Getting A Little Older, what do you hate the most?

Yes, another arthritic, crap hips, back and large metal bits here. But I can nurse that along,can only mount from a height etc.. What really is annoying, and what I suspect will stop me in the end in my eyesight. Quite bored already trying to peer at hooves upside down with glasses falling off. I worry about what I might miss if I don't wear them, and can't get use to wearing them outside. : (
 
Hi, I'm 55 this year and I feel like I'm living my dream. I have ridden for 50 years with various breaks for having babies/lack of money etc and didnt get my own horse til I was 44. I now have a 7 year old that I had as a rising 3 year old. I don't have to work so i spend 2 - 3 hours a day with him and I love every minute. I try to ride when ever the weather is good so this summer we've had a great time. I do so much in a day - what with 3 dogs and various other animals to care that I stumble into bed at night and fall straight to sleep. Like others on here I sometimes think about how many years I may have left - so I'm determined to enjoy every single one of them.

Don't really hate anything about being older - except maybe that my confidence has dwindled due probably to life experiences but I just go with what i can happily and safely enjoy x
 
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Blimey there really are quite a few of us cripples

I forgot to say I also have metal bits including a replacement ankle, which unfortunately at only 2 years old is already giving me problems again (they are not as reliable as hip/knee replacements)

As for is the lifestyle that makes it worse. Hmm I know without riding my RA gets worse. However as I look after my horse alone it really does take its toll.
So long as i want lessons and to compete I can't afford full or part livery so I am stuck.
 
MJ my chiropractor is absolutely gorgeous!! AND quite often my back needs cracking between my shoulders - he has to stand behind me and kind off cuddle me to do it! so not all problems are disadvantageous!! I am starting to bob on a bit, but still took all the partitions and rubber matting out of my trailer this weekend even rolling around on floor under trailer taking fittings of all without the help of a man!! with some assistance from my retired friend - we were well chuffed.
 
mjcssjw2 said:
MJ my chiropractor is absolutely gorgeous!! AND quite often my back needs cracking between my shoulders - he has to stand behind me and kind off cuddle me to do it! so not all problems are disadvantageous!! I am starting to bob on a bit, but still took all the partitions and rubber matting out of my trailer this weekend even rolling around on floor under trailer taking fittings of all without the help of a man!! with some assistance from my retired friend - we were well chuffed.
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hahaha! You are my kind of person mjcssjw2 [not easy to spell after 2 glasses of rose] :)
 
no its not easy is it, I am that old we couldn't have aliases for email addresses, so that is my original email address, glad my reply made you laugh.
 
I have the odd ache and pain on rising in the morning but just moving around helps to loosen things off, then i feel better with no pain quickly, im better when im mobile, i ride every day but dont feel any real stiffness in my joints, my job also keeps me active, i do seem to need more sleep than i used to but for various reasons usually have broken sleep so blame that and try to fit an hours nap in at sometime through the day if i can. My memory is crap and that used to be good, my iphone notes are usually well used as is the diary, im 53
 
This this this !

Plus I am a total scaredy cat now - went for a gallop with my 9yr old daughter yesterday. My horse got excited - bucked, went into warp speed, neighing her head off. I was scared!!! Daughter thought it was brilliant fun as her pony tried to keep up...


MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
Oh gosh know what you mean OP. I've got no excuse as work in the fitness industry, but still it's all something of an effort at times!

Its like........

You used to be able to gob down crisps and Mars bars and still stay beautifully svelte with the body of a goddess (well, ur, anyway, not quite, but hey); now if I even think "Mars bar" I'll put on at least a stone!

You never knew where the scales were in the house; now you're on them constantly.

You just know that some time soon you're gonna have to get another (bigger, of course) pair of breeches as to get into the ones you have, you've got to lie down on the bed/floor first in order to be able to zip the damn things up.

A mounting block is a necessity not a luxury.

You had to get off the other day out hacking and couldn't remount because (a) your jods would've split if you had; (b) you couldn't get your knee up far enough because it gives out on you if you put any pressure on it and (c) you couldn't find a decent bank or hedge to use as a help-you-up. So you had to walk home.

EVERY day you lose an everyday item: i.e. keys, specs, whip, hoof pick, or whatever. Your yard-sharers/fellow liveries are continually having to pick up stuff you've left around, like headcollars/bridles, and various other kit.

You get in the car to go somewhere....... only you've forgotten where exactly.

Ditto the telephone, you pick it up coz you're gonna ring someone, but have forgotten who.........

You can remember the time when you squeezed yourself into a size 10 jods (OK so a LONG LONG time ago:) - but yes, you did it!

You can remember the time you could go riding without having to stuff your ample cleavage into two bag-sacks the size of a haynet and when you did sitting trot it wasn't like a bag of ferrets jumping around. Now, you've stopped doing riding lessons simply because you dread being asked to do sitting trot.

