Riding at 70+++

Guys, a little confession by me. Back in July 2009 I had already written the stories for a couple of books on the subject of Joe - my old cob. However I did not have a readership and nothing is more frustrating for a writer than not to have an audience for his work. Somehow I stumbled across HorseForum.com and within a few months I found I had a ready made audience. Slowly but surely I found my way around the site and in the process I made a few friends across the world.

Some of the stories I have written for this forum were in an attempt to test a particular style of writing. Other articles were written because in order to write, I had to first think of the answers to a question about horses. It has been fun. In writing I have got to know myself. With hindsight, I should have tried writing for a living when I was a younger man.

I do write every now and again for a writing forum and there I can spread my wings into other topics. The prime role of the audience over there is to criticise my writing on a technical basis which is good for my style of writing.

I have made a couple of attempts to publish a book I have called:
'Living with Joe'. It is the story of my life with a cussed cob and some of the chapters appear on this forum. The next stage of publishing the book would call for more work on editing. It would also benefit from a critique by a professional publisher. All in all the complete process of presenting a manuscript for publishing represents a lot of work. However unless I am prepared to put my hand in my pocket and pay a few thousand dollars for self publishing, I cannot break into the book world. Or should I say for the moment I have not found the route. If a writer wants to sell a book, he has to have a way to publicise the book, to distribute the book and to collect the cash. Maybe Amazon is the way.

I suspect soon there will be some changes to the Kindle tablet. There will be a way to print in colour and to include videos as well as still photos. Stories about horses would fit in well with such a format.
That is all in the future.

In the meantime I get fun in writing for you Guys. Thank you for your support not just nowadays but over the past two and a half years - it is and has been very much appreciated.

Barry

You definitely have an audience here Barry. I very much enjoy reading your stories. I'd have loved to have known your Joe and the stories of your diva are very entertaining. Hope she gets feeling better btw.

I, too love the stories & the wisdom. My previous husband had a lot of horse knowledge-he was a master farrier-started his apprentice quite young, & his family ran rental strings In Big Bear & Palm Springs-sometimes the horses were loaned out to the local cowboys for roping competitions, etc.-so they weren't "deadheads". I wish I knew even more of his stories, but he passed after only sharing 11 years w/me.

I also am a big fan of yours Barry. So please keep gifting us with your wonderful stories about your adventures with your precious equine friends! :)

While I am only in my late 30s, I can already see how my riding style has changed. For me, it was the birth of my kids that slowed me down, made me more cautious. However, horses are my passion, and the only way I wont be riding well into my seventies is if I am physically unable.-
Barry, I love reading your 'tales from the saddle', and would be interested in hearing some new ones. So my vote is for you to get back in the saddle! :)-
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Kevin, if you, Iride, and Barry were to host a 'riding vacation', I for one would be in attendance.

Skip- The invitation is open to you also. Load your horse and come on out!

I really enjoyed your article Barry. I'm 61 and bought my first horse at the age of 57. You definitely give me hope in riding well into my golden years.
Of course I wanted a horse all my life but couldn't afford one so to get my fix I rode the rentals whenever I could.
Now I'm retired on 5 acres up here in the mountains and I couldn't be happier. I enjoy my horses everyday and life couldn't be better for me right now. Hopefully I will be able to ride well into my 80s. (hopefully)...Thanks for the encouragement...

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My oldest Customer was 83, she could no longer lift her all leather Saddle and also wanted to have more back support and a wider swell to help hold her in, just in case.

We made a part synthetic Cordura Saddle with a 5.5" Cantle, deep seat and 16" wide beartrap swells, the saddle weighed 19lbs.

Here is a pic almost identical to it

Very inspiring to me, my friends, to hear your stories.

I go for an MRI of my neck today. Unresolved issues with my neck from being rear ended in August. I'm hopeful that this will give me some answers and eventually healing, so that I can enjoy longer rides.

I started riding again at 56 after not riding since my 20's. Have a sweet horse now who I plan to grow old together with. I'll be 60 my next birthday. This old girl wants her body to cooperate with her heart, which is still beats like a 20 year old's!

Beautiful work, Southern Trails.