Am I the only one who has lost my nerve?

[Marty]

I have a great sense of self preservation and I won't go out of my way to mount a full blown idiot who is going to want to kill me, I know I haven't lost my seat, just ask my golf cart LOL.. I may have enlargened my seat however ten fold LOL but I am confident I can still handle a horse just fine on a day when I'm not kind of crippled up. Goofy is ok. Full blown coo-coo, not ok.

 

[targetsmom]

No, you are not alone. My riding horse Target died last fall and I had not ridden him for at least a year before he died. I am now 66 and given the choice, I will drive a mini. I knew that he would be my last riding horse because the thought of starting over with an unknown equine was and is pretty scary. To me, this is just another HUGE plus for minis and why I feel they are the perfect horse for Baby Boomers. If driving a mini can give me the same pleasure as riding a horse, why not stick with the mini?

 

[MountainWoman]

I posted before but I'll just add if you love to ride, it doesn't matter you're age. I'm a baby boomer and I'll never give up riding although I thought long and hard about it after a serious accident (which is what led me to minis). I do board my riding horse though and we have a woman at our barn who just completed her centennial dressage performance where the age of the horse and rider have to add up to 100. She's in her 70s and she's still an amazing rider. I did have to find a shorter horse (14 hands fjord) and a saner horse but they are out there. I can't tell you the joy I have from my minis. Incredible to be with them and spend time with them and work with them but there's something about actually riding a horse and being a part of that kind of partnership that means the world to me. I guess you can call me crazy but I hope to keep riding forever.

Can't say enough wonderful things about minis though. They are amazing and so versatile and I hope more and more people realize they are way more than pasture ornaments.

 

[CZP1]

No haven't lost your nerve. I haven't ridden in about 5 years. I sold my racking appy about then and since then have had a spinal fusion, have osteoarthritis and now found out I have RA too in addition to all my back problems. I did get on a steddy eddie horse of a friend a couple months ago. It was so much fun. I walked and trotted, when I got off I was in tears from joy!! I thought I lost the passion but it is still there.

But after all the excitement settled, I have convinced myself that I prefer driving and miniatures over riding/owning a big horse for reasons of: getting on the horse, falling off the horse (though my seat is good), cost of purchasing and up keep of a big horse, sold all of the big horse tack and have to start over with the cost there.