“When you are young and fall off a horse, you might break something. When you’re my age and you fall off, you splatter.” So said Roy Rogers, the King of the Cowboys.

While every rider fears falling from a horse, any tumble anywhere at any age can be dangerous. While trips and falls are generally not a big worry for younger people, the risk increases dramatically as we get older.

Hazards of Falls

About 30 percent of Americans over the age of 65 fall each year. That equates to nearly three million emergency room visits. To be even more gloomy, complications from those falls are the leading cause of injury-related deaths for that age group.

The normal changes in our bodies as we age set us up to lose balance and coordination. Weakening muscles and bones, poor posture, declining vision and hearing, and aching joints all conspire to throw us off balance. The result is often an unintended and disastrous collision with the ground.

Understanding how this happens and how to adapt to these physical changes improves your daily life and, as a happy additional benefit, improves your riding.

Balance & Posture

Balance dictates your coordination and ability to stand, walk, stoop, and turn without toppling. “Proprioception” is the scientific term for how we sense where we are in space.

Nerve endings throughout your body deliver an ongoing play-by-play to your brain of where your body is and what it’s doing. Your brain analyzes all the input as fast as a wizard kid solving a Rubik’s Cube and signals your muscles to react and keep you anchored.

For example, as you walk around the barn, you step on many different surfaces: the hard center of the barn aisle, the soft bedding in the stall, the rubber mats in the wash rack, the grass in the pasture, and the sand in the arena. You might be aware of the changes in the surfaces, but probably not of the changes your body makes to adjust your footing on each of them.

Balance depends on core, leg, and ankle strength. Strengthening muscles and developing good balance can slow the inevitable decline. If you already have balance troubles, exercises and behavioral changes help correct them.    

It starts with proper posture. The ideal posture is also what you want when sitting in the saddle: level shoulders and hips; ears, shoulders, elbows, hips, and ankles in a straight line; looking ahead, your toes and chest are pointed in the direction of travel. This lets you move easily and flexibly so you can react quickly to what is happening around you.

Maintaining that position depends on a strong core. You’re not looking for six pack abs, but deep inner muscles that create a steady support. Standing in the correct position automatically requires you to use your abdominal muscles so you’re essentially doing mild crunches all day.

Strong leg muscles and ankles add even more support. All this is great for riding, since it makes you more secure in the saddle.

Bone Density & Vision

Another factor is bone density. Bones regenerate somewhat when you’re younger, but once you hit 50, bone loss outpaces formation. This means a higher chance of breaking something.

Strength training and weight-bearing exercises both help to slow bone loss and increase bone density. Posting while you ride counts, as does walking after a horse that doesn’t want to come in from the pasture.

Vision is also vital. As you age, you lose your peripheral vision. It happens so slowly that you may not even realize it. As your range of vision becomes smaller, you unconsciously shift your focus to compensate. You look at the ground a yard or so in front of your feet when you walk, which means you tilt forward, shifting your center of gravity. If you stumble, you can’t immediately compensate and right yourself.

There are plenty of ways to improve balance, coordination, and peripheral vision. The simplest is training yourself to stand and move in the correct position. Instead of looking down, focus forward on where you want to go, like looking ahead when approaching a jump.

Develop ever better balance by walking on uneven terrain (chasing that horse again) or riding a bicycle. The gold standard for developing core strength, posture, strong muscles, and flexibility is Pilates. Gyms, the YMCA, and senior centers offer balance programs, while internet videos are good alternatives for home workouts.

Exercises That Help with Balance

Here are some simple exercises you can do on your own. Try doing them without holding out your arms for balance.

• One-leg balance: stand with your feet hip-width apart. Life one foot off the ground for 30 seconds. Switch sides.
• Tightrope walk: Walk in a straight line, placing one foot directly in front of the other, heel-to-toe, as though walking on a tightrope.
• Flamingo stand: Lift one leg to a 90-degree position. Hold for a count of 10. Repeat on the other leg.
• Ankle strengthener: While sitting, push your foot as though you are pressing on the gas pedal of your car. Do this 10 to 12 times, then rotate your foot in each direction 10 times. Finally, shift your heel 10 times in each direction.

This article about improving balance to prevent riding falls as you get older appeared in the October 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Improve Balance to Prevent Riding Falls As You Get Older appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

After years as a rider and horse owner, we hold on to that identity for ourselves. It may not have been a steady journey, and it was probably interrupted by work and family changes. Or maybe it started late. At some point, we begin to define ourselves as horse owners.

After I lost my last horse, these thoughts were on my mind:

Do I need another horse?

Am I ready for that?

Who am I now?

Here, we dive into four stories of horse women who are now investing their time and energy into a new horse. Their excitement and sense of good fortune are inspiring.

Meet Lois

Lois Pienkos and her husband live on a picturesque farm near a small town in Eastern Iowa. There are barns, an arena, a jump field, pastures, and a lovely white house with a wraparound enclosed porch full of plants.