The last time you bent down to pick out your horse's hooves, your back locked - and you had to go to the chiropractor for a very expensive set of sessions (now you try to get OH to do it).

One advantage: you can get as inebriated as you want to coz you tell yourself your increased body volume will just soak it all up, and it DOES, doesn't it..............???:):):)
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I am approaching 60 with great speed and dont ride often much not because of age but because of injury. I also got fat so didnt want to ride but I have dealt with that and lost 5 stone over the last two years. Losing weight has made a huge difference I can now walk for miles and can ride again if I want to I am not afraid of riding but I am now very very afraid of injury having broken my leg and knee which took a long time to heal. My biggest bug is motivation I love life and my horses and will try never to be without them My memory is almost perfect I only have to go to a place once and I can get back easily however I have never been very good with names faces yes names no. I dont mind getting older but I do find I get lonelier as I tend to do things quickly and then dont see people much. Biggest drawback is OH is 62 and has been made redundant with little or no chance of work so now we have to get moving on cutting outgoings the ponies cost less than smoking 20 fags a day so it will be a very last resort to have to cut those down
 
Sorry you have RA at 48. I am 59 and have had it for five years. Not much fun. My new start in life was buying a 3.5 box after my parents died and I was free to do all the things with my pony that I had been unable to. Brute refused to load and RA started. Sold the box after five years as trying to load was doing my joints no good, I could usually get to an event but not load to get home, the whole thing left me exhausted and aching.

Bonuses are; have given up work, no longer up for challenges so plod about on my 22yr old Fell. I just have to remember that he might not last as long as me, so need to keep my body and mind prepared for a younger pony when the old monster retires.

Modern medication is so much better, it is now introduced to prevent damage rather than too late as it used to be. It seems that quite a few of us are still riding as a result. Glad to hear about you all!
 
I am sure that what we eat as we get older can make a huge difference. If I eat junk food and sugar for a period I am much more tired and stiffer in the mornings but if I eat sensibly, drink lots of spring water and a take liquid magnesium supplement I definitely notice the difference. Also if I eat a lot of wheat (which I am allergic to) I find it affects my memory and my overall confidence. When I used to hunt on Boxing Day after a mass of Christmas pudding and mince pies I always felt the jumps were higher and a lot more scary! Sometimes I think we can hold back the aging process by giving our bodies what they need to keep them going.
 
A definate advantage to getting older is the getting crabbier :cool:

I find myself saying "I don't quite see my way to doing that" more and more (or the short version involving two words, one of which is "off").
 
I dont have athritis - so can only sympathise about ill health.
But I do luxuriate in riding. It makes few demands on your body. Some of my happiest pottering about on a horse was done when I was at my least fit, and heaviest after an operation.
I learned that old age is not a steady decline - there are daily ups and downs, and unanticipated recoveries. Never dreamed three years later I'd be back to my youthful weight and flying in canter again on my favourite horse.
Because for her it was touch and go too. Just watching how she was nursed through injury, fed so carefully and survived and came back into work set an example for me as an older human too. Not all the ills of old age are irreversible.
 
Patchworkpony said:
The great thing is we are all determined to keep going and that is the main thing. I can remember when I was young close relatives in their fifties (younger than I am now) saying they were old and couldn't do much any more. Horses and ponies, no matter what you do with them, are a discipline and keep us at least mentally younger. Those without this kind of discipline will age quicker and never have the sense of achievement that we have. Even if we only do one small thing a day with our equines at least we are still going forward not 'waiting for God'.
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A lady where I worked use to visit a man through 'Help the aged' - he used to just sit at home on his own all day in his sitting room. He was physically and mentally able, but seemed to have no reason to go out. He was 64. That year, my 75 year old father had been skiing black runs with us, so I was horrified by her story. I agree that it is important to maintain a reasonable degree of physical activity otherwise it would be too easy to enter into physical decline.
 
Being in my early 60's and having sadly lost my mare of 21 years I bought myself a nice 5 year old heavyweight cob to plod about on and we are both getting used to each other. I say plod because a circular ride that would take someone 20 minutes takes us 2 hours as most the time is spent chatting to locals or people we bump in to. Next project is to train horse to go in harness so that when I can no longer drive I can get to Tesco's. Fortunately I can ride off road to Tesco's apart from last 500 yards of road work. (Fortunately they built me a nice bridleway bridge over the bypass when they built the bypass).
 
In am 65 now and although I have some arthritis I don't feel too bad. Having lost my OH last year and no other family I look to the horses to make me get up in the morning. I sometimes feel Ive had enough, I don't ride now, but the worry about what would happen to my oldish daft cob if I couldn't carry on makes me keep at it. I do feel slightly awkward when being off yard in my horsey gear, that people are looking and thinking" isn't she a bit old for that !" I find that in the winter instead of mucking out both horses in the morning I do one am and one pm. and do my poo picking in shifts.
Unfortunately my present dog doesn't like exercise much so I don't do the long walks I used to.
However, I suppose I would be forced to go to a gym if I didn't have the animals or I would be the size of a house.
At the years go by and you lose more of your friends it does concentrate the mind on how much longer you've got !
 
