My horses are all three of them 16'2 hands. Not intentionally, just how it worked out. I am 5'3. Standing next to them holding the saddle ready to toss it up there felt like I was trying to saddle the Empire State Building. I realized that I was feeling older, stiffer, and a lot less energy. What I thought nothing of 15 years ago, seemed like climbing Mt. Everest now. I started asking why I was feeling this way and also asking was it affecting what I enjoyed in life. Like many of you, we start making adjustments, not doing this or that, not wanting to "rock the boat" with our body.
I started to think about the ways pain was affecting my riding fear specifically. Here are three ways it affected me and what I did about it.
The first was grooming, trimming feet, tacking up, cleaning tack, all the strength things that go along with getting ready to ride. I started making excuses not to do as much or not as much at one time. This happened over time, so it wasn't noticeable until the day I stood there looking up at the horse. This led me to the conclusion I needed more strength. Surprisingly, this was not as hard as I thought. I talked to some body builder friends of mine, and I added in more protein. I stopped eating a lot of carbs like pasta and started eating egg salads and such.
The second way this showed up was in excuses not to ride. Instead of looking for a way to ride, I was looking for ways not to ride. When I peeled this onion, it was because being stiff made it harder to get on, harder to react to my horse and the worst part was harder to get off, especially in an emergency. I started doing a lot more movement and the big thing was getting rid of inflammation. I was surprised how much this improved my flexibility! It is really easy. I joined a great coaching program. (More details here for the one I joined).
My conclusion was that pain robs our joy. The good news is that we can do things to feel better and get our joy back!
I also shared my thoughts about this in my latest podcast: Episode 35: Painful Joints Can Increase Fear
When I was young, I couldn't wait to be older! I loved riding as a kid and would go anywhere and do anything. As an adult, I have enjoyed so many hours of riding. Jumping and competing are by far my favorite but there is a lot of stress built in to that. I recently heard a quote from an eventing superstar (sorry, I don't remember which one, and I am paraphrasing), being asked about when do you get to the level the nerves stop. His answer was - they don't ever stop. You say thank you for keeping me safe, get on and go enjoy your ride, knowing that the nerves mean well but they don't bring you the joy, the riding does.
I also know that the feelings of excitement, when you get to do something really fun, feel almost identical to the butterflies of nerves. When I learned this, it was life changing. Why not shift the meaning I put behind the butterflies to excitement instead of nerves? It is my choice, right?
We have so many opportunities to enjoy life and we have to grab onto those opportunities and embrace them. Riders have the added benefit that riding fills us up with not only great feelings, but we can go into these amazing golden years filling up with empowerment! We are so much wiser than we were as kids and I know I must have almost killed my horses at least a hundred times and I know better now.
One of the keys to riding with confidence after 50 is embracing the wisdom that comes with our age! Over the years, we accumulate a wealth of knowledge and experience that improves our riding and enhances our understanding of horses. By drawing on this wisdom, we can approach riding with a greater sense of confidence and self-assurance, knowing that we have the skills and expertise to handle whatever challenges may arise. We have more finese and knowledge to do things better for our horses. As a community, riders have taken leaps and bounds in knowledge of our horses and their welfare just in the last 10 years. We have evolved!
The second key is that riding keeps us physically healthy. It helps our flexibility, strength, and balance if we focus on it while we ride. That is beautiful to age with grace and I know I feel younger and younger as I get to ride more.
The third key is that we have a huge horse friend community, whether in person or online. We have a support system that is world wide. We can even take lessons from trainers around the world if we want.
I would love to have you join our small support group! It is for everyone. We are either getting over fear or cheering on the rest of us and would love to have you! Join group here!
As riders, our relationship with fear evolves over time, particularly as we enter new stages of life. For those of us riding after 50, fear can take on a different dimension, influenced by both our accumulated experiences and the physical realities of aging. The accidents or the anticipation of accidents becomes more accute. There is hope! We can navigate fear and continue to enjoy the beauty and freedom of horseback riding well into our later years. I had a friend that had never ridden and bought her first horse when she was mid 50's and went on to be a great jumper rider. It gave me a lot of courage to know if she can do it, so can I!
One key aspect to riding after 50 is acknowledging and honoring our fears. It's natural to feel apprehensive about riding as we age, especially if we've experienced accidents or injuries in the past. Instead of dismissing or suppressing these fears, we can choose to embrace them with compassion and curiosity. By embracing our fears without judgment, we create space courage and growth.
