Be honest - has age affected anyone's riding?

Oh yeah, you're sooooo old at age 20, lol!

Although I took my first lessons at 10 and rode on and off as a child, I didn't start riding consistently until I bought my first horse at 26. I wasn't very fit at the time, and certainly didn't have much experience or theoretical knowledge, but I got VERY good within a couple years, and learned enough that I was able to pick right where I left off when I leased a horse in graduate school some years after that.

Now I'm 52, again unfit, and much less confident than I was at 26. The ground does seem harder and further away each year, and I worry much more about things that MIGHT happen -- stuff that didn't even register in my consciousness with my first horse. I also have a lot less free time because I now have a husband, house, and demanding job. However, I KNOW a lot more than I did then, and that makes up for stiffer muscles and slower reflexes. I'm also a lot better at setting goals and sticking to them than I was when younger.

So -- if you keep at it, you WILL improve. You're not even yet in your prime. Ride as much as you can, see to your overall fitness to enhance your riding, read everything you can get your hands on, seek out quality instruction, and in a year or two you'll be amazed by what you've accomplished.

Just for the record, George Morris is something like 78, and HE'S still coaching riders, training horses, and presenting clinics.

Oh -- and the gentleman from whom I leased my grad school horse? He's 89, has had both hips and knees replaced, and STILL goes on hours-long trail rides 2-3 times per week.

No. I have been riding since I was three, and haven't stopped yet. I'm around your age. Anyways, I plan to take on new diciplines this summer (reining and jumping as opposed to gaming, dressage, training I've been doing) I think learning dressage really sets you up to go any direction, so that will help a ton. But sometimes I wish I'd waited until I was older to start riding so that I would have been able to understand everything going on. You can make a three year old a perfect rider, but you may have to retrain them when the time comes, 3-8 is a little too young to do anything but imprinting

I'm older than all of you, but I'm in good shape. I know that if I mount a horse, the things that will start screaming at me in a few minutes time, so I don't ride anymore. I play and went under them doing the barefoot trim and I can talk to them in full sentences now, from all the listening I've done. No, I can't physically ride anymore but that's when the learning really took off. It is now that my compassion for horses has come full circle and saving lives couldn't be a better exit to my riding days.

I typed out a really nice answer and accidentally exited out of the page *cries*

The best part about riding is that it's a life-long endeavor. You NEVER stop learning (and if you ever feel like you know it all, then you REALLY haven't and you either need a massive humbling, or you need to take up a different sport lol)! You aren't going to wake up on your 30th birthday and suddenly be unable to ride, or suddenly be unable to keep improving.

Don't ever feel bad or inadequate because you started at a more advanced age. Everyone has to start somewhere. You're 20. Guess what? You don't bounce when you fall anymore. Those kids hit the ground, suddenly turn into Flubber, and jump right back up. It's different when you're older.

Enjoy your sport while you can. Because, god forbid, you may wake up one morning and be unable to swing a leg over your horse. A few years ago I was misdiagnosed with MS. I bawled my eyes out when I thought I'd never be able to ride again. It turns out my riding has been limited, but I'm lucky to still be able to ride, even if I never jump over 2'3" again. I've been harassed by a few people about taking up dressage and not jumping, but I know what I want, and what's best for me. So do you. You do what you need to do to be happy. Keep taking lessons, and keep learning.

Each individual has different abilities relative to learning and retention. We process information differently. That said, I have known two ladies, one 41 and the other 61 respectively, when they first started riding. They both excelled at their sport. The 61 year old had just bought her first hunter/jumper and she went on to do very well in her class. There are some people who seem to really struggle with the academia of riding in that they have a hard time translating the academic info into the physical act of riding. Then there are those who seen to be part of the horse from the first time they get on, they are just a natural. I do believe that practice makes for greater possibility of improvement. I can't recall the name just now, but there was a very famous European dressage rider who did not begin riding until he was 43 and he went on to win world championships. He rode a minimum of 8 hours per day. So we are all individuals but age is just a number.

You have to understand it's pretty easy for a 100 lb 13 year old girl to be long and leggy and light in the saddle.

As a 20 year old, don't get discouraged yet! As you get older you may find that you choose a different sport, breed, or style of riding.

I always had a great build for H/J, long, lean, tall, skinny. Then I had some babies. Now I'm 36 and those breeches don't look as sexy as they used to. That's for sure.

BUT, are you in it to be a model or are you in it to ride and compete? HAVE FUN. Body shaming in our sport is awful. Really bad. Just have a good time and forget about the rest of it.

> Have you ever seen someone become competitive in their own age group regardless

> of not starting young?

Yes, I have. The thing is, your competition is going to change. A lot of juniors stop riding past age 18, or stop after competing in the collegiate leagues.

Some will pick up the sport again when their daughters start riding :-)

When you're riding as an adult, as long as you stay out of the divisions that the professionals dominate, you'll be competing against lots of people who started riding as an adult, or re-entered the sport after a hiatus.

Anyway, don't worry so much about the ribbons. They'll either come, or they won't. Train your horses, take care of them, and make yourself a better horseman. You're supposed to be enjoying this.

That's pretty bs and extremely rude of you to say. I'm the same age as you and ride better than most kids as well do a lot of other older people than I. Of course there are kids with talents but there are also kids with parents with a lot of money who can afford to buy a push button horse.

I've ridden horses since young but I know a lady who started riding when she was 40.. She's from my country and is riding Grand Prix. That's higher than me and she didn't even ride when she was younger.

So next time please don't say in the lines like "we" or "us" who can't keep up with kids because some of these children aren't as hard working as some of us who take their riding serious

While there is certain benefits to starting early, I think it also depends on the person and how they learn as well. I began early (about 4/5) but I know plenty of people who began in their late teens, 20s, 30s and so on, who regularly compete and a number who event.

It really depends on your own determination. if you really want to compete or accomplish something, then you'll push yourself to do it. There's plenty of Grand prix riders out there who didn't ride until they were adults.

On the other hand, there's plenty of people who were born into the saddle who have had bad habits all their lives that they have never corrected. They can stay on a horse but they don't necessarily ride very sympathetically or have the best seat so there is that element as well.

Young children have not learned to be self conscious so they pick up muscle memory very quickly. That can be good or bad but presumably the ones that have a bad experience quit.

But, they can and will learn a multitude of poor habits just as well.

So there may be a slight advantage initially but it is about even when refinement becomes an issue.