Over 55 and being great

[firstfrost]

I'm 52 and have 3 horses. One I event to BE 100, one does dressage and the other is a 5 year old who was backed at Christmas - I hope he will be my next eventer.

 

[humblepie]

59 and learning half pass with my ex racehorse to do mediums when back out. Some fab ones above.

 

[Cortez]

Nearly 61, and I feel absolutely no need whatsoever to be "great" at all. If I feel like riding I do, if I feel like sitting around and drinking gin, I do that instead. Time to relax after a lifetime of riding for a living, pushing my body to its' limits and having to do it.

 

[frazzled]

I am 51 and started playing Polo two years ago. Have now been lucky enough to play in a variety of places around the world. Wish I had started years ago and plan to keep playing as long as I physically can.
I will never be “great” but I am having so much fun.

 

[Keira 8888]

Hi am 50 next few days, couple autoimmune diseases etc & v menopausal totally doolally sometimes. Not ridden properly for over 10 years my old girl couldn't be ridden for last few years of her life. A year ago took on a rescue coblet youngster (18 mnths old) in back of my mind I thought holy cr*p I'm having a mid life crisis, never done this before despite being around horses my entire life. He had high worm burden, never had feet touched or been washed my mindset was at least he's safe if I get into trouble (ie can't help him without ruining him) will find him good home so just set about teaching him basic manners etc. A year later he's healthy, happy, just bitted him last week (not a murmer, just wants to learn more my rough goal get him used to everything & back properly when he's 3 next year) during most recent foot trim tried to sleep on bsmiths shoulder am just blown away by his resilience & what a loving trusting character he is. During lockdown started riding friends rescue coblet (she key worker) & found my joy again. Am never going to set world on fire but lost 3/4 stone so far (motivating factor being light enough to be in tune with my boy when I do get on him) am prob happier than been for years. So never give up on anything that lights you up within - even if you fall face down you still moving forward?thank you for such inspirational thread

Wow good for you! This is v impressive x

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

Deleted, double post.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

My wife is 65 years old, she & our daughter have 3 horses who are all fit, need riding & they all compete at show jumping , dressage & some arena eventing. Both of them keep the horses fit, school them & compete & are successful. I'm older than my wife & I don't ride any more, I haven't for years but I muck out, turn out, poo pick, drive the lorry to events & numerous other things that free the girls up to ride. I have had a stroke, I am diabetic, one leg doesn't work that well since my stroke but I try to ignore all that & get on with what needs doing. I have to because I can't afford to pay someone to do it. Just try to ignore the aches & pains & get on with things, do it now because you're a long time dead.

 

[Nicnac]

60 next year but am still 58 for a few more months Work FT and have 3 at home. Only ride my ID who has BE'd to 100 with sprog but I prefer to jump small and for fun. Just started DTM as wanted something different to plain BD. We only compete at Novice but working higher at home and looking forward to moving up the grades. May even do a BE80 one day!

 

[stormox]

68 this year, broke my own 16.1hh sports horse 2 years ago now ride regularly on the beach, and do all riding club events within driving distance.

 

[shirl62]

Mis twin sis and I didn't start this riding malarky until we were 62..It all started with a week end trekking in Wales...We soon realised our lack of riding ability and decided to go for lessons. We joined H & H forum and had lots of encouragement from the folks on here. Our dream was to have our own horse/Pony but we thought we were well past it!..Scroll on a couple of years and Margaret and I have our own little coblets...Still having lesson and have even done some basic dressage ( I mean really basic ) We have our own field and stables and love it although we have been blighted by medical problems and injuries but we will keep going...I had a TBI last year after coming of my boy and consultant said stop ridin..well I decided that I am not going to stop ( take as much precautions as possible ) and will continue to ride and have fun...Margaret and I will be 66 next month and hope our bodies don't let us down.....

 

[Sealine]

I'm 54 next month. I don't compete because I don't enjoy it (and never have) but I still love hunting, cross country/hunter trials, hunt/sponsored rides etc. I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie. I work full time and I do find I'm exhausted after hunting or a horsey day out but there is no better way to get exhausted than having fun with my horse.