Another essential component of riding after 50 is prioritizing self-care and physical well-being. As we age, our bodies may require more care and attention to maintain strength, flexibility, and balance. Incorporating healthy eating habits, exercise (remember when you were a kid?), can help support our physical health and enhance our riding performance. The better we feel before we get on the horse, the more energy we will have and the better we will feel when we get off the horse!
Furthermore, fostering a supportive community can be invaluable for riders navigating fear after 50. Surrounding ourselves with like-minded individuals who understand and empathize with our experiences can provide a sense of belonging and encouragement. There is a small community for support that I host and if you would like to check it out, here is the link: Join the support group!
Summing it all up, navigating fear and riding after 50 requires a mindful approach that encompasses self-awareness, self-care, and community support. By embracing our fears with compassion, prioritizing our physical well-being, and fostering connections with others, we can continue to enjoy the joys and challenges of horseback riding well into our later years. With a mindful approach, riding after 50 can be a fulfilling and enriching experience that brings us closer to ourselves and our equine companions.
If this sounds like you, grab my 5 Keys to Feeling Like a Kid Again!
I walked into the kitchen to get.....to get......ummmmm....I know I came in here for a reason.
Or worse, you see a friend walking up to you and their name is....ummmmm....?
Like many of you, our car keys get misplaced, we know we paid that bill, we know that person's name, we know what we came into this room for, it is right on the tip of our tongue, but somehow it escapes us.
I believe that losing my dad with short term memory loss was a gift. It set me on a mission to figure out how to improve my memory.
Looking at our day as a whole, we forget billions of things. Are you shocked? I was. Do you remember feeling the floor as you got out of bed? Do you remember the toothbrush, cleaning each tooth? And the list goes on. It is fascinating to think about the huge amount of things we forget every single day. How do we choose what to remember?
Since I have been on this mission, my memory has improved. Here are the things that have helped the memory get stronger:
1. Staying focused in the moment. The more mindfulness becomes a practice, the better the memory becomes. We stop thinking about the past, thinking about what needs to be done, and we just immerse in the now and it is surprising that people's names pop up in our mind, we remember why we walked into the room, we know where we set out keys down because there was intention behind it.
2. Cutting out toxic foods and adding nutrition. This is different for everyone but I know for me, sugar and flour are big brain fog contributors and I was not getting the right nutrition. I didn't know this all caused brain fog but I do now. In fact, I didn't even know I was in a fog until it cleared. My Sudoku times improved 60% and it is so cool to have an actual measurement!
3. My favorite is memory games! There are so many games out there to improve memory. I am still looking into these but so far, I know they are helping me to remember more things in each day, well at least the important things.
We can all get a little bit healthier, practice a little more mindfulness, and get better with age, if we want to. I don't know if you have ever seen anyone lose their memory as they aged but it was one of the most painful things I have seen for them. My dad knew that he should know things but didn't. The anger and frustration was torture for him, from the inside.
If you would like to explore a little more about this, remember to click this link to get my 7 Days to Mindfulness!
Wow, I was shocked. I could not have guessed that the average age for riders is over 40. There are so many reasons for this but still, it shocked me.
When I was growing up, there were 20 or 30 kids to every adult at the barns I rode at. Actually, I only knew a couple of adults that even rode at all. It was all of us crazy horse kids.
The classes at the shows for the juniors were 20 - 50 per class, which were usually grouped in 1 or 2 years per group. For the adults, it was 18 - 35 and 35 and over and they only had a maximum of 20 in their classes for the huge age range.
Why are kids not riding any more? I would love to hear your thoughts and if there things we can do.
Here are my thoughts:
1. The kids these days are really into the electronics. Our granddaughters were here and mostly played on youtube and creating their own videos (which is amazing!). I had one that wanted to come feed but really didn't want to spend a lot of time with the horses. I would have spent every minute with the horses when I was her age.
2. Horses cost more these days then they did when I was a kid. I worked to save up and bought my first pony when I was 5 and I was able to work to take care of some of the bills. I worked and worked to pay for the horses. I am not sure kids these days will make it happen like I did.
3. There are so many organized sports that take up a lot of time and they don't have the time to just enjoy horses.
Are there things we can do to engage the kids more? What if a bunch of us created a facebook group, to encourage kids to have those horse crazy pony dreams again? What if we partnered with local youth centers?
I don't know the answers but I know I was shocked at the average age being so high.
What do you guys think? I would love to hear your thoughts if you would like to reply.
