This message is from: Lois Berenyi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Well I'm 65 and haven't ridden in years but have greatly enjoyed my horses
all that time. I did get on my Fjord mare at age 62 and was shocked to find
that I had an incredibly hard time getting my leg over the cantle of the
dressage saddle. I was o.k. while walking and trotting but when it came
time to get off needed help from my husband in getting my leg back over the
saddle. Of all my fears related to returning to riding this was one I had
not considered. Apparently between age 50 and 62 my lower back and hip
joints had seized up. Now my fear is that I will not be able to get off (of
my own choice) if I had to.
If anyone knows of exercises specifically to help this inflexibility I'd
like to know of them. I have not encountered this "disability" in any other
activity of normal life.
Meanwhile I'm considering, again, getting out of horses. I have no idea why
it is important to so many people that I actually ride my horse. The people
at the boarding stable ask "when are you going to ride?" My husband asks
the same question. The truth is that I have never particularly enjoyed
riding even when I took it up at age 29 because I was dotty about horses
since a kid. I realized that the perspective of looking at a horse through
its ears was not as pleasurable from an aesthetic point of view as that of
watching it on the ground. I did some driving but found the view of the
rear end even less enchanting than the ears.
My defense against all the people who want me to risk life and limb.....and
put my extra 50# on a mare who can't talk and give me her opinion...is that
I love the horses, always have, the same as my dogs. I don't ride the dogs
and no one expects me to. On a cost basis our 140 lb. Shepherd and 25 lb.
beagle cost more to feed than the Fjord but no one ever mentions getting
their money's worth of out their dogs. My pleasure really comes from giving
an animal a good life with all the interaction to create friendly, sane
animals with good personalities who respond to me as their boss but also as
their protector and so far I have that relationship with all three critters.
Maybe I'll get on again just to give it one last shot or maybe we will just
keep playing at our ground work. I did have some riders exercising the mare
to keep her fit but could not stand the spur-spade bit philosophy they had
about riding so have discontinued that regime. I have finally, I think,
figured out the Fjord mystique, but was having trouble explaining it to the
QH people. To get along with a Fjord you have to think like one and act
like one which is basically being as passively stubborn about requests as
they are about ignoring them. But that's what's fun about horses. They are
all different and they all, at times, make a person think about new
approaches to common equine problems.
I still think the Fjord is the perfect horse for the mature adult. I think
we need the wisdom of our years to understand them and in so doing,
appreciate them for the unique creatures they are.
Lois Berenyi in Shallotte, North Carolina, temps near 50, sunny, great day
for riding should someone be so inclined.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carol J Makosky" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <fjordhorse@angus.mystery.com>
Sent: Monday, January 31, 2005 3:37 AM
Subject: Re: Laurie and Oz
This message is from: "Carol J. Makosky" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Jean Ernest wrote:
This message is from: Jean Ernest <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Hey!
I got my first horse , Fjord of course, at age 49..17 years later I am
still riding! Granted I haven't ridden since October...too cold,
I think I WAS a lot braver or maybe DUMBER when I first got my fjords..
Meanwhile I am whiling away the cold winter days waiting for the temps to
get at least +10F it has been a cold January, with more below zero temps
predicted this week, maybe as low as -30F.
Jean in Fairbanks, Alaska
I am 51 and in someways feel like my riding time may be running out, yet
I feel if I am careful and take it slowly, I will still get to ride when
I am much older. Finne is only 6 and a half so he may be my last horse
and I want to do it right with him, no matter how long it takes.
I want to go to Blue Earth and show this
Hi,
And I thought I was one of the few to start back riding when so old. I
was 55. And Jean. I am happy it is cold by you cause we are somewhat
warm now. So you keep the cold, but we could use some of that snow. Have
a good week and I will see you at BE in July Laurie. Jean can send down
some cold for us then.
--
Built Fjord Tough
Carol M.
On Golden Pond
N. Wisconsin
