Really "mature" riders?

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Gruntfuttock

Evil Enabler
Apr 5, 2007
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Leighton Buzzard / Milton Keynes
And i apologise in advance for all those i have thoroughly offended with that title - please don't boycott my thread as a result !:D:D

My mum has been making all sorts of noises about getting back to riding. She used to hack a lot as a teenager, but stopped once we came along, and in the last 35-odd years, has only ridden a couple of times. I think the last time was about 18 years ago, when she hacked out with me once. She's been to my RS a few times with me and the Sprog, and i think the sight of her grand-daughter learning to ride has done something funny to her ancient brain :p

She wants to come back. I think this is laudable and have been encouraging her all I can - but am I being unrealistic and raising her hopes unfairly? She's 62, reasonably fit and healthy, and as I say, she used to ride a lot years ago, but would probably be more of a beginner now (or maybe not...). Is it unfeasible to get back on a horse at the age of 62, after nearly 20 years out, and expect everything to go well?

I'm a bit worried about her falling off, as well. I don't bounce as well as i did, and i am 28 years younger than her ! What if she comes off and breaks her hip or something?
 
Course she can do it ! I have a friend who is nearing the upper end of her 60s ... and she's a genuine new rider and doing great - cantering about on hacks and figuring it all out - learning to uunderstand the horse ! Of course you need a really good RS with the right sort of horses, but if you have that ... and she wants to ... what could be better than 3 generations of Gruntfuttocks gallolloping across the hills together ? (eventually, I mean).
 
well I dont think its unrealistic? her confidence may not be what it was? but what the heck,
OK I am somewhat younger, but if the horse is quiet and not liable to dump her then why not?
I think we end up getting as protective over our parents as we are over our kids :D
Gruntfuttock said:
What if she comes off and breaks her hip or something?
Click to expand...
could do the same thing tripping over a kerb?
 
Gallolloping? You've been spying on me ride, haven't you?! i am proud to say that i do indeed gallollop.

I think the "three generations riding" thing is the truth. Apparently my daughter (aged 4) thinks it would be absolutely fabulous to go out riding with Grandma. I may have to put my plan to buy a dressage horse on hold and buy something that will lead other horses nicely !

Edited to add: Bev, her confidence is sky-high (its hereditary among the horsy women in our family - we can't ride but aren't worried about it ! ). Very good point about the kerb.
 
I would she can do it for sure!! My mum came back riding with me 2.5 years ago after a huge break an she is 63 this year, take her out hacking with me shes a little more nervous than she was an I think I worry more than she does.............. jeez were they right when they said one day you will turn into your mum!!!
 
Go for it. I work with a woman who rode as a teenager but hadn't since. At the grand old age of 60 she heard me talking about riding and asked to come with me. Since she has been coming on the occasional hack and had a few lessons. We even went away for a weekend galloping on the beach. She loves it and while RI's do try to correct her old-style hunter way of riding, she doesn't care and in many ways is a much better rider than I am - mainly because she has no fear!
 
I have seen folks in their 80's riding Icelandics.
Yes.. see no reason why she could not.
What will make all the difference in the world is getting a steady been there done that horse.. helmet and a protective Vest. All will go a long way to keeping her safe.;)
 
Well I'm "really mature" being 60. I'm a complete beginner - just been learning for a few months and never having ridden before in my life. I'm luckily quite fit (I work out regularly in the gym) which has helped or I probably couldn't have even got on the horse in the first place! The RS don't make any particular concessions to my age - but then I've never asked them to either.

