I’ve also become increasingly aware of how challenging it is to age. Our bodies change, grief finds us more frequently, we listen as our doctor tells us about invasive health screenings we must endure. Health insurance goes up and energy goes down.

But along with all of that, I also notice the frost on a horse’s whiskers in the winter. How on a chilly morning, the wind catches the mist of their breath. How standing beside them allows me to calm down and experience a grounded sense of peace. The rhythmic sound of horses chewing. Watching them gather hay into their mouths. Feeling their warm huffing breath on my hands or face is the best self-care of all.

For me, horses are sacred. In their veins, whether pureblood or born of unknown dam and sire, the horse carries memories of battles and races, kindness and cruelty, nobility and work.

This is a quote from the book, Getting Along with Horses: An Evolution in Understanding, by Crissi McDonald.

Perhaps you’ve also evolved in understanding your horse. Hopefully your experiences over the years, in working with horses and in doing other things, have changed and improved your horsemanship.

My hope is that many of you will share those experiences on the podcast so that  the rest of us can learn from your successes and your mistakes. Some folks on social media are more than willing to share advice based on little or no experience. My goal with the senior horsemanship podcast is to foster the sharing of experiences that might be helpful to other folks and their horses.

You should know your horse better than anyone else. You’re in a better position than anyone to apply or discard the possible lessons learned from these experiences.

One of my goals is to better prepare for the possibility that I might have to give up my horses or that one or more of them might outlive me. I have three horses and they’re all different. But their prospects for a good life following me could be improved if I take the time to train them to be easier to handle, easier to ride and easier to care for.

My plan is to do a series of videos demonstrating my training progress and problems with these horses. The videos will help me share my experiences with you, and they’re also document where these horses are in their training. What they know, what they can do and what they have issues with doing.

I hope that you’ll share your horse journey with me and with other listeners to the podcast. I appreciate your interest in the podcast. And I hope to continue to provide information that interests you in the days ahead.