The Elder Equestrian

From The Elderquestrian Guide
For all Elderquestrians:
Use a mounting block. It is easier on the horse’s back. And if you can, mount from the right side as often as the left. It helps you and the horse (but if you’re like me, having ridden for almost 50 years, mostly mounting from the left even though I knew better, right side mounting is as challenging as learning this computer was!).
If it is difficult for you to mount, or assistance is not available – you can teach your horse to “park out” or stretch his front and hind legs apart (as Saddle Seat horses
do) to make mounting easier. I even have a student whose horse was trained to lie down for her to mount and dismount after her knees were replaced surgically.
Dismount with both feet out of the stirrups – no one should drop down with one foot still in a stirrup (and, OH YES, you should dismount from both sides equally if you can). If the weather is cold, slide down easily after a ride. Your feet will be grateful. Always bend your knees as you land.
SAFETY ALERT – be sure your horse knows how to be mounted and to have you dismount from both sides!
Remember that horses only know what they are used to, have experienced or have been taught. If you surprise him (even a sweet 30 year old gelding) with something he has never known before, without some introductions, he may freak out.
DO NOT YELL AT OR CHASE HIM if a horse DOES freak out. Speak and move calmly. Keep yourself in line with his shoulder, even at a distance. This makes you less threatening and most visible as well as in the safest position for you. If a horse becomes caught in something (the fence, a rope, the clothesline, etc.), you must use caution in any attempt to extricate him. Keep your body on whichever side he is likely to jump away from and if you have several people working on his behalf, try to keep everyone on the same side so he doesn’t have to decide who to run over when he is released. Now, he most likely will just stand there gratefully waiting for you to disconnect all the wire or rope or whatever, BUT, if he does get scared, it can escalate. Horses cannot stand to be trapped. In the wild, it means death.
Whenever you do introduce something new to a horse, do it in stages. If he has never been hosed off with the water hose, just do his forelegs the first few days, gradually moving up and on to his whole body. If you are introducing something, don’t tie him. Have a helper hold him or put the lead rope through the fence (sturdy post) and hold it in your hand without tying. Help him understand.
This is where Elderquestrians have a real advantage. We have learned that THINGS TAKE TIME. Impatience makes you go backwards and you have to start
over. Most of us have learned to take and teach things in stages.

Map Your Journey

Map the Journey

In your heart and in your mind you hold images of all the circumstances, places, objects, animals and people that you hope for in your life. The more you can envision them, the more you will resonate with them. As you become focused and can believe in the reality of your vision, it will unfold before you. You have to get the other stuff out of the way - The distractions and disappointments and the belief in lack and limitation. If you concentrate on these unwanted aspects, you map the journey to them. Surround yourself with images that remind you of your hopes and passions. Meditate on them by creating "vision boards" (cut pictures from magazines of scenes and things that you want to manifest in your life and glue them on a poster board to look at every day), notebooks full of affirmations (and journal to get in touch with your life) and watching videos of the things you love.

See yourself in desired situations no matter what you are experiencing right now. Find time throughout each day and each night to close your eyes and concentrate upon one sensation of your passion - the smells of that horse farm, new car, new house, ocean visit, etc.; the sounds of children, puppies, concerts, you singing and so on. As you connect with the sensations of your dream, your mind believes that the dream is real and, when your mind believes in it, the dream becomes real.

Enjoy every step along the path. So often, we tend to look down the road for its end and miss all the splendor that surrounds us. Staying focused on your passion does not mean that you negate all else. You just become selective and choose your experiences to move you along with the flow. It is sad to waste a day trying to get on to the "next thing"...what next thing? Isn't this moment enough?

Align Yourself

Those of us who spend time with horses know that they bring out the best in us! Horses work in many types of therapy programs for this very reason. If you want to become physically stronger, take care of a horse (or 2, or 3...). The daily moving of hay bales, mucking (cleaning) stalls and pastures, unrolling and rerolling water hoses, grooming, riding, repairing fences, etc. will burn lots of calories and build muscle. An old friend (an herbalist in Las Cruces who now works with Dr. Weil) once advised me to "park the car as far away from the store as you can and walk to the entrance". It's good advice.

If you spend time with horses, you walk a lot! When others advise you to "make it easier on yourself" and "use the tractor" for something you can easily do yourself - thank them for their concern, but do tell them that The Path of Equus brings opportunity to move more and be more...truly healthy.

Do you ride? One way to expand your equestrian path is to "ALIGN YOURSELF" with mounted exercises that help to train your body to be in balance with your horse's body and have relationship with gravity and movement.

Do the exercises first at a stand still, then at a walk, then trot and finally at a canter (if you ride a laterally gaited horse - substitute your intermediate lateral gait for trot!). Use a round pen or have someone longe you on your horse, or do the movements while riding up an arroyo or through a meadow.

Arms out from the shoulders (like an airplane) will show your shoulders where to be - open and relaxed. Reaching straight up with your arms shows your spine how to stretch and center. Lifting your thigh (one side at a time) away from the saddle/horse will show your hips how to align and holding your ankle with the hand (on the same side), knee bent will show your knee and thigh how to stay back under your body.

