Have any of you given up riding?

equestrianabbie

equestrianabbie

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I ask because after a serious talk with my doctor/parents I've decided I need to give up riding for my health. I'm unfortunately completely anal and would ride until I was in a wheelchair but I decided it's best for me and my family if I don't put myself through that risk. I'll miss riding more than I could explain and I've looked (unsucessfully) at other careers with horses. I looked into doing an equine physiotherapy course nearby, unfortunately the course fees were £6,000.

Anyway, have any of you ever given up riding completely or for a period of time? I'm sat here surrounded by my riding clothes, books, pictures etc and hoping I'd never had this accident.
 
I have. It took some getting used to but opened up new horizons too. I still have horses,yearlings at the moment,who knows in a few years time my back and knees maty be good enough to let me ride but if not never mind,and even if i can i'm not sure i would anyway. My yearlings are geldings and give me much joy.
 
oh no! :( oh poor you that its come to this decision! could you not just take a break fro a few months? do you own your own horse? if so why not try sharing or loaning? I gave up riding having had my confidence knocked and to much college work about 4 years ago. i rode for the first time yesterday and id missed it more than anything. I would constantly wish I could go riding and if i saw anyone riding id feel so upset. I wish i hadn't given up just because of confidence and just changed riding schools instead.
 
eb1989 said:
oh no! :( oh poor you that its come to this decision! could you not just take a break fro a few months? do you own your own horse? if so why not try sharing or loaning? I gave up riding having had my confidence knocked and to much college work about 4 years ago. i rode for the first time yesterday and id missed it more than anything. I would constantly wish I could go riding and if i saw anyone riding id feel so upset. I wish i hadn't given up just because of confidence and just changed riding schools instead.
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I was actually trying out a share horse when the accident happened, I haven't lost much confidence but I can't risk my health. I was speaking to my sister and she said she wouldn't come and watch me again because she hated it. I'm sat here contemplating selling all of my riding gear, because I couldn't bear keeping everything as a constant reminder.
 
mine wasnt for health, but i wish more than anything that i hadnt stopped, or at least i had started again sooner and not left it this long.

If you dont mind me asking, why do you need to give up? will it be a permanent thing?
 
Any chance you could take up carriage driving? I know it still has it's risks though. Perhaps show in hand?

I couldn't imagine giving up. But I'm lucky. My family are horsey and my own mother broke her back in a fall so I wouldn't ever get any pressure from her.

Sounds like a very hard decision to make.
 
I gave up to have a family but now started again. Your health is the MOST important thing equestrianabbie! Life has a way of turning out as you least expect it - who knows what your future will hold?
 
It's been a ridiculously hard decision, I've been upset all day just thinking about it. It's all I've ever wanted but I've had unbelievable bad luck and now this so I think I need to part ways now.

Maybe in a few years I'll come back to it but for now I need to probably find another career path!
 
ThePinkPony said:
mine wasnt for health, but i wish more than anything that i hadnt stopped, or at least i had started again sooner and not left it this long.

If you dont mind me asking, why do you need to give up? will it be a permanent thing?
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Sorry only just seen the last bit. I had a bad fall last week and did serious damage to my back, the a&e doctor said I was lucky not to damage my spine as it's very prominent. If I had another fall that hard on my back I'd end up in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.
 
Oh Abbie ((((((((((((((((((hugs)))))))))))))))))) :(.

Yes I gave up riding for quite a while, as I just did not have the time while I was in the RSPCA. I went out for riding school hacks, but only 6 times in about ten years. I missed it dreadfully, but found it easier to stay away completely (other than thru work), or I'd just stress myself.

That's not to say that when I left (due to my back injury, thru a horse falling on me, ironically), I didn't get back into it with a venegence, once i'd recovered. Well enough to be able to ride and grin again. :D

Thinking of you hun, sm x
 
Well, looking back - I gave up a long time ago. My mare died and is irreplacable - people who asked me "are you going to get another one" don't know how close they came to joining her in the Happy Paddock! Seventeen years is a long time to spend with one person and you get set in your ways.

Some kind souls did offer me rides and I was stupid enough to take them up - and just when their horse started whinnying at me or coming to my whistle - the saddle was mysteriously missing from the tack room, being cleaned, restuffed etc., etc. So I was bereaved several times.

The main reason for me giving up altogether ( gotta face it sometime - I'm well passed 60 ) I wasn't getting any younger and I can't abide doing anything in half measures but the old arthritis was worsening to the extent that if I was a horse - the vet would have been called out of kindness a good while back!