 

[Keira 8888]

I'm 54 next month. I don't compete because I don't enjoy it (and never have) but I still love hunting, cross country/hunter trials, hunt/sponsored rides etc. I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie. I work full time and I do find I'm exhausted after hunting or a horsey day out but there is no better way to get exhausted than having fun with my horse.

????

 

[crazyandme]

Family friend is in his 60's, a few years ago was still doing 160km endurance rides with his horses. Only reasons he isn't currently are his horses are too young/unqualified, too old or too broken! But in a couple of years I think he will be aiming at 120/160s again!

 

[cornbrodolly]

I m 65 , O H is 70. We continue to enjoy our horses and stay active. We ride together most days - he s still schooling young horses and competing them, and hunting the little horse in my avatar. I only hack now [ hip seized up] but we also show youngstock , and we have no intentions of stopping riding - EVER! [ to the despair of our family , who see any inheritance money frittered away on yet more horses......]

 

[paddy555]

you've a few more years to go Canteron.

a lovely little video, and he mounted from the ground

 

[Tihamandturkey]

57 and a half - enjoy hacking schooling and a good blast on the gallops - I don't jump anymore to try & minimise the risk as much as possible ?

Having said that very nearly came down on the road last night after Madam put her foot in a pot hole & lost the run of her legs for a minute ?

 

[scruffyponies]

Only 48, but yesterday I indulged my inner teenager by hacking our little Dartmoor stallion bareback, culminating in a thumping gallop up the hill on the way back. No wonder all the kids like riding that pony!

 

[CJoe]

I am 50.......many operations on back and other nether regions! - thought I would give up......didnt give up but did have some sensible time out.

Don't jump very high, nothing to prove and horse has a weak hock anyway so we keep it comfortable.

We won our BS Club National Champ class last year in the 70CMS...not high no, BUT we did it well!!!

I am in agony most days just poo picking, but I just ignore it..some days i have to take things a bit easier or if a comp coming up I dont go silly......I am main earner in family so I just have to be sensible to some degree.

We hack, we dressage (if we have to!) mainly showjumping and all round fun - like a derby class too!! Dont try and prove things to others, do it all for you and your horses enjoyment, dont ever feel pressure and stick at a level you are comfortable at. xxxx enjoy!!!

 

[Hexx]

I am 55 in November this year. This weekend, I have hacked my newly backed 4 year old! He's been away for backing for 5 weeks now and I sat on him last week for the first time in the school, This week we hacked with company on Saturday and on our own on Sunday. He was an absolute star!!!

I have sometimes questioned my sanity during the last 2.5 years, buying a 15 month old was a daunting thing. Time has flown by and now I am sitting on him and getting quite excited about the things we can do next year when he is 5 - riding on the beach, fun rides, low level dressage.

 

[stormox]

And DONT listen to all those who say 'you are too old to ride sporthorses get a nice cob' or 'You shouldnt be riding youngsters at your age' or 'Dont get another breaker, get something safe' ......

 

[exracehorse]

I’m 53 in August. I’m going through a really exhausted phase and very heavy irregular periods so ... probably the menopause is looming. I’m a happy hacker. School at home. Pop occasional fence. I’ve felt incredibly bored recently. Know the same black bin, hedge row etc like the back of my hand. So ..... two weeks ago I bought a trailer. And this weekend i am
Going to a 12 mile long distance ride. And I’ve booked a jump clinic for August.

 

[daydreamer]

Follow Tamarack Hill Farm (Denny Emerson) on Facebook, he is a truly inspirational horseman. I think he rode in the Olympics when he was younger, broke his neck at 70 and is still riding now and doing endurance. This is from one of his posts.

