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 goes down.
But along with all of that, I also notice the frost on a horse’s whiskers in the winter. How on a chilly morning, the wind catches the mist of their breath. How standing beside them allows me to calm down and experience a grounded sense of peace. The rhythmic sound of horses chewing. Watching them gather hay into their mouths. Feeling their warm huffing breath on my hands or face is the best self-care of all.
For me, horses are sacred. In their veins, whether pureblood or born of unknown dam and sire, the horse carries memories of battles and races, kindness and cruelty, nobility and work.
Perhaps you’ve also evolved in understanding your horse. Hopefully your experiences over the years, in working with horses and in doing other things, have changed and improved your horsemanship.
My hope is that many of you will share those experiences on the podcast so that the rest of us can learn from your successes and your mistakes. Some folks on social media are more than willing to share advice based on little or no experience. My goal with the senior horsemanship podcast is to foster the sharing of experiences that might be helpful to other folks and their horses.
You should know your horse better than anyone else. You’re in a better position than anyone to apply or discard the possible lessons learned from these experiences.
One of my goals is to better prepare for the possibility that I might have to give up my horses or that one or more of them might outlive me. I have three horses and they’re all different. But their prospects for a good life following me could be improved if I take the time to train them to be easier to handle, easier to ride and easier to care for.
My plan is to do a series of videos demonstrating my training progress and problems with these horses. The videos will help me share my experiences with you, and they’re also document where these horses are in their training. What they know, what they can do and what they have issues with doing.
I hope that you’ll share your horse journey with me and with other listeners to the podcast. I appreciate your interest in the podcast. And I hope to continue to provide information that interests you in the days ahead.
Paul Sherland:
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 doctors tell us about invasive health screenings we must endure. Uh, health insurance goes up and energy goes down. But along with all of that, I also notice the frost on a horses whiskers in the winter. How on a chilly morning, the wind catches the mist of their breath. How standing beside them allows me to calm down and experience a grounded sense of peace. The rhythmic sound of horses chewing. Watching them gather hay into their mouths. Feeling their warm, huffing breath on my hands or face is the best self care of all. For me, horses are sacred. In their veins, whether pure blood or born of unknown dam and sire, the horse carries memories of battles and races, kindness and cruelty, nobility and work. This is a quote from the book. Getting Along With Horses: An Evolution in Understanding. by Crissi McDonald. Welcome to the Senior Horsemanship Podcast. Which was the Second Half Horsemanship Podcast. We'll be talking about better horsemanship in the senior part of life. For most of us that means horsemanship for the love of it. I'm your host. Paul Sherland. If you haven't read Crissi McDonald's book yet, I recommend it. Crissi's evolution in understanding horses, and horsemanship, mirrors much of my own evolution in understanding. But she describes those changes much better than I could have. Perhaps you've also evolved in understanding your horse. Hopefully your experiences over the years, in working with horses and in doing other things, have changed and improved your horsemanship. My hope is that many of you will share those experiences on the podcast so that the rest of us can learn from your successes and your mistakes. Some folks on social media are more than willing to share advice based on little or no experience. My goal with the senior horsemanship podcast is to foster the sharing of experiences that might be helpful to other folks and their horses. You should know your horse better than anyone else. You're in a better position than anyone to apply or discard the possible lessons learned from these experiences. One of my goals is to better prepare for the possibility that I might have to give up my horses. Or that one or more of them might outlive me. I have three horses and they're all different. But their prospects for a good life following me could be improved if I take the time to train them to be easier to handle, easier to ride and easier to care for. My plan is to do a series of videos, demonstrating my training progress and problems with these horses. The videos will help me share my experiences with you. And they're also to document where these horses are in their training: what they know, what they can do, and what they have issues with doing. I've mentioned before that I volunteer with an equine rescue here in Texas. Nothing is known about most of the horses that come into rescue. I adopted one of the rescue horses, and I know nothing about the first 10 years of her life. Doing a series of videos about each of my horses will ensure that their next owner, if that happens, will have a history of my horses, and hopefully that will make their lives easier down the road. I think most seniors involved in horsemanship are doing it because they love horses. A few of us are still competing and some are competing successfully. But hopefully they're doing it because they love the time spent with their horses. If ego is the primary motivation for your horsemanship journey, then senior horsemanship is probably not for you. I'd like to end the podcast with another quote from Crissi McDonald in her book, Getting Along With Horses. It all started with a dappled pony. Inside somewhere is that girl who still sneaks grass to horses through fences. I don't know how, or when my horse journey will end. I do know that I will always love and be grateful for horses. For me, the journey started with a black pony. And I still talk to my horses as I did when I was 10 years old. I also don't know how or when my horse journey will end. But I also will always love and be grateful for horses. I hope that you'll share your horse journey with me and with other listeners of the podcast. I appreciate your interest in the podcast. And I hope to continue to provide information that interests you in the days ahead. Thank you for listening.