Thus sitting to some of my old girl's tricks was rather hairy and my daughter's second event horse once cantered backwards with me up a banked lane for a surprising distance when spooked by a skiplorry - I got to realise that I probably wouldn't bounce as good as I used to. This coupled with the fact that a new horse would hopefully be around for another 10 -15 years I decided disgression to be the best part of valour and hung the old boots up.
 
I 'gave up' riding last feb after a horrible accident where I broke my spine. The docs have said I can ride again if I really want to, but I dont. In my outpatients appointment since the accident, my consultant has now said he thinks it a good idea if I dont ride again, because if I damage myself like this anymore I will end up in a wheelchair.
To be honest,I am comfortable with this. We now have a lovely sec b who has completely captured my heart, but I will never ride him as he would squash!!!!
 
i gave up for 3 years to do my nurse training .broke my heart to sell my pony and gave them everything horsey i owned.

i also gave up again about 10 years ago ,coupled with my horse dying and onset of health problems that hadnt then been diagnosed,could hardly walk let alone ride.

i too was devastated but am lucky to have been diagnosed and treated.

i agree your health must come first but there may well be a way to still have contact and a life with horses maybe just in a different way than you expected.
 
I gave up in mid twenties when my horse died aged 25. i didn't ride again until i was nearly 40, we had motherdaughter share pony. When my daughter lost interest, I took overher horse. I thoroughly enjoyed riding him, but after a series of falls I lost my confidence and decided to sell him. I haven't ridden properly for just over a year now. I have no real desire at the moment.
It's a hard decision for you to make, for me it just happened as I had lost my enjoyment although i do imagine riding again someday.
 
I gave up just over a year ago due to my back injury (caused by a fall and aggrevated by riding - I broke my pelvis and lumbar spine and now havve sacroiliac joint dysfunction).

I still own my boy, he is on loan to a friend and I occassionally manage to womble round the lanes on him for half an hour (as in once or twice a year!!) I do really miss it and at times can go off into a daydream of suddenly being fit and able to go eventing again.

Realistically though, I am unsure how I ever had the time to have my own horse, or the money and my back still gets pretty painful just trying to go about my day job so I'm glad I made the decision to stop before I did more damage :o
 
Creep said:
I've given up since last September. I got thrown off and lost my confidence.:(
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I know that one. I got thrown from my very first 'proper' horse. She was sold to me as perfect for competent novice/intermediate. She was quite strong and she had the most enormous jump, but she also used to bolt.. Not p*ss off with me, she would take a dislike to something she saw/heard and then GO flat out through/over/under anything in the way. Terrifying. I fell and got dragged up the road.

That was bad enough, but the nail in the coffin was the woman that caught my horse for me telling me off for being too inexperienced. I'd been riding for 8 years, owning for 6 years and competing for 3. I'd sat buckers, rearers, kickers, biters, newly broken, abused, you name I had done it. Within a couple of sentences, this woman made me feel so awful, I quit. On the spot. Led the horse back to the stable, sold her 2 weeks later and didn't touch another until a friend nagged me to go on a hack and we got my daughter (who has ADHD) a loan pony to give her something to concentrate on (has worked beautifully I might add!)

Having ridden my new horse for the first time today, I freely admit I feel like a total novice again! But, chin up I suppose... I can relearn!
 
I sold up a year ago due to money. I hate it, miss horses every day. Hate my new life. However I understand that giving up for medical reasons is totally different
 
After a series of fractures, a bone scan revealed I have osteoporosis, so I'm really careful now, as fractures are so painful, and the sites of old fractures still cause problems and pain. I couldn't risk breaking my back. I just enjoy my horses from the ground now. My daughter and a couple of sharers do the riding to justify my continued involvement.

If I had been a better rider, and if I had the chance to learn to ride when I was really young rather than my late teens, then I think I would still ride, even with osteoporosis, as I would have been less likely to hit the deck. Riding is good therapeutically as it encourages balance and even the jolting builds bone. But as I never got beyond the falling off stage, I had to take the only sensible decision!
 
equestrianabbie said:
Anyway, have any of you ever given up riding completely or for a period of time? I'm sat here surrounded by my riding clothes, books, pictures etc and hoping I'd never had this accident.
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I feel for you:(

I gave up to have a family and it was over 20 years before I went back to it. If you truely need to stop for you health(no better reason) then the best way to get through it, is to sell all your stuff, find another hobby that you love and keep well away from horses and stables.
 
really feel for you.
numpty question, i'm sure you've considered everything, but what about a lovely old bombproof veteran who's not too far from the ground and body protector/thick coat?
 