"At the end of July, 2011, I took a faceplant off a green baby who did one of those head down insta-quits at a ditch, and broke my neck.
I was in a halo for a couple of months, and in a neck collar for about two more.
The first thing I did was to start walking, on foot, just to get past that soft, terrible weak feeling you get after months of inactivity. Then I started doing trail clearing work, cutting and hauling brush, and at first, I would do some work, and stop, and just pant, feeling my heart hammering from fatigue.
Little by little, it got easier, and by about late December or early January, I got on my quietest horse, Atti, after she'd been lunged, and I'd just walk her for 20-30 minutes.
As the winter went on, and as I started to get more confident, I added some trotting. By early spring, I felt comfortable enough to canter.
These photos of my first gallop on Simply Cool were in the summer, back in Strafford, Vermont, about a year after my accident.
So, first I tried to get fit without riding.
Then I started to ride at the walk.
Then I started some trotting.
Then I cantered.
Then, months later, I felt confident enough to gallop.
I had no time table or time limit but my own. I was 70 years old, and I damn well was not going to be pressured into something I didn't want to do before I felt ready to do it.
If I had decided all I wanted to ever do again was walk, I would have walked.
The point I am trying to make is this---It is YOUR recovery. Not your doctor's, not your husband's or wife's, not your children's or your friend's or parent's recovery, it is YOURS. So do what feels right to you, and if others want you to do less or push you to do more, tell them where to-----"

 

[daydreamer]

I'm also enjoying reading about all you more experienced people with youngsters. I am 39 and have a 2 year old, I was worrying I was too old to have a youngster but it looks like my age shouldn't be a problem! (The fact I've never had a youngster before and am not the bravest might be an issue but hohum, that's what expert help is for isn't it?!)

 

[ycbm]

I backed my five year old when he was 3 and I was 60 and I'm currently training a horse which had only just been sat on at 62. At 55 I was jumping six foot hedges out drag hunting and only gave it up because the hunt I trusted folded.

.

 

[oldie48]

you've a few more years to go Canteron.

a lovely little video, and he mounted from the ground

Oh he's just lovely, what an inspiration!

 

[spacefaer]

I used to work for lorna Johnston who was 84 when she bought herself a 4 yr old warmblood. She was still having lessons from Herr Franz Rochowansky on her GP horse. She went to the Olympics aged 70.

My OH and I are still hunting - just bought 2 new IDs to start off this season. Between us, we've been hunting for around 100 years

 

[windand rain]

I bought a weanling for my 65th birthday I have promised her I will see her started and a useful member of equine society so to see her retired I need to live for another 20 years. Might be hard going as have too many pains and diseases to ride anymore but she is absolutely adorable and now at 2 is starting her horse life, I bitted her, she wears rugs although not needed just to get her used to them, loads into the trailer just need to try the new lorry but it is stored elsewhere and we went into lockdown not long after we bought it so not really had a chance. She eats well is reasonably flexible about who she shares her field with and although she shouts a bit is settled on her own in the field while the others are out hacking. She does about 10 minutes training in a week is good with the farrier and vet so at her age I reckon she is doing well. Need to get her properly mouthed but plenty time her bit is just in her mouth no pressure and will be led from her headcollar for the next year or so

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I took on my first-ever youngster three years ago at the age of 57. It has been a huge learning curve, and I couldn't have done it without the support of the professional (and very good friend) who backed her. It has been fun!

Not content with that, I took on a "project" mare eighteen months ago; and that has been a hugely moving experience, working with a mare who had been labelled a "project horse" through no fault of her own, and who needed to be listened to as well as her pain issues sorted out.

Best advice I can give you OP is to get yourself a younger riding companion!! (AND a good physio coz by god you'll need it!) I have a great little friend who's about half my age - she's great with my horses and she's got me doing TREC training days, two-and-a-half hour rides, and now she thinks she's gonna get me jumping! We will see....

I'm physically wrecked, by heck, but am loving it!!

 

[oldie48]

I used to work for lorna Johnston who was 84 when she bought herself a 4 yr old warmblood. She was still having lessons from Herr Franz Rochowansky on her GP horse. She went to the Olympics aged 70.

My OH and I are still hunting - just bought 2 new IDs to start off this season. Between us, we've been hunting for around 100 years

Her daughter, Nancy, carried on the tradition and was riding pretty much to the "end".

 

[exracehorse]

Yesterday i went on a 9 mile XC ride. First time since I was 14 and I’m 53 next month. Only had a dressage saddle as I don’t jump lol. Was amazing day.