I turned the big 60 in January of 2018. It is a birthday that I was actually looking forward to. For some reason I have always regarded 60 as the turning point from middle age to old age. Not that I now think I am old, in many ways I feel better than I have in years, but because I can now give myself permission to look back at my life with a view to being proud of all that I have accomplished. There is still plenty to come but a significant portion of my life has passed. It’s time to slow down a touch to enjoy nature from the back of my lovely Asia and cuddle my adorable grandbabies.
I have been struggling a bit with the whole notion of where I should be with Asia. I am a professional after all and I am now entering my 4th year (yes 4th!!) with her. We have done a lot but I have to fight an inner voice that keeps telling me that we should be better, fitter, further along in dressage, more competitive, etc, etc. I have to constantly remind myself that we were both totally out of shape physically. Neither of us had done any sustained, consistent and healthy exercise for many years.
Me, not since my Golden Hill years ending in 2004 and even then it was all exercise done under pressure, bringing horses in and out, riding horses that weren’t behaving and needed a quick fix, mucking stalls because someone didn’t show up. Yes, all exercise, but not necessarily healthy exercise, not mindful, not paying attention to my body but instead ignoring it. Not listening when it was tired, not paying enough attention when it was injured, pushing pushing pushing. The kind of exercise that can cause more harm than good.
Asia, I’m not sure that she was ever properly fit. Nothing that I have found out about her history leads me to believe that she was ever in a consistent riding program. She was started a few times and probably asked in those times to do more than she was really quite ready for which made her very resistant to the idea of exercise.
So it has taken us a LONG time to get fit and of course we still have further to go. When I remind myself to think like this I realize that we have in fact come a really long way and I am proud of us both.
I have lots of adventures planned for us this summer including lots of trail riding and we will dip our toe into the Rated Western Dressage competition world. My students are blazing the trail ahead of us, I figure it’s time to see if this 60 year old body can step up.