Lois is a quilter and paints bright barn quilts that hang on the buildings. When her daughter began riding in Pony Club, Lois got involved and then became a rider herself. She bred her mare and raised two dressage horses that she took to clinics and shows. Now retired, she and her husband spend most of the year on their farm in Iowa with their horses and four to five months in Wellington, Fla., where her trainer lives.

Lois and her trainer decided it was time to find a smaller horse for Lois to move up the levels. They found a great match for her in Florida in 2021, a 10-year-old Lusitano gelding named Heroi. Once home, she easily, but with sadness, sold her bigger Second Level dressage horse and started on a new adventure.

“Heroi is being trained in dressage,” Lois says. “I’m also beginning to try working equitation. He and I are playing with some of the props and plan to attend a clinic or two in 2023 in Iowa. We started him on trails while we were in Florida this past season. At home and at the barn in Florida, we hack around the property regularly. We do hope to show Heroi, hopefully in the next year.”

The summer fills with clinics and lessons, working on what they learned the past winter in Florida. They travel to Loxahatchee, Fla., in November, where they stable with friends from around the country and train. Lois says her horse’s progress keeps her going, as she “is living the dream.”

Meet Celesta

Celesta Albonetti has ridden since she was a young woman, beginning with hunters, jumpers and eventing before committing to dressage. Celesta loved her small farm in eastern Iowa, surrounded by creeks, woods and farm fields. Her two Trakehner mares loved it, too.

After 16 years there, she retired and returned to Memphis, Tenn., and her family. Her older mare with exquisite gaits and flash had passed away a few years earlier.

Celesta brought the younger mare, Angie, to Tennessee. She found a suitable dressage barn and became friends with riders at the barn who were able to ride Angie for her. Celesta spent hours there, as she has always cared for her horses in this way. Tragically, Angie later became ill and passed away. Most of us can empathize with the grief this brought to Celesta.

When she was ready for another horse, Celesta purchased another Trakehner mare, a 6-year-old she found in Kentucky. Baroness III, called “Aliza” in the barn, was foaled in 2015 and spent two years as a broodmare prior to Celesta purchasing her in August 2021.

“I felt alive again,” she says. “I go out every day, and I love it.”

After a stall became available in her trainer’s barn in Eads, Tenn., Celesta moved her mare there. The trainer works with Aliza each week, and her progress makes all three very happy. Celesta’s trainer, Macy, has started to show Aliza, and the three share the excitement of their progress. Their plans are to show at Training and First Level during the summer and fall.

Meet Ellen

Ellen Spector has spent her lifetime riding. After years of working, raising children, and boarding her horses, she settled in Iowa, where she and her husband bought a large acreage and put up a 12-stall boarding barn, West Branch Horse Farm. She moved from hunter/jumpers into dressage. She bought mares and started to raise her own dressage horses. Ellen prided her barn as having the best care in the area.

The years passed with many beautiful horses and many devoted boarders. As Ellen’s horses aged and passed away, she found herself without a horse of her own and began to think about the next one—a horse she would keep even after eventually selling the property.

With her husband’s encouragement, Ellen traveled to Denmark with a Danish boarder, Susanne. Susanne’s sister drove them from barn to barn, searching for the right horse. The three dressage riders found a lovely young mare for Ellen, who has always loved mares.

She bought home the 5-year-old Danish Warmblood mare Kokkedals Heroine, barn name “Heroine,” in 2016. With some help from professional trainers, they have begun to compete at recognized dressage shows, a long-time goal.

“We plan to go to three show this summer at Maffit Lake [near Des Moines, Iowa],” she says. “I can’t do without her.” They spend time together every day as Ellen is doing chores and riding.

Meet Judy, the Author

As for me, I adopted a rescued yearling in 2004 named Coach, a Hackney. In 2021 he had a pasture accident and had to be put down, which was very traumatic for me.

The mare that shared the pasture with him left, so no horses remained on my property. I decided I needed to find a quiet horse for myself, my kids, and my friends. I found Nellie at a small farm 90 minutes away; her teenage owner had outgrown her.

I made two trips with friends to meet and ride Nellie before trailering her home. Her age was uncertain, maybe 10 or 11. They never got papers, but called her a Quarter Horse, which seems correct. She’d had a healthy foal that year. She is pretty and quiet.

She and the older Percheron-cross we board for a friend got along from the beginning. Gracie is huge but sweet. Nellie and I connected during the first year. She calls to me from the pasture when I am in the house. She was ridden with western and English saddles.

I’m not riding now and have not been able to find someone to ride her, but she is a happy horse. These two are the quietest horses we have ever had. I put on their masks, groom and spray them in our large dry lot with no halters or lead ropes. They don’t spook or run from crop dusters or large farm equipment. They come for dinner when called.

Getting Back into Horse Ownership

All four women, including four myself, have gone through the process of asking difficult questions.

Why buy a horse now? We found ourselves with room in our hearts to fill after losing or selling our previous horses. Two decided on young horses, knowing their needed training would be long and costly.

