/wb cross that i have on loan at the moment i still love to go xc and get a kick out of getting the best out of the horse when schooling and learning. I put myself through my stages and also my ukcc 2 and run my own wee yard :-) when i retire i think i might start pt horse work lol
 
A great thread and supportive! My old horse is now 25, still being hacked and still a complete idiot at times. Schoolmaster bought for 60th Bday is 16 this time but won't be happy onhis own so looking for next horse to buy for my 70th. yes it's got to be nice to handle and good to hack but will need to do PSG, just need to remortgage the house to pay for it!
 
I'm 73 and don't ride -- but I do everything else! I enjoy working with youngsters from the ground, plus all the maintenance and feeding on 30 acres associated with 10 Highlands of various ages.

I have help from a 28yo a couple of times a week and there is always plenty of work to be done. I do all the fencing, building gates, stables, field shelters, and have just had my woodland thinned and have been dragging out timber which will need cutting and splitting. I'm planning on building two more field shelters this summer (from timber I planted nearly 30 years ago) and there will be at least 10 acres of hay to be made. I am pretty fit except for a dodgy back and 50% vision in one eye.

I think the key is not to do too much. Work IS bad for you!;) I am quite happy to stand back and let the youngsters show off! If I start to feel tired, I'll make a cup of coffee and put my feet up for half an hour, then I'm ready to have another crack at it. It is definitely the youngstock that keeps me going. I love training animals and solving behavioural problems, but I'm not so keen on the human ones!
 
Wow. Funny isn't it - we can't see the person on the other end of the post and I kind of assume all you H&H types would be in their '20s and '30s, riding big flash horses, competing every weekend. Now I find a lot of you are just like me!!! Of course, in my head I am one of those '20s or '30s people, except the bits that got broken along the way, of course due to horses - who IS that 65 year old riding my horse???? She looks just like my mother.....................
Huge well done to everyone who is still riding and enjoying horses whatever their age! The problems aren't problems, they are challenges.
 
I'm 50 (and a half :p very important to be precise!) and although I rode as a child, and on and off as an adult, I got my first and only horse aged 44. He was 4. He is now a still slightly nutty 11yo 17hh ISH.

I haven't noticed getting any less flexible, although I do get grumpy with lots of early starts and slogging around carting buckets of water up a huge hill plus endless hay to the three other horses in the field (owned by much younger people who I think just like to see the oldie doing all the work!).

Because horse is a bit of a prima donna whose saddle only ever fits for about 2 months after a fitting and then causes pressure marks and white hairs, I seem to have given up on the whole saddle front, and hack out on a fluffy sheepskin bareback pad with no stirrups. So I have not yet learned any sense, it would seem :D I am touching wood as I type that he seems to have largely got over his bucking phase so hacking is generally rather sedate and relaxed now ;)

My aim when I got him at 44 was that we would grow old gracefully together - so now I'm 50 and he's just 11 - when I'm 60, he'll be a sedate (but still huge) 21... And I have invested a lot of training into making sure he stands solidly beside banks, in ditches, beside gates, walls, stumps, large stones etc. for me to clamber on, I think that's been my most important achievement with him!
 
I gave up riding and all things horsey :( at 21 due to devastating allergy problems.

Returned to riding about 3 years ago, got Mollie nearly two years ago and am now 57. So very late returner. :)

Getting on and off is the most challenging bit :o. Also I have very little confidence, I can get really nervous and suffer hip pain sometimes.

It's great to be back among horses again though. :D
 
Im 60 and been riding over 50 years. Took a bit of a back seat when daughter went competing and I took a very nasty fall of a youngster which meant I couldnt ride for a couple of years. Had my old Arab mare for ages, but her health hasnt been the best and at 23 she has been in semi retirement for some time. Last year bought myself a young New Forest who has proved to be a hell of a handful but shows promise and although we have parted company a few times it was never done nastily, more high spirits. Im now having lessons with him and we are both improving. (havent had a lesson in anything in years, feels strange but very enjoyable, Ive forgotten how much Ive forgotten, must be the onset of Alzheimers). Also last year stupidly bought myself a 3 year old Exmoor filly. Have just backed her, on the grounds that it really isnt far to fall if it goes wrong.

I work full time, my husband is overseas, so im on my own most of the time, and ride at least one of them including the odd jolly on the old nutty Arab every day. The only concession to my age is I wont ride in awful weather, its not fun for me of the nags.

Yes the joints squeak sometimes, and often dismounting my leg crumples and I fall over, so have to make a point of kicking off stirrups for the last 5 minutes on the way home. Mine are kept at home so at least I dont have to travel to them as well, unfortunately though do not have a school, so winter riding is a challenge, and the NF will test me to my limits if he has an enforced few days off. I will stop riding when im 6 feet under and not before,
 
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