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
The Evolution of Learning in Horsemanship
When I was a kid, I was largely taught by more experienced horse people. My mentors owned a riding school and I worked casually for them in exchange for lessons. They taught me everything from how to tie a knot to how to perform a half halt and position a horse in front of a jump. All the basic skills that a person needs to know at the beginning began by religiously following the instruction of my two mentors. I didn’t think too much about what I was told or why things were done that way. It was what it was because my mentors said so.
So today 90% of my new knowledge comes from horses and thinking/experimentation. The rest is divided between other professionals, books, videos, and students. Who knows where it will come from tomorrow?
This is a quote from the Good Horsemanship by Ross Jacobs Facebook page in a post titled The Evolution of Learning from November 13, 2022.
Unlike Ross, my horsemanship journey started at age 10 with six lessons at the local stable, books from the public library, and a subscription to Western Horseman Magazine.
My family lived in a horse friendly community. And I sometimes got lessons from the 16 year old boy down the street. But my horse was kept in a small barn near our house, and I rode every day the weather allowed it. I fed my horse, groomed my horse, was bucked off my horse, got back on my horse and got thrown less as time went on. Most of what I learned about horses was learned from my horse and experimentation.
My family moved after about a year. My horse was sold, and I didn't ride much for almost 30 years.
When I bought a horse and started riding again, I took lessons and attended clinics and watched videos. I was working full time so there was much less time for riding. Most of my knowledge came from these expert sources of information and I tried to apply that information to my horse with varying levels of success.
Now in my early seventies, I would agree with Ross that 90% of my new knowledge comes from my horses and thinking and experimentation. For me there is no one horsemanship method or mentor who has all the answers for me and my horses.
I hope you’re at a place in life that allows you to experiment with your horses, and watch for feedback from them to learn what works and what doesn’t. I hope that you think of horsemanship as a journey with detours and occasional setbacks. I hope you enjoy every day on your journey to better horsemanship in the second half of life .
Here's a link to Descript, the audio and video editing software that I use and recommend.
And here's a link to the Second Half Horsemanship website.
When I was a kid. I was largely taught by more experienced horse people. My mentors owned a riding school and I worked casually for them in exchange for lessons. They taught me everything from how to tie a knot to how to perform a half halt and position a horse in front of a jump. All the basic skills that a person needs to know at the beginning began by religiously following the instruction of my two mentors. I didn't think too much about what I was told or why things were done that way. It was what it was because my mentors said so. So today, 90% of my new knowledge comes from horses and thinking and experimentation. The rest is divided between other professionals, books, videos, and students. Who knows where it will come from tomorrow. This is a quote from Good Horsemanship by Ross Jacobs, in his Facebook page in a post titled The Evolution of Learning, from November 13th, 2022. Welcome to the 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. I'm your host, Paul Sherland. Unlike Ross, my horsemanship journey started at age 10 with six lessons at the local stable, books from the public library, and a subscription to Western Horseman Magazine. My family lived in a horse friendly community for about a year. And I sometimes got lessons from the 16 year old boy down the street. But my horse was kept in a small barn near our house, and I rode every day the weather allowed it. I fed my horse, groomed my horse, was bucked off my horse, got back on my horse and got thrown less as time went on. Most of what I learned about horses was learned from my horse and experimentation. My family moved after about a year. My horse was sold, and I didn't ride much for almost 30 years. When I bought a horse and started riding again, I took lessons and attended clinics and watched videos. I was working full time so there was much less time for riding. Most of my knowledge came from these expert sources of information, and I tried to apply that information to my horse with varying levels of success. Now in my early seventies, I would agree with Ross that 90% of my new knowledge comes from my horses and thinking and experimentation. For me, there is no one horsemanship method or mentor who has all the answers for me and my horses. When I remind myself to use more mind than muscle, that translates to reminding myself of the horse time I enjoyed 60 years ago, as well as what I've learned from my horses over 30 plus years of adult horse ownership. There are plenty of horse people who inhabit Facebook pages of various clinicians and horsemanship experts as zealous guardians of the purity of whatever method these folks use. That's fine. I hope you're not one of them. I hope you're at a place in life that allows you to experiment with your horses and watch for feedback from them to learn what works and what doesn't. I hope that you think of horsemanship as a journey with detours and occasional setbacks. I hope that you enjoy every day on your journey to better horsemanship in the second half of life. 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 earned from qualifying purchases. I earned a small commission when you purchase something through those links, but you will not be charged more by using the links. One more note, I use Descript for editing the podcast. If you do any video or audio editing. You should check out what Descript offers. It's an incredible tool for creatives. I'll also have a link to Descript in the show notes. 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.