I gave up, on medical advice for 2.5 years, but still help out from the ground etc with friemds horses.
However, not riding didn't make a jot of difference to my arthritis, house move gave a change of doctor who was of the opinion that riding wouldn't cause a problem but certain types of fall would! He also explained that certain types of fall on a pavement etc had the potential to cause the same problems!
Reading between the lines, and consulting family, friends and hospital, I'm now back in the saddle but I am very careful. I lost my wonderful Sec D last year ( he retired when I stopped riding) and I now have a small (14.1) Irish cob that is as safe as houses in terms of spooking, bucking etc, etc. She's no plod, but goes when you tell her to and stops when she has to, and is very comfortable. We amble about and are both happy as Larry, if there's a little cross country or novice jumping going on, there's always a queue of people ready to take her round as she loves it!
 
KittyJay said:
really feel for you.
numpty question, i'm sure you've considered everything, but what about a lovely old bombproof veteran who's not too far from the ground and body protector/thick coat?
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The riding school I ride at doesn't have any horses suitable other than a very fiesty mare, which wouldn't do me much good. I'd love that but unfortunately there are none I know of :-(
 
OK im "only" 30 and i have Sciatica and i was told not to ride but i find the more i do ride the less the pain... i think you have to judge your riding on there merits
 
I've effectively 'retired' from riding and horses for the past year - not through choice though, my pony had to retire after a tendon injury and a few other problems. My other horse was already retired due to temperament issues. As I'm still keeping this two I can't afford another.Even a part loan would be a stretch!

They are at retirement livery in the next county so I don't have the day to day contact which is what I miss the most tbh. Over the past few years I've not been a brave rider after losing my confidence and I really, really hate riding new horses as it takes me ages to settle into them... so I'm not prepared to take on a lot of the rides that I've been offered as they have all been tricky horses. Maybe I've just been unlucky? I'm also spoilt as I've owned my own for 20+ years so I'm ambivalent about riding/caring for a horse when I don't have the final say about management etc.

I also have a damaged back and old riding injuries that have led to arthritis in my ankles and have lost most of my riding fitness and am not sure I will ever get it back. Not so bothered about the riding but there is a huge hole in my life that was taken up by caring for horses plus the social side of things that you miss out on by not being on a yard.

Thinking back, I grieved for that part of my life for a few months but then gave myself a shake, reminded myself that life's a bitch and nobody has any right to a horse - they are a luxury so get over yourself:o

I still have all my stuff. Trying to persuade myself to sell/ebay it (there is thousand pound + of gear in my spare room) and I could do with the money but...not yet.

Sorry, that was a bit of an essay!
 
Can you not wear a body protector and a point two air jacket and ride a nearing on bombproof horse? That's probably what I'd try and do in your position.
 
Rachaelpink said:
Can you not wear a body protector and a point two air jacket and ride a nearing on bombproof horse? That's probably what I'd try and do in your position.
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The horse I was riding was totally bombproof apparently, not totally sure that I know of any! Maybe in a few years but for now I'll stick to staying on the ground!
 
equestrianabbie said:
The riding school I ride at doesn't have any horses suitable other than a very fiesty mare, which wouldn't do me much good. I'd love that but unfortunately there are none I know of :-(
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How can the RS have nothing suitable...if your bones are prominent you're obviously not heavy so you shouldn't have any probs finding something to ride there. Every riding school worth it's salt has a pony or two that basically doesn't move! Get on one of those and have some very steady position messiah until you're more secure and can move on to something that needs a bit more riding if you find you're really missing it.

Or just get down to the RS and help out, lead the kids lessons, groom, bring in, turn out, just enjoy being around horses. I have to admit sometimes I enjoy the on the ground aspects of having my boy than any of the 'fun' stuff!
 
AprilBlossom said:
How can the RS have nothing suitable...if your bones are prominent you're obviously not heavy so you shouldn't have any probs finding something to ride there. Every riding school worth it's salt has a pony or two that basically doesn't move! Get on one of those and have some very steady position messiah until you're more secure and can move on to something that needs a bit more riding if you find you're really missing it.

Or just get down to the RS and help out, lead the kids lessons, groom, bring in, turn out, just enjoy being around horses. I have to admit sometimes I enjoy the on the ground aspects of having my boy than any of the 'fun' stuff!
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I'm extremely tall and the only horse they found suitable is quite fiesty unfortunately. Maybe after I get my confidence up again I'll go back and ride her.

Well I'm basically bed bound for 2 months as my arm's totally useless, trying to find someone/somewhere to take me on for a while to just be around horses again and possibly help my confidence. It's definitely not the end for me yet
 
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