06/14/2024
We Are Not The Same- Young vs Older Riders
By Gaye Derusso
Gaited Horse Trainer
"I would say an older rider is age 40 and up. As you age, things change drastically in your body but also in your riding ability. Everyone ages at different rates and as we know, age is just a number. What happens to some at 50 happens to others at 70. So, you should always keep an open mind if you want to keep riding and not judge other older riders, because they may have more issues than you do.
I get so annoyed when I hear young people telling old people they need to ride in a snaffle, or they need to ride without their stirrups, or they need to get on from the ground. They need to take hold of that horse and show him whose in charge. But age does make a difference in what you can do and how you can handle different situations with your horse.
As you get older, we need safer horses. Why? Because our balance and reaction time, is not the same. That’s just part of getting older and although we try to exercise and do many things to keep our balance, and strength, it just happens as we age. And until it happens to you, you may keep denying it and making fun of other older riders but that is a poor way to handle it. The day it happens to you, you will understand the older rider you were making fun of.
Many older people get something called vertigo. It makes them dizzy and can just happen at any time, so imagine riding your horse and it starts to act up, but you have vertigo so as it starts acting up, your world is spinning so you just can't get your balance and fall off. Then some young person says you need to work on your balance so that doesn't happen. Ok thanks for that advice, do you have vertigo? No? Then I guess you don't understand what I’m dealing with.
Your riding and your back begins to hurt and then your horse starts bucking, as it does, you are in so much pain you just let go and go flying to the ground because the other option was to try and hold on in severe pain, yup not happening. So, you let go and fall and now you’re in a lot of pain, but you just couldn't hold on because of your back pain. The trainer tells you to do a one rein stop next time or ride the buck out and you think well I can’t because I have a bad back. But you don't want to tell them because your embarrassed that you have a physical issue.
Next you get off for lunch and now you can't get back on because your knee just won't work, yup, when you try to get on it gives out. So, you take your horse to a log to get on and it moves, you try to jump thinking I can do it, but you can’t, and you hit the ground. Yup, your balance and strength are not the same and what you thought you could do, you can no longer do.
We are classic at thinking we can still do things that we can’t, and we get ourselves into so much trouble thinking so. We also take a lot of abuse from younger more athletic riders because we are not all the same. We do not all have the same balance or strength we use to, and it happens at all different ages and that’s a problem. If you have a 20-year-old trainer helping you and your 70 guess what they don't understand. If you have a 60-year-old trainer helping you and your 70, they get it because they are also there and have their own issues.
Horses need to be safer, less spinners, buckers and rearing horses. Although we don't want a dud, if we want to keep riding, we may need a dud. One we have to push, one that will stand there when the world explodes or one that just waits for us to get on as we kick it and fall onto its neck because our balance has gone to crap.
We try to stay in shape but sometimes, time is against us, and we have to accept this is the best we can do, and we need to pick the best horse to help keep us safe. He may be slower and not as exciting, but this is what we need if we want to keep riding.
Animals do this better than us, they understand when they are older and cannot do as much, they run less and lay around more. But people no, we are 70 but our brain still thinks we are 20 and then things don't work out so well because we get ourselves into trouble.
Just know that as you age you may need a more expensive horse, something better trained, with more whoa then go. Something more tolerant, more surefooted, more in tune with our lack of skills and balance. If you accept what we are, you are maybe able to ride 30 more years but if you fight it, you might get another 5 years and more broken bones.
And remember when we are young bones heal in 4-6 weeks, when your old your lucky if you heal in 8-12 weeks and sometimes it never heals back together. When you fall things hurt longer and sometimes the pain never ever goes away again, it just stays, a new old pain.
When you get off and your foot gets caught just one extra second you might fall back and hurt your back or knee, not the horse’s fault just us and poor balance. It’s not your fault, its life and we can try and help it, but we cannot stop aging.
So, if you want to keep riding, you need to really take a good look at what you are at this point in time and what you can handle and how many aliments you have to deal with. If you have poor balance, your weak, you have vertigo, you have a bad back, neck or knees or hips or feet, you have to take all of that into consideration on what your riding or buying.
I of course would like to ride forever, but we all know we can only ride so long. So, take that all in mind. Tell your instructor you cannot see so well or hear so well or if you make one more circle you may throw up from the vertigo and the more your honest with yourself and with those you are riding with, the safer and more successful you will be.
We may not be able to ride it out anymore, but we can prepare our horse better so there is less risk. We can teach our horse to sidle up so it’s easier to get on when on the trail. We can teach it to park out to make it shorter to get on. We can wear a helmet and an air vest to protect us if we do fall. If your older, you know that living with pain is just the new normal. But we can try to not create more pain to live with. Accept that you are not 20 anymore, take less risk, buy better horses and you just may continue to ride till your 90 if you’re lucky."