Therapies

Caring about horses and people comes easily to me. For 2 and a half years my horses and I worked for an Equine Assisted Therapy program and we all lived on site. I moved my 4 horses there and my friend, Dave built the now "famous" roof with diagonal walls to cover 4 horses with corral panel pens attached. It was quick to do; then we made a round pen for sessions and "turn out"... it was very small.
Another friend loaned me his camping trailer to live in and my horses and I set up to keep the program going while the owners had a shed barn built beside the temporary pens. I had no television (only PBS now - not a fan of regular TV); the trailer was too small for my dogs to live with me (they lived at my Mom's those first few months); I had to get the propane bottles filled in town; hauled my own "black water" across the (large) property to the septic tank to dump it (at least once a week - but it's amazing how conservative you get!) using a special blue container made for the purpose that hooked onto my Jeep! and, I kept feed and tack in my one horse trailer - hay on pallets under a tarp.
My "Dharma horses" were amazing - Gita was the Arab gelding that had been orphaned at birth. Darjeeling was his young cousin. Dorje was an Anglo Arab of maturity who was rock solid emotionally and Sandalwood was a foundered TWH mare that had belonged to a friend and I was working to help and heal her. We all worked in the program with youth "at risk", women's programs, foster care systems, etc. The horses touched my soul daily with how perceptive and appropriate they were in situations from one end of the spectrum to the other!
I thought of it all as a great experience for a Buddhist. I would meditate every night, was super aware of my own impact on the Earth, found simple solutions to problems and helped others constantly every day (and often into the nights!). Even though the horses and I "burned out" eventually; we were strong and proud of what we were doing.
Sandy finally needed to be released (euthanized) and I stood beside her proudly honoring the great mare as she passed. Dalai came to us, another TWH mare! And she stood stock still one night, in the dark with portable flood lights, in the cold while a dozen women took turns mounting her to walk a circle with me leading her... giving a new experience and courage/accomplishment to some precious humans. Horses are amazing!

I lived in the tiny travel trailer while working for the therapy program and all seemed secure. I slept over the "5th wheel" part that was a funky bed with no head room! Things had gone okay... I did actually break 3 ribs when Darjeeling was spooked in the slant load trailer and the partition hit me (just as we loaded to move!), so I was healing from that & still working when the first rain came one night. I was half asleep, listening to the patter of drops directly overhead, smelling that wonderful suppressed dust smell from the first rains when I realized I was wet. Sh*t. The trailer leaked! And - right over the bed.

The next morning my brother bought a huge tarp and tied it properly over the trailer. I took bedding to the laundromat and used my blow dryer to dry the foam mattresses. There were still clients to see, horses to feed, pens to muck, etc., so I stayed really busy!

Showers were interesting - the shower/toilet/sink were all one in the "bathroom" and the shower water line was a tube from the sink. Friends had gotten the water heater working a few days after I moved in... the water pump pulsed, so my showers were quite rhythmic! And, the hot water and cold kinda alternated... I would gasp when it went to cold and sort of scream softly when it went to hot.

I felt like what I was doing was important. A friend said that she would never put up with such a life. I sometimes felt really lonely and sometimes felt like I was loved and appreciated deeply. Each day was unique. I took total care and financial responsibility for my horses and myself. I fell asleep exhausted most nights, woke up hopeful most mornings. I LIVED with my horses. I knew how they felt and what they faced and we could all always see each other across the yard and they KNEW that I lived the same life they did. We all loved and understood each other.

The wild horse, "Dawn"

So, back in Tucumcari (New Mexico) in the '70's, I had the three wild 3 year old horses that had never seen a human being until being herded into a stock trailer and delivered into the aisle of my barn! Leon, Billy and I worked with them slowly and with clear, consistent methods that we developed as we went along.
Dawn was a very timid mare, lovely and curious but quick to react and to flee. We were blessed with a huge aisle in the barn (I could ride in it - the ride-able ones among the other 15 horses we had at that time) and there was a translucent garage type door at each end. Leon was preparing to work with Dawn one morning, teaching her to lead. He would start with her in the 14 x 14 stall and patiently take her into the aisle, then back to the security of her stall, a little farther out into the aisle, then back... he'd been working with her like this for around 10 days.
This particular day I reminded him to wear a helmet (we called them hard hats back then!). I was in a stall, mucking while it's occupant was turned out and I saw Leon taking Dawn pretty far down the aisle with all going quite well. Our barn was situated so that vehicles coming down Highway 19 from the south would look right at the end of the building. In a flash, something triggered the filly and she bolted - Leon had her head pulled toward his body trying to stop her and she was zooming toward the closed door at the end of the aisle. Her "binocular" vision was non-functioning, her peripheral vision couldn't see what was ahead of them and the two of them exploded out through the door, pieces flying in all directions! Leon still had hold of her! She was momentarily stunned and he was able to turn her and lead her back to the barn quickly. AND, neither of them were harmed! The door was totaled - but I figured, if it had been sturdier, they might have even been killed.
Later, I wondered; if anyone was driving casually down the highway, around the turn to face the barn, watching the scenery, just as the door exploded into a thousand pieces and a horse dragging a man burst forth from the opening - what must they have thought!