Senior Horsemanship - Tips to Help Us Enjoy Better Years with Horses and More of Them
The podcast name is changed to Senior Horsemanship and I’ll be building the senior horsemanship website over the next few weeks.So why the change? Probably the most important reason is that I’m certainly a senior horseman at age 71 with three horses. I’m very interested in riding, caring for, and training my horses as long as I can. I’m also very interested in making as long as I can to be as long as possible.That’s my goal in horsemanship. I don’t have any goals in the competitive arena, Not that competition is bad, but I just want to enjoy my horses. If you compete, then I hope you do it for the joy of working with your horse.So what will we talk about? How about the following.I’d like to talk about horse training, first because a well trained horse makes life safer and makes our time with our horse more enjoyable. A well trained horse also has better prospects for a good home if for some reason, we can’t continue to keep our horse. So for the good of ourselves and our horses, horse training for seniors is a great topic.I’d like to talk about horse care. I care for my horses myself and I’ve learned some things in the process that I’d like to share. I also hope to learn from others about ways to make horse care better and easier as we grow older.I’d like to talk about riding fitness and safety around horses. I’ve lost about 40 pounds over the last year and a half and it’s made riding easier for me and my horses. But with the weight loss has come a loss of some strength. I’ve also suffered from my share of horse-related injuries over the years including a broken arm, broken ribs, several concussions and most recently broken toes. What can we do to be safer with our horses. I’m not as nimble as I once was.I’d like to talk about the mental aspects of horsemanship because we need to rely on the mental more than the physical as we get older. When I was younger, there were ways of handling horses that could be characterized by “make them do it” and “don’t let them get away with it”. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that there are better ways and I’ll talk about them.Finally, I’ll talk about how horsemanship can be much more than riding a horse. I’ve been a volunteer with Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society here in Texas for a number of years and there are some volunteers who could be examples for all of us. Several volunteers can’t ride anymore, but they foster horses and give them a great start on a new path in life. Other volunteers work on the admin side to give the organization the ability to help as many horses as possible. All of those activities count as horsemanship. We’ll talk about those and more.Again, I appreciate all of the topic ideas I’ve received from members of the Equestrian Seniors Facebook group. I appreciate your interest in the podcast. And I hope to continue to provide information that interests you in the days ahead.Thanks for listening.
Senior Horsemanship - Tips to Help Us Enjoy Better Years with Horses and More of Them
Some Horses Shouldn't Be Ridden
Sometimes accidents happen even when we are with horses whole-heartedly, and sometimes this takes the heart we have for horses right out of us. However, at some point, we must make the decision to be with horses or to be without them. In or out. It’s a decision we will be required to make again and again if we choose to keep spending our life in their hay-munching company.
This is a quote from the book, Continuing the Ride - Rebuilding Confidence from the Ground Up, by Crissi McDonald.
The wonderful book, Continuing the Ride, documents Crissi McDonald’s relationship with her horse Bree leading up to the accident that injured Crissi.
Crissi is the wife of clinician and author Mark Rashid. Crissi also talks about her recovery from the accident and the process of overcoming fear to ride again.
Bree had been Crissi’s trusted clinic horse for several years before Bree started to rear unexpectedly. Mark and Crissi gave Bree time off for several years and brought in veterinarians to find the cause of the rearing. This cause could never be determined.
In the second half of life we don’t bounce as well as we used to. If we have a horse like Bree who is unpredictable despite our best efforts and the efforts of our veterinarians, we are smart to be the old, wise rider instead of the old, crippled rider. Stay off that horse so you can ride for as many years as possible.
Here's a link to the Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society.
And a link to the Second Half Horsemanship website.
Horses require awareness coupled with patience. We will feel better if we have a sense of humor about the differences in our species and have the ability to not only see things clearly, but to ask for help if we don't know what's going on. Sometimes accidents happen even when we are with horses wholeheartedly, and sometimes this takes the heart we have for horses right out of us. However, at some point we must make the decision to be with horses or to be without them. In or out. It's a decision we will be required to make again and again if we choose to keep spending our life in their hay munching company. This is a quote from the book, Continuing the Ride, Rebuilding Confidence From the Ground Up by Crissi McDonald. Welcome to the Almost Daily Second Half Horsemanship Podcast, where we talk about using your mind more than your muscles on the path to better horsemanship in the second half of life. The podcast features a thought for the day, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and a more in depth discussion or interview on the weekend. I'm your host, Paul Sherland. The wonderful book Continuing the Ride, documents Crissi McDonald's relationship with her horse Bree, leading up to the accident that injured Crissi. Crissi is the wife of clinician and author Mark Rashid. Crissi also talks about her recovery from the accident and the process of overcoming fear to ride again. Bree had been Crissi's trusted clinic horse for several years before Bree started to rear unexpectedly. Mark and Crissi gave Bree time off for several years and brought in veterinarians to find the cause of the rearing. The cause could never be determined. Finally, in February, 2014, Crissi was mounting when Bree reared again and fell over backwards on Crissi. There was no warning and Mark was there on his horse. He didn't see the accident coming either. They had Bree checked again by multiple vets who found that Bree was a healthy mare. The only problem was that when she had pressure in the girth area, she might rear over backwards. Crissi and Mark decided that Bree's life could not include being ridden again, ever. There are some horses that can't be ridden for some reason. They may have had an accident or mistreatment at some time in the past. Who knows! But if you determine that you have a horse like that, there's no reason for you to get yourself hurt. When I was in Navy flight training, there was a saying, I remember being repeated. That saying is, there are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots. In other words, don't take foolish risks. In the second half of life, we don't bounce as well as we used to. If we have a horse like Bree who is unpredictable, despite our best efforts and the efforts of our veterinarians, we are wise to be the old wise rider instead of the old crippled rider. Stay off that horse so you can ride for as many years as possible. The Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society Training Challenge is coming up this weekend here in Texas. This is an event where professional and amateur trainers spend three to four months training rescued horses to give them a new start in life. If you'd like to donate, I'll have a link to the Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society website in the show notes. Thanks for listening to the Second Half Horsemanship podcast. If you're also on the second half horsemanship journey, please leave a comment on our website, second half horsemanship.com. We're always looking for topic and interview ideas. When I use links to books, products, and services in the podcast, some of those links might be referral links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I earn a small commission when you purchase something through those links, but you will not be charged more by using the links. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Your reviews help the podcast reach a larger audience. Thank you very much.
