How old before you stop competing

[confusedmum]

just started competing again after 30 year break with an amazing new horse and now i cant stop ! just want to get better and go bigger my only problem is weighing up how many other wrinklys are at the show so i dont feel too self conscious
when do you think is the right age to stop before you make yourself look stupid ?
I have had major surgery to my neck which is why i gave up but i after 10 years of trudging round behind my daughter I have finally given in to the overwhelming urge to jump again and it better than i ever dreamt it could be,
I actually beat her yesterday much to her utter horror yesterday i felt like I was 20 again tottering around today its more like 80 ( im 56) but it as worth it and going agian tomorrow !
Would love to hear about what others are doing and at what age

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

A few years back I "had a go" at TREC and Horse Agility with my trad-cob; this was after a break of about 35 years from competitive riding! - and we still managed to get placed and come home with some very respectable rosettes having done well enough to have to move up another level next time if we compete again with the TREC!!!

So OP don't worry you are a mere youth!!!

By the way, I'm the same age as Mary King (she's young for her age) - and she's still going strong.

You sound like you're in the prime of your competitive edge; keep going for it!!

 

[Greylegs]

I gave up jumping over 3 years ago at the same age as you are now!!! Just turned 60 and now do dressage competitely, frequently competing against kids and youngsters at local events. I don't think it's about your actual age. It's more about you feeling safe, having fun and enjoying what you're doing. I should say, though, that I know from painful experience that you just don't bounce so easily as you get older, when you hit the deck.

Have fun, but take care.

 

[millikins]

I'd never done anything competitive until we got my daughter's pony. I still don't want to showjump, I'm not good enough and forget courses but I'm loving indoor driving trials and could be persuaded to do RC dressage. Occasionally I put my real brave pants on and go drag hunting. Enjoy yourself, but as GL says you don't bounce so well as the years advance!

 

[Madam Min]

Theres 2 ladies on our yard who are both over 60, both are up for hacking out, dressage and jumping, I hope I'm like that when I get to their age! I suppose you you just do what you're comfortable and feel happy with, enjoying your horse and having fun is the most important bit

 

[Dunlin]

Mark Todd is 58 and he's got 2 horses to get round Badminton XC today, he's never out of puff straight off the horse and into an interview.

There's also a gentleman I've seen out hunting down here who will be 80 this year and is still at the front of the pack jumping huge hedges and having a second horse. Inspiring!!

 

[WindyStacks]

As above - look at Olympians for encouragement - mark Todd, Mary king and the Japanese dressage rider whom I believe was 70 during 2012!

I remember mark Todd saying he's been asked at the Olympic village what his child was competing in! ;-)

 

[jinglejoys]

When it stops being fun

 

[TelH]

When it stops being fun

^^^^ This

I was at a show last summer and saw a woman showing 3 Shetties, I would guess she would have been mid 70s at least. Fair enough in hand showing is rather more sedate than eventing for example but I hope the young kids were watching her, she could have taught them a thing or 2 about how to do it

 

[kassieg]

when you feel like you can't do it any more !

who cares how old you are if you can still ride at the level you want to be at do it !!

i certainly will be providing nothing goes wrong ! it will take me that long to afford a good enough horse to achieve my 2* goal !

 

[Dottie]

Age is just a number!

 

[spookypony]

A lady here rode her first 80km ride a year or 2 ago...that's about 7 hours in the saddle, at speed...said lady was in her 80th year at the time!

 

[confusedmum]

when you feel like you can't do it any more !

who cares how old you are if you can still ride at the level you want to be at do it !!

i certainly will be providing nothing goes wrong ! it will take me that long to afford a good enough horse to achieve my 2* goal !

that sums everything up for me ! at the moment we both light up when we see a fence it is an awesome feeling and i am enjoying having such a fantastic horse to look after me he is a total superstar and i love him to bits thanks for all the support everyone !

 

[soulfull]

My friend still does arena eventing, sj and fun rides. She is 73 in a couple of months and has had a triple by pass lol

 

[mulberrymill]

I wont jump any more but still show and do dressage competitively. My daughter reckons im the oldest rider on our local show circuit, and im proud of it. None of my ponies are easy though and iv found out recently that a fall usually means a painful injury that doesnt mend quickly and is very inconvenient as it stops me riding and wastes valuable time and petrol on hospital visits. For the first time in 50 years of riding i now wear a body protector. As long as im able and having fun, i will carry on. Im over 60.

 

[debsflo]

Carry on as long as you want. i am 50 and hoping to get a youngster next year and plan on restarting my competative career then. i see loads of more mature women out competing. go girl.......

 

[Orangehorse]

I am over 60 and I still compete. I haven't done much for a while but that is for time reasons. My sister was doing dressage in her early 70s. Although she admitted she couldn't do much warm up or she was too tired to do the test!

 

[DavidP]

Have a friend who is 76 and still competing provincially on a 6yo ISH he bought last year.
Admitted height has been reduced but saw him yesterday go clear.

 

[Billabongchick]

There was a bloke in the hunting section of H&H magazine this week who was pictured out hunting at 90! 90?!!! That is amazing. It said he used to run a pub so would hitch up his horse to a cart, drive to the meet, unhitch and jump on, hunt for the day then return home to his pub in his carriage at the end of the day. Bet he's a character!

 

[confusedmum]

Carry on as long as you want. i am 50 and hoping to get a youngster next year and plan on restarting my competative career then. i see loads of more mature women out competing. go girl.......

I had ' go girl ' stuck in my head today and jumped double clear in the discovery ! thanks for that i felt about 25 today and I am still coming down from it. No doubt i will be creaking tomorrow but today i dont care !

 

[Burmilla]

I'm 68 and still going strong! Local level dressage, pleasure rides, a bit of showing and hunter trials. I love it, and have just aquired a youngster to bring on. Age is not anything to bother about, as long as you factor in the experience/skills you have, against diminishing strength and height you are going to fall off from! Youngster is significantly smaller!