Gruntfuttock - tell your Mum to go for it! It's the best thing I've ever done and has filled my life with happiness :D
 
At 62 with any luck she has plenty of time to enjoy riding.
Forget the conditions. If frail, disabled kids can get pleasure from riding a horse there is no reason at all why elderly people should not benefit as well. My OH just started aged 67 and he'd never been on a horse in his life.
yes, he did look a bit silly the first couple of times. I didnt like to watch in case anything happened. So I can understand your feeling doubtful about your Mum.
But at her age it is she who should choose her pleasures and accept the risks?
Riding styles are safer these days than when she was young and we benefit from better hats and body protectors.
Neither OH nor I are overweight, but we are neither of us athletic. We are clever. You need your brain to ride well. But the physical effort comes from the horse.
 
really mature riders

a gentleman used to keep a horse at my livery yard who only started learning to ride in his early 70s and bought his first horse at 75ish - i hope yr mum has los of fun:)
 
If shes reasonably physically fit - why not? I started again after a twenty year gap in my 50s which isnt much younger, and my daughters have both encouraged me.
I echo the suggestions of getting a suitable horse. Now is not the time I would consider trying anything too exciting and opinionated. :)
 
Why ever not? It's much easier for people who rode when they were younger than for people who start in the their 50s or 60s, and plenty of those do really well. I think the age when your hips get fragile is around 80+ for most people, so she has a good few years ahead of her ...

I hate to say this (it always feels like tempting fate) but I'm probably older than most people on here, and I've had a couple of falls (in the sand school, admittedly) and if I don't bounce I can still flop quite painlessly ... I've had bouts of lost nerve, but I'm getting braver as I get fitter.

The RI unkindly calls the group I ride with "the gerries" ... (most of them are about twenty years younger than me). Still, at least it's honest, and he doesn't make any concessions to age in the lessons.


Linda
 
No problem. A 20 year gap is nothing. I took riding back up at 40, which was about a 20 year gap, and was fine.:)

I plan on riding when I'm sixty. :) I do think a lot depends on the horse. I wouldn't put her straight on a thoroughbred straight off the track, as an extreme example. Start with something pretty quiet and easy, and I'd suggest not too big, but no probs otherwise.
 
Let's be realistic.
Some people and I think it is particularly women do have fragile bones, and when still quite young.
Unless you go and have a bone scan you don't really know the affects of a fall until you fall.
Falling is to be avoided since a fall can be fatal. But it is fatal only in a small percentage of cases. So you need to take the precautions you can, but then forget it. You wont ride well if you ride worrying about falling off.

If you want to understand the physics of falling an American rider, and member of this Board, Galadriel (sorry my memory has aged worse than my bones) has a good article on her website. The faster you are going and the harder the ground, the harder your fall. My only bad fall ever was from canter onto tarmac last October. Otherwise my inevitable falls have not been significant.

Far more significant are my aging spine and hips. Anyone who rides late in life has to do so with an imperfect body. One needs to choose carefully a horse/saddle that is not too wide.
It is worth considering buying tack and shoes which mnimise the stress on your joints.
You may have to adapt your riding style - e.g. avoid riding long distances in sitting canter and learn forward seat instead.
You may need to ride little and often - avoiding long rides on consecutive days. I dont consider myself fit to go on a riding holiday that involves 6 hours in the saddle every day for a week.
But each of us as we grow older learns how to pace ourselves.
It is not something anyone else can do for us.

People over 60 climb mountains and sail round the world. It is only in the equestrian world that people who want to learn to ride in retirement (when they have stopped doing other things) are looked on as wierd.
There is no provision for teaching us.
No plan.
Nothing to compare with riding for the disabled.
We are dependent on individual RIs like my own teacher and eml who have built up experience helping elderly students to ride.

That is why NR (the mature section) has from time to time in the past proved an invaluable means of exchanging information. To help most of us over 60s discover that though we dont fit the BHS patten, nor react to horses like teenagers do, we older people are none the less ideal canidates for learning to ride and the difficulties we need to sort out often prove to be trivial.

That is our problem really. Older people are not considered to be important enough in the riding school structure to make teaching them really worth while. We dont win competitions and bring credit on the place. We often have active enquiring minds and are less likely to accept the BHS rules or the status quo.
So there is no incentive for the BHS to train its new teachers to help the few elderly aspiring students who turn up at a yard. The most that most schools do for people over 50 is to provide a hack once a week for the older riders - and that is people who already know how to ride.