Three met trainers who could ride their horses for them. As long-time owners, we already knew the realities of horse ownership, how much help was needed, and where to find it.

If you’re thinking of getting back into horse ownership, think first of the horse’s wellbeing. You need a safe and well-maintained barn, whether at home or a boarding facility.

If at home, you’ll need a backup person to provide the horse care when you can’t. You must have a budget that will accommodate the numerous additional expenses that come with adding a horse to the family.

We all need to have plans for our horses and pets when we are no longer present. If you’re at the beginning of your riding life, you may not have thought of a future after you’re gone. Longtime horse owners tend to be more prepared and plan for this step. This is important to consider before jumping into horse ownership—for horse lovers of any age.

But as you look out into the pasture and feel that space in your heart has been filled, all of the time, financial and organizational challenges seem worth it.

This article about riding a new horse later in life appeared in the October 2023 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Riding a New Horse Later in Life appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

The Arkansas horsewoman says that in her frustration with aging, she decided to make a Facebook group just for horsewomen. She knew that only others with a passion for horses could understand why it was important for her to keep horses in her life. In her original post, she shared her worries and stated, I don’t bounce anymore.

“That post on my personal Facebook page and the new group I created really resonated,” says Roberts. “I was 65 and ready to live my retirement dream. But instead, I had two knee replacements and I slowed down my activity. I found myself vulnerable. I don’t think that many people had put that idea out there—that I’m older and I’m afraid of my 1,200-pound horse. I wondered, ‘Am I alone in feeling like this?’ I needed a tribe of women who understood.”

Formation of Horse-Loving Group

Roberts quickly found her cohorts. She shared her post with horse owners who were already on her friend list in January of 2017. By September 2017, her group grew to 10,000 members. The booming Facebook group for Aging Horsewomen Intl. now boasts 57,700 members—from the United States and Canada to New Zealand, Australia, all over Europe, and more.

The group has no strict minimum age requirements but is open to all women craving a supportive community—and who aren’t turned off by the name. The oldest riders are in their 90s.

“We’re a close-knit group, and people post concerns in there that they might not share on other social media,” Roberts says. “I’ve had people join and then complain that there are posts about people and not just about horses. I tell them to look at the name—it’s about aging horsewomen. I am open to anything that supports women in their horse lives. It’s authentic, and our members open up. We have posts about deaths in the family or members who are facing surgeries, who share their fears about getting on their horses, or about which bra is best to stop bouncing—all kinds of topics.”

The group works to support its members—and keep them safe. The diverse group includes women with horse training experience and even some who are or were professionals in the industry. The women freely share their expertise, often offering lengthy replies to requests for help.

Roberts says that in addition to the active Facebook group, she’s formed a website to help connect riders to friends in their areas. There’s a special section on the website offering women a place to check in if they’re going out with their horses. A group friend from far away may be their best support and safety contact.

“We have a lot of women who have outlived their husbands who are going out to take care of their horses in the snow and ice,” Roberts says. “I didn’t like that they were not feeling safe and no one knew where they were and if they got back. [Now] they can connect and have someone to tell that they’re going out and to check in with when they get back, too.”

Billboard Exposure

Roberts, who admits she isn’t tech-savvy, was initially alarmed when Facebook officials messaged her about her group and requested a phone call. After checking that the request wasn’t a scam, she took a deep breath and called the Facebook offices.

“Facebook folks really wanted to talk to me,” she says. “They asked for my group to be part of their #moretogether ad campaign.”

Roberts and seven of her group’s members traveled to Los Angeles, Calif.—then out into the desert—for their official Facebook photo shoot. The women rode through the rocky California backdrop while a professional photographer and crew directed their every maneuver.

“They had us ride again and again,” she continues. “When the dust got kicked up, the photographer was especially excited, and that was the photo that got used. It was shocking to see myself and other Aging Horsewomen on the Times Square Billboards in New York City. Our photos were also on billboards across the nation.”

Reaching Out

Roberts says horses have been a part of her life since she was 3 years old. She doesn’t see an end to that equine connection anytime soon. Now 70, Roberts focuses her online time on “making sure group members stay kind.” Her best time is spent with her own horse.

“I am now riding [my horse] Levi on my land,” Roberts says. “Glamorous and fast he is not. He comes whenever he sees me, and he is quickly becoming my heart equine. For me, it’s the relationship with the horse and time spent in nature that matters. These two things fill my heart and give me peace.”

With the help of a team of admins from around the world who keep an eye on the Facebook group day and night, Roberts now has the support of a group. She’s found she is most certainly not alone.

“Aging women can feel overlooked by society,” she says. “With our horses, we are needed, loved, and appreciated. We have a reason to get up and out every single day. This is important for physical and emotional health. The need to be near a horse seems an innate need. Our hearts need to join with the heart of a horse.”

Being part of a horse group has helped her heart and many others, too.

This article about finding community in a group of horse lovers appeared in the October 2022 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post A Group for Senior Riders appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.