What is "Retirement?"

The Lady and I have been having this discussion for the past nine years. This year she will be 28 years old. For the past five years that I have known about it, she has been dealing with thyroid disease, but otherwise she is in excellent health.

When we moved to Galena, I was so busy with my job, that The Lady became convinced that, while she may not have been technically retired, she had at least graduated to “pasture ornament” – and she was loving it. She was living out in the open 24/7 (with good shelter readily available) with five buddies, ridden maybe three times a month and well fed. This was GOOD life! In her opinion, this was what she had been working towards all those years as a saddle horse.

After a few months of pasture ornament status, The Lady decided that she was finished with “come on in, Mare,” as well as being a saddle horse, and that made me wake up. Life was much easier for her without me, but a life without riding was not a life that I was ready to face. I simply did not see any reason to give up horseback riding at that time. Certainly our regular riding was sporadic, but I did not see it as “over” as my mare had presumed.

Because of my realization that I was losing my mare, I initiated some very intense sessions soon to prove to The Lady that it was simpler to respond to “come on in” than it was to ignore me. I still find it interesting that ALL of her pasture buddies very quickly learned that when I walked into the field, they should gather near the gate and stay there – no matter what The Lady said to them as she galloped away.

Those training sessions were actually an interesting study in psychology, both horse and human. The Lady knew that she wanted to stay with her buddies, not me. Her buddies knew that I had little or no interest in them, as long as they stayed in a tight pack by the gate. I knew that I wanted my mare to leave her three acre pasture and her friends and come with me – and be a saddle horse for a brief while. At the end of our first session, I lead a calm mare out of the field and we shared a short ride. I went home exhausted. She went back to her buddies and pasture. The next catching lesson was much shorter and we were both much more satisfied with the ultimate results.

Since those times, The Lady comes willing to my call – but at a walk. Perfect? Absolutely not. Something I can accept? Absolutely! Our rides, while still relatively irregular in timing and sporadic in distance, are pleasant for both of us – at least most of the time. We still have our differences over monsters (not THAT many in my opinion) and speed (often too slow in her opinion), but on the whole very satisfactory for both of us.

As the years have passed, The Lady and I are on the trails more and more. Neither one of us is ready to even begin conditioning for the type of endurance races we used to enjoy, but we are enjoying the local trails during the changing seasons. It has been good for both of us. We seem to be happy with our relationship.

Last year I was reminded of how much fun playing games with your horse can be when the big ball became part of our times together. We have made all the preliminary goals I had set for us – without argument, flightiness, or stubbornness from The Lady. She continues to only “come on in” at a walk, but she does so willingly. That’s just fine with me.

This past summer, in spite of good veterinary care and medication, The Lady’s thyroid problems increased. What it amounts to is that her thermostat does not work. If she gets hot on a summer day, being ridden or not, she has a difficult time cooling down. Short rides lead to a lot of cold hosing. Our rides became shorter and less frequent because of that. In the winter, she will sweat easily. It takes a long time to dry her off to prevent chills.

My early mornings are routinely spent getting ready to go to work. Until the time change, we could go for a ride after work, but eventually the daylight time for those became too short. Then, as I am sure you will all remember, winter came early. I also admit it (again), I’m a wuss. When the mud is deep, whether frozen or not, and the winds are howling, I’m not inclined to go to the barn. I must also confess that I can only give into this poor attitude about what constitutes “riding weather” because The Lady is living in a marvelous place that provides much hands-on, specific care and tending whether or not I am at the barn.

Now, it looks like The Lady’s real retirement is again being postponed because of my life. My hours at work have changed and we will be able to join the Tuesday morning riding group at the barn. Not strenuously physical, but routine. Add in the time or two that I usually get to the barn and she will be in light work again.

Is that retirement? Perhaps, maybe – if your horse and life have been basic trail riding to endurance racing to pasture ornament to trail riding. The Lady still prefers pasture ornament. I’m looking forward to a regular riding group. What do you think?