Because schools are not familiar with the capabilities of older beginners, they have no objectives or serious means of assessing safety. It is possible for older people to pay their money for years just pottering about and supposedly keeping safe - which is all that interests a school.
Over the years, an older person is likely to pay more for their lessons and learn less than the average younger student. They are likely to be kept out of or unaware of less expensive group lessons and rides simply because they dont fit the profile of the class. Or as Linda says, put into a group determined by age rather than competence. And we are likely to accept the discrimination, simply because we want to maintain good relations with the yard where we ride.

It would be a good thing for your mother to ask to re-start and begin with lunge lessons to ensure she is secure in the saddle. To underplay her existing experience.
But after a year or two (and depending how she gets on) you should encourage her to present herself and her riding in a positive light and to become assertive. To press for the particular skills she wants to learn and the horses she wants to ride. No one else will speak up for her.
 
My daughter started worrying about me when she was in her early teens and I in my forties ..along the lines of I don't think you ought to be riding that young horse, I will! Although it amused and annoyed me a bit at the time I am now grateful for her 'just let me warm up and check it out' approach!

There is virtually nothing to stop anyone riding to the level of their ability at any age. My clients include many returners to riding, many in their sixties and even after hip or knee replacement.

As far as RS are concerned private lessons are often preferable as it is inportant for the Insructor to tailor the lesson more carefully as most of us do tire more easily when 'getting on'!! It is a good opportunity however for schools to use often vacant times when other customers are not available perhaps at a discount rate.
 
Thank you all for the advice. I think she is really looking forward to getting back in the saddle, and i don't feel quite as apprehensive as I did before. I think she will almost certainly be hving private lessons - she is a bit like me when it comes to learning in groups !
 
Gruntfuttock

Your mum should go for It!

There is some wonderful and inspirational advice on here:)

I'm 50 and have just returned from a ranch in Wyoming were I rode for 4-6 hours a day after having lessons over here since last september. I'm not saying that I didn't feel a little stiff at the end of the day though.

The ranch owner was 75 and still riding every day, herding cattle as needed and taking pack trips up in the mountains and camping out.

I'm just about to visit another stables today as the one I'm at is not entirely suitable and I think you have to choose more carefully when you are older.
 
I think your mum should go for it. If she's exercised regularly through her life, then she shouldn't find riding too uncomfortable as her legs should be stronger.
 
Skib said:
Let's be realistic.


Over the years, an older person is likely to pay more for their lessons and learn less than the average younger student. They are likely to be kept out of or unaware of less expensive group lessons and rides simply because they dont fit the profile of the class. Or as Linda says, put into a group determined by age rather than competence. And we are likely to accept the discrimination, simply because we want to maintain good relations with the yard where we ride.
Click to expand...

No, sorry, I explained that badly. At this RS groups are decided purely on the basis of convenience (a combination of riders' convenience and the school's) so one isn't always in the same group. And the groups aren't sorted by ability either; sometimes the stable helpers will join in, and they may be very competent riders or they may be novices doing work experience. I've been in lessons with people of all ages and all standards (although generally children and adults aren't mixed); the activities are geared to individuals and individual horses: a beginner who is just learning rising trot will do trotting poles, while some people will do a course of three or four little jumps, and others will jump much higher. The same with flatwork. I might be working on my position at sitting trot, while one of the yard helpers will be schooling an event horse. But I've never known more than about six people in a lesson, often there are fewer, so it works well.

And I've never been treated any differently from the others, whether or not I was the oldest person in the group. If I stop for breath when we're all doing sitting trot, I get "What have you stopped for?" And now I'm a bit fitter, I can keep going longer while other, younger people get out of breath.

It's true, I've never been an adult beginner, so maybe it's different if you are. But if someone asked to join a group lesson would anyone really say "Sorry, you can't join that lesson, you're too old?"

I've ridden at other schools as well, but I've never come across anything that could be called discrimination, because of my age, my weight or anything else. But no-one's offered me a discount rate either.
 
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