During my younger years I never owned a horse or even dreamed of one.  My cowboy and Indian days consisted of BB Guns and Bicycles.  I was the girl in the neighborhood with green hair all summer from taking swimming lessons.   In my 20’s, I was a swimmer, lifeguard, scuba diver and gymnast.

During my 30’s I occupied my time as a competitive athlete running races and caring for my daughter.  It was not until my daughter was 10 that I got a pony for her and a horse for myself.  My first horse was a sickly 6-year-old paint.  We did not know how sickly she was until she got well and jumped out of her stall over the half-stall door - “wild thing”. 

I have never felt as old as other people seem to think I should.  I remember overhearing the riding instructor saying, “I don’t know if I can teach such an old person to ride”.  Old at 30?  Not Me!

My daughter and I started riding with no saddles and we did not have a trailer. When we finally got saddles, we rode on the side of the road six-plus miles to the local show.  Then we showed all day, and rode back home.

For the next 10 years, I was a Marion County 4-H Horse and Pony leader.  I pushed the kids to complete 4-H projects all summer.  They used their premium money awards for food and fun at the fair.  The kids always had fun and returned from the fair with trophies and goldfish.

Then the horse trailer years arrived and I provided transportation for more shows and trail rides.  It was not until my daughters last year of high school we moved to a house with a barn and pastures. 

You would think things would slow down when daughter went to college….Nooooo!

She was on the Equestrian team. I visited more than my share of arenas during those years.  She called me one February and asked me to get 3 horses ready for their next event.  I found 2 students that knew something about riding and got permission from their parents to come ride during the cold weather.  It was so icy in the pastures we could only walk at times.  (It seems a bit strange now, thinking back, that parents would let their kids train with an instructor crazy enough to train in the dead of winter).  The equestrian meet was at a place near Bloomington.  I know it now as Bar P Ranch.

My husband tolerated our horse habit but never developed a liking for horses.  We were divorced in 1999 and I retired in 2001. 

Over the past four years, I have joined and participated in 2 other senior citizens groups but their activities have been too docile for me.  I’m not ready for a wheelchair or a Rascal.   I am now 60 but I still do not feel nearly as old as some folks think I should.  In fact, I am ready to ride off into the sunset. Red Hat Sisters Don’t Get Blisters!  Who knows where that will take me in the next 20 years?  It’s time to renew my passport for more travel.