Riding With Health Problems--Sound Familiar?
I'm working on a topic from my Horse & Rider assignment list: "Riding With Health Problems." If this is something that's affecting you, I'd like to know a bit about your experiences.
Have you had a diagnosis that affects your ability to ride? What changes or compromises have you had to make? What about the general manual labor that goes into having horses--how have you had to adapt to that? Got any good coping tricks you'd like to share?
I think this is going to be a subject with growing interest, as those in the bulk of our horse-owning population continue to grow older.
I like the attitude of a reader from the U.K. whose hip replacement surgery left her with one leg shorter than the other. Her answer? Just ride with one stirrup shorter!
posted by Juli Thorson @ 12:36 PM
14 comments
14 Comments:
Hi Juli, I have been reading your column for quite a few years. I was sorry to see you leave Western Horseman. I was injured in an auto accident 7 years ago and suffered neck and back injuries. I probably should quit riding horses but I won't. I'm 57 years old, and at the end of most days of riding, the pain is pretty bad. The joy my horses give me, won't let me stop. Any pain is worth it. My doctor doesn't agree with me. I won't give up my horses or riding. When it's my time to go, I hope it is on the back of one of my horses.
Bill Croysdill,
Thanks, Bill.
Do you have any tips or advice for others in your situation? Any special products you use, for instance, or therapies that you've found helpful?
Juli
Hi, this is my first time reading your blog and find it very interesting plus your project should prove to be most informative. I have two knee replacements and back problems and will not give up riding yet. I'm 66 years old and still am able to go on 5 to 6 hour trail rides in the mountains. I keep my stirrups long to keep pressure off my knees and change gaits when and where ever possible to keep the old back moving. I also use a rock or whatever for mounting out on the trail. Like Bill, the doctors don't agree with me and think I should be jogging as they believe a fall would be harmfull. I have been dumped with no after affects so I just keep going and going...
Hi Juli,
I'm so glad to hear from riders my age. As I told you earlier, my Doc was my recent 50th b'day present and I hadn't really ridden for literally decades. I feared I would find physical limitations that I didn't even know I had as I started riding! I do have lower back pain and some knee issues that I feared would keep me from riding comfortably. I must use a mounting block or anything that is available because of my back, but I think it's more comfortable for Doc as well. I ride with my stirrups longer than I would otherwise-it takes the pressure of my back and lastly, I just purchased a gel saddle pad. I felt weird doing it, but oh my-what a difference it makes! I have't done a long trail ride with it yet because of the weather here in Michigan right now, but even using it inside has been wonderful. I would highly recommend it!
Becky in Kalamazoo
He everyone,
I have had back, hip and leg pain since a bad fall from my horse in April 2006. I have tried many treatments and nothing has fixed it. I have decided I will just get used to it, which makes me sad because I am only 50 and believe there is a fix out there. There are days I just cannot ride....but I really enjoy the days I can. I soak in the hot tub after I ride which helps and I use perscription Naproxen. I was given a gel seat pad for my saddle, but it does not fit well. I think after reading Becky's note, I will see if I can modify it to fit better and use it more often, maybe it will help.
Hi Katmarq,
I do love my gel seat cushion. Mine fastens by elastic across the cantle and then the strap runs through the hole at the base of the horn then comes up through and fastens around the horn itself. It fits very securely and is very comfortable.
If you'd like to e-mail me, I'll give you the details of where I ordered it from. You can reach me at rjr413@sbcglobal.net.
I've been deathly allergic to horses all of my life. I actually trained professionally in my late teens and early twenties, but my weight dipped to 115lbs (5'7") from lack of sleep due to wheezing and giving myself epinephrine shots in the thigh nearly every night. I just changed my tactics: I wear a mask to clean stalls or throw hay (or hire it out), never brush dirty horses (they get hosed off), wear gloves always, and take Benadryl before clipping. I can recall a doctor telling my parents that raising alligators would be safer for me! But I'm 48, and it's still my passion! Suzanna
I am allergic to horses, and its worse in spring. I don't own a horse, so avoiding them in spring is not too difficult. Or I take an antihistamine before I visit horses. And change my clothes when I get home. It mostly affects my eyes, although I am asthma prone too. I still take my puffer most everywhere although I rarely need it.
Also have some spine problems, but I find riding actually helps it.
Sorry Juli, I don't have any therapy to help. I just bear whatever comes. Horses mean more to me than what may hurt me. Just being on a horse is therapy for me. Bill Croysdill
Hi Juli,
I don't know if this counts or not but 3 or 4 years ago I was bucked off - for real- and shattered my left shoulder blade. I think I saw you at the Walla Walla show 8 weeks following my accident to the day - then jumped into a futurity.
It has since healed some what. They could't exactly set it or anything and there wasn't a big enough chunk of bone left to put a screw in for a plate. So it had to just heal the way it was.
It effects my ability to put my shoulders up and back. It pinches in the middle of my back and eventually the muscles seize up in painful cramps under the shoulder blade and sometimes just using my right shoulder too much will cause a semi-permanent muscle knot under that shoulder blade. This effects my ability to balance myself, sit properly, and of course look confident.
I have treated it with massage therpy with great success - but it has to be a near constant thing during the show season. I have also used drugs - but they also effect my balance and clear thinking. If am not being able to afford therpy I do 10 minutes worth of vigorus stretching with a friends help just before I go into the show ring. Or sometimes I combine stretching and drugs - at least that's what I have done lately.
Gets a little uncomfortable when the only person around to help you stretch is your guy trainer, but i do what needs to be done to get in the showring and be competