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 to create for myself, a life more suited to what I now want to be.
Do you want to be able to ride for years into the future?
Do you want your horse to be healthy for years into the future?
Do you want to be able to care for your horse as you get older?
If you can’t ride for some reason, would you like to be able to remain involved with horses?
If for some reason you can’t care for your horse, to you want your horse to go to a good home where she’ll be loved and appreciated for the rest of her life?
If your answers are "yes" then you may be interested in what I'm calling Future Horsemanship.
Many of us set our schedules and build our task list for the day based on what other’s need done rather than what we need to do for ourselves. We never seem to have enough time to exercise, train our horses, ride as much as we’d like or need to, and develop horsemanship goals based on what we’d like to be able to do a year from now or five years from now.
With Future Horsemanship, we’ll set goals for exercising to build the strength and fitness we need to ride our horses for years to come. We’ll set goals to work with our horses to build their fitness and train them to be horses that would win friends wherever they go. We’ll set goals to develop our horsemanship to enable us to work with our horses for years into the future. All of these goals drive the habits we form today to achieve those horsemanship goals in years ahead.
Future Horsemanship will be one of the topics we’ll cover in Senior Horsemanship.
As I mentioned last week, I want 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.
As one of my Future Horsemanship goals, I 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 also document where these horses are in their training — what they know, what they can do, and what they have issues with doing. Those videos should be very helpful in finding my horses good new homes if they ever have to be moved from my care.
Thank you for listening!
Paul Sherland:
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 to create for myself, a life more suited to what I now want to be. This is a quote from the book, The Gift of Years, Growing Older Gracefully, by Joan Chittister. 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. Do you want to be able to ride for years into the future? Do you want your horse to be healthy for years into the future? Do you want to be able to care for your horse as you get older? If you can't ride for some reason, would you like to be able to remain involved with horses? If for some reason you can't care for your horse, do you want your horse to go to a good home, where she'll be loved and appreciated for the rest of her life? I'm making some assumptions here. I'm assuming that you're involved with horses because you love it. It may also be a business for you. But your love of horses is at the foundation of what you do. I'll also assume that you'd like to be involved with horses for years into the future. For as many years as possible. You'd like to be healthy enough and strong enough and mentally aware enough to continue working with horses. Finally, I assume that you'd like to do everything possible to ensure that your horse will be loved and cared for, if you can't be there to do it. As seniors, we know that things can happen, that will require our horses to move to new homes. I'm assuming that you want your horse to be loved and cared for in her new home, as she was with you. If you're still with me. Then you're interested in what I call, Future Horsemanship. There's a tendency for many of us to live for today and not pay too much attention to what may happen tomorrow. Many of us set our schedules and build our task list for the day based on what others need done rather than what we need to do for ourselves. We never seem to have enough time to exercise, train our horses, ride as much as we'd like or need to. And develop horsemanship goals based on what we'd like to be able to do a year from now or five years from now. With Future Horsemanship, we'll set goals for exercising to build the strength and fitness we need to ride our horses for years to come. We'll set goals to work with our horses, to build their fitness and train them to be horses that would win friends wherever they go. We'll set goals to develop our horsemanship, to enable us to work with our horses for years into the future. All of these goals, drive the habits we form today to achieve those horsemanship goals in years ahead. About two years ago, I developed a condition called piriformis, which is much like sciatica. It crippled me and lasted for months. For the first time in 30 plus years, I could not feed and care for my horses, and my wonderful wife pitched in for me for several weeks. That wasn't a horse caused injury, but it affected my ability to ride and care for my horses for months. I made some changes in my life, which have healed the piriformis. And I've returned to riding and caring for the horses. I've lost 40 pounds, and I've kept it off. I feel much more secure in the saddle. And I'm able to do a vault dismount again at the end of a ride. I'll be talking about what likely caused the piriformis and what you can do to avoid it. Future Horsemanship will be one of the topics that we'll cover in senior horsemanship. I hope that many of you will share your experiences on the podcast. So that the rest of us can learn from your successes and your mistakes. As I mentioned last week, I want 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 now to train them to be easier to handle, easier to ride, and easier to care for. As one of my Future Horsemanship goals, I plan 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'll also document where these horses are in their training; what they know, what they can do, and what they have issues with doing. The videos should be very helpful in finding my horses good new homes if they ever have to be moved from my care. I think most seniors involved in horsemanship are doing it because they love horses. If that's you, I hope you'll share your horse journey experiences 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.