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.
Episodes
56 episodes
Planning for After Us
In this episode of the Senior Horsemanship Podcast, I talk about planning for after us. That is planning for our horses' care if we can't care for them anymore.One possibility is to adopt a horse from a rescue like
Top Reasons for a Senior to Volunteer with Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society
There are many good reasons for seniors to volunteer for Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society in Texas or at similar horse rescues in other areas. According to Dr. Jennifer Williams, Executive Director at Bluebonnet, the top reasons are:
Top Reasons to Adopt a Horse from Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society
So in summary, here are four good reasons why you should consider adopting from Bluebonnet if you’re a senior living in Texas.#1 - You get an honest health and training history for the horse you adopt. Anything Bluebonnet knows, you will...
What's a Good Horseman or Horsewoman
It comes back to whether or not we accept that definition of a good horseman or horsewoman: “A good horseman or horsewoman is someone who, in an educated way, always puts the best interest of the horse first and foremost.”This ...
Your Invitation to Future Horsemanship
A burden of these years is to allow all the stereotypes of old age to hold me back. To hold me down. To stop the flow of life in me. A blessing of these years. Is that they give me the chance to break the bounds of a past life. And ...
Senior Horsemanship for the Love of It
I’ve also become increasingly aware of how challenging it is to age. Our bodies change, grief finds us more frequently, we listen as our doctor tells us about invasive health screenings we must endure. Health insurance goes up and energy go...
Welcome to the Senior Horsemanship Podcast
A burden of these years is to fail to get beyond the bitterness of having been displaced, and to not see that being moved quietly off all the platforms of life is also to be free of the stagecraft that goes with them. A blessing of ...
The Evolution of This Podcast in Horsemanship
The Second Half Horsemanship Podcast has its roots in much earlier efforts. About 12 years ago, I launched a Yahoo group and a website called Mature Riders which was intended for horse people in middle-age. I was in my late fifties so the timin...
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...
Horsemanship Is Individual to You and Your Horse
There is so much variation in the human individual that the approach has to be a little different in order to fit each person. They might come out with the same results as someone else, but if everyone tried to take the same approach, there...
Adjust and Learn as You Go - a Quote from the Book, Range, by David Epstein
Approach your own personal voyage and projects like Michelangelo approached a block of marble, willing to learn and adjust as you go, and even to abandon a previous goal and change directions entirely should the need arise. Research on crea...
Better Horsemanship and Better Podcasts Take Time
Nothing great, said Epictetus, is produced suddenly, since not even the grape or the fig is. If you say to me now that you want a fig, I will answer to you that it requires time: let it flower first, then put forth fruit, and then ripen. If...
Force Will Not Get Rid of Nervousness
Is the use of force really going to get rid of a horse’s nervousness? Are you joking? It’s obviously going to make it worse and worse. It has no place to go but downhill. And that is the secret about using force on a horse, any time, any pl...
Helmets and Hay - An Anna Blake Comment
In hushed moments, we know that is our sacred promise to horses. We buy their hay. I was sternly corrected for these words, so I’ll double down and be more clear. Call “buying hay” the tip of the financial and emotional iceberg, call it an ...
Compete IF the Horse Comes First
Sports only have meaning because a certain group of humans ascribes meaning to those activities. Think about the passion demonstrated by groups of adults on Saturday fall afternoons sitting in front of television sets. From listening to the...
Your Second Half Mind Fosters Wisdom
Scientists used to think that brain connections developed at a rapid pace in the first few years of life, until you reached your mental peak in your early 20s. Your cognitive abilities would level off at around middle age, and then start to...
Reward the Trust Your Horse Gives You
As the little horse stood quietly with his head in my arms, a lady in the crowd who owned a local Arabian farm of her own spoke up. “Buck, now that you’ve gotten this horse coming around the way you have, when would we be able to start with the...
Keeping the Joy in the Horse
We often forget that horses can do what they do, often in spite of us. In spite of our tension, our imbalance, our defiant grasp on the reins and our breath. A horse and rider can be poetry or a master’s work of art. Horses make us grander ...
Share Joy in Horsemanship in the Second Half of Life
We can decide to live with joy. Or we can allow ourselves to live looking back with bitterness. We can be bitter about all the things we wanted to do, but felt too constrained to risk. We can be bitter for all the hours we gave to a company...
Choose in the Best Interest of the Horse
“The point I would hope to make is that my choices and your choices are all valid as long as we adhere to the first principle of horsemanship — that whatever we choose is always in the best interest of the horse.”This is a quote Denny Em...
You Need to Be Willing to Experiment
I’ve found that no matter what experience you have, you really need to experiment. I think that is what good trainers actually do. They ride and they have their antennas out, and they’re always feeling for things.So I want you to us...
Our Horses Are Always Communicating with Us
Every once in a while somebody will ask me how can we know what a horse is thinking and feeling since they don’t talk. My answer is always that they do talk. They never shut up. They just don’t verbalize a lot. But they are definitely chatt...
Helping Your Horse Can Strengthen a Connection
Snowman would do anything my dad asked of him, and I believe that is because Snowman understood that my dad saved him and that down deep, the two of them were connected and somehow both of their lives were gonna be affected forever because ...
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...
Horse People and Their Horses Have One Job
Horse people have only one job. And horses have only one job. It’s the most important job and it's the job that supersedes all other jobs. Nothing is more important when it comes to training. The job is to be focused and connected. That’s i...