Afraid it only keeps ongoing downhill - if you think 48 is bad then don't - make the most of it as 58 is going to be worse!!!
What I hate is not recognizing the 'me' in recent photographs - I still expect to look like the 'me' in the ones taken 20 years ago
 
Oh yes! I have sent off for my bus pas and the photo that's going on it is a total shock to the one from my passport 10 years ago. Don't tend to look in the mirror much these days.
 
Im 24 so not old as such but i have athiritis in my spine (fell out a tree and broke my disc) my knees have give up on life and my hip and my shoulder are pathetic too (car accident caused these)

I have a 14.1 cob that if i so much as tried to get on off the floor even he gives me the look ready to burst out laughing at how stupid i look!

I dread the moment i am actually old! i fear i may be in a nursing home at 40 the way its going lmao!
 
Gentle big group hug to everyone (I wouldn't want to squish any painful bits!)

Feel so much better reading these posts to know that I'm not alone! I'm only in my forties and having read the RA posts I think I'm going to go back and pester my Dr for more tests. Some of the symptoms you guys are describing are me to an absolute T. Tired all the time, achy muscles, hot feet and hands, twingey knees all sound nastily familiar and I did have test a few years ago that was "borderline, nothing to worry about. Come and see me if it gets worse."; quoted from my Dr after going in to complain about hot, tingly hands - thought it was RSI as I do so much keyboard work for my job. Finding I'm making a lot of mistakes recently that just aren't typical of me. Oh, and I got diagnosed with asthma as well this year after two really bad bouts of bronchitis.

But I figure that whatever is wrong with me, it's not going to get me down and I'm going to get stuck in just as I always have.
 
I'm nearly 43. Came off this morning, didn't stand a chance as my lovely TB tripped in a moment of intense distraction and literally didn't recover, we were cantering quite quickly so there was a fair amount of momentum!! No damage done, important thing is that he's ok, but I definitely don't bounce anymore!! I'm dreading tomorrow because I'm already moving with the agility of a plank. My back is a disaster at the best of times so should be a right mess by the time I go to work tomorrow. The trouble is with age you know perfectly well when it's going to a painful one, and this one is feeling very promising on that front..
 
I think that I must be pretty lucky. I am 68 and usually ride 4 or 5 times a week. I have Rufty on full livery so I do not have to do any of the hard work. My main problem is needing to stand on a table to get on and doing a risk assessment when I get off. Luckily Rufty stands still until I am either on or off.

My other hobby is hill walking and I think that this helps with fitness

My only gripe is that my legs ache after I have been riding for about an hour due to torn abductor muscles so I cannot do endurance any more
 
Some of the symptoms described on this thread are possibly not RA but Fibromyalgia. It's kind of similar to RA but with different causes and needing different treatment.
 
Patchworkpony said:
The great thing is we are all determined to keep going and that is the main thing. I can remember when I was young close relatives in their fifties (younger than I am now) saying they were old and couldn't do much any more. Horses and ponies, no matter what you do with them, are a discipline and keep us at least mentally younger. Those without this kind of discipline will age quicker and never have the sense of achievement that we have. Even if we only do one small thing a day with our equines at least we are still going forward not 'waiting for God'.
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Agree with this. I'm 59 now & I figure the day my body stops hurting the reason will be I am probably dead !:) Make the most of what you can do today as none of us know what tomorrow will bring no matter what your age. Enjoy:)
 
What do I hate the most?

Well, youth, of course!:D You mean you had to ask? Youth is wasted on the young and it's such a shame!:)

All these bloody kids moaning about being decades younger than me! Humbug!

I'm 73 3/4 and really quite happy. No, that is not quite right. I am in a state of utter bliss.

My current worries are (a) should I get another GSD pup as my current one is getting old? (b) Should I buy another brood mare while they are still cheap? And (c) should I replace my current wood burner which smokes and makes me cough but produces a lot of heat with a new one costing more than the brood mare and pup combined?

Health-wise I work when I feel like it, stop when I don't, and don't worry about much as I really don't care. The worst they can do to me if I'm late with my tax returns is put me in prison. Now that would be interesting! And someone else can do the cooking for a change! Hmm..but who would look after the ponies and the dog? Maybe I'd better think that out again...

The great thing about getting old is that we really do not care! We really don't. We can say and do what we like! What are they going to do to us, kill us? They'd better be quick! I've bad eyes, bad hearing, a "lazy foot" (Google that one), but a lot of friends provided they get their regular slice of carrot and a scratch (and that includes the dog!). As I said, utter bliss and totally uncomplicated by those wretched hormones that we learnt to manage about 20 years ago!
 
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