Ride a Horse to Learn How to (Gulp) Age

Growing older may change our balance, flexibility and confidence, but it doesn’t have to dim the joy of the ride. Here’s how embracing a few lessons from the saddle can help mature riders keep moving forward — on horseback and in life.

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I am an ever-student “mature” rider. My journey to learn to ride began in my 40s. I now work to keep going. I struggle with my “lizard brain” (see below), waning flexibility, and how much taller my horse seems when I drop off into the abyss at the dismount. All that said, I feel young, snazzy, athletic and a force to be reckoned with when I finish my ride. Plus, I have had the revelation that riding requires facing similar changes that come with aging. Let’s examine a few from the Top Down. 

Head Up, Eyes Up. A plethora of reasons why to LOOK UP:

• Looking down alters our body position and balance on a horse. On the sidewalk also. Looking down gives us that terrible, hunchy posture in the saddle and on our feet.
• The horse can feel us not looking/feeling forward. “What’s down there? Why is she watching my nose?” On our feet, our brains think, “What’s down there?” “Don’t trip on the curb.” “What if I fall?” Yikes! What’s worse, looking down makes us look old and like Victor Hugo’s bell ringer of Notre Dame. Aging can be a drag. We can muddle through when we walk and ride with our head up, shoulders back, tummy in and move forward with our heart. Note: our feet are still there . . . so are our horses’. Why look?

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Balance:

Our sense of balance can weaken as we age. Heaven forbid we become roly-poly dolls on horseback. Confidence in our balance will chase the scary out of city sidewalks, too. I recommend core strengthening exercises (look them up). I “tightrope” walk on curbs (looking ahead so I can see the curb with peripheral vision). I balance on one foot for 10 counts then on the other while I stand in line at the grocery or wait for my coffee to brew. Never just stand (or sit) when we can be storks.

Physicality:

• Stiffness and rigidity are not our friends while riding or on the ground. Actually, rigidity can put us on the ground. I ended up on my butt when my mount hopped for purchase as we rode up a hill. My stiff seat hindered my flow with the mare’s movement. Not Amber’s fault. Mine.
• Soft knees, strong thighs, weight in heels, resist “holding onto the earth” — and stirrups — with death-grip toes. Find a professional to help with the muscle work. We can visualize the other required physical changes – or – ink cheat notes on our wrists. Silly, but this works!

Breathe:

My instructor oft reminds me, “Are you breathing?” No, I can hold my breath for half a lesson. I don’t know why we hold our breath. Seems more so as I have aged. Seems to be a concentration or apprehension response. Breath holding defeats our fluidity and confidence in our ability for quick, lifesaving response. Breathe, breathe, breathe.

Bossa Nova Hips:

• Too young to remember the Bossa Nova? Hula Hoops? How about the Cha Cha? Our fluid hips are vital on horseback. We move with the horse. They like that. We become one with our mounts. My instructor says I have a fluid seat because I danced on my daddy’s feet when I was four.
• Stiff backs and stiff hips make everyday activities more difficult for us as we age.
• A little swing in our step makes us feel younger. Undulate. Go for it.

Confront “Lizard Brain”:I highly recommend Brain Training for Riders by Andrea Monsarrat Waldo

Ms. Waldo is in my head (a scary place). She’s nailed me. The “fight or flight”, roll into a ball for protection has reared its demoralizing head for me. Check out the “Horse Nation article above. Read Ms. Waldo’s book. They can clarify better than I.

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Take Your Time:

• Our ride is for us – our “me” time. Yes, we can work, but what wonderful work. Yes, horse time takes time. Let’s immerse ourselves in that time. Hear, see, smell, revel in the lucky flash of time we have with the glory that is horse. That immersion empowers us. We feel sprightly and age-free.
• We can transfer that breezy state to our lives as “mature” people. My skin may not be the same as it was, nor my thighs, BUT I can stride through Walgreens in my half chaps and feel as though they are.

I realized that the revelations above are the next generation of aging and riding. Not pimping my book, Horse Sluts — The Saga of Two Women on the Trail of Their Yeehaw, but 16 years later, I still believe we can learn from that trail. My fellow “mature riders,” our anti-aging tools can help us stride and ride as special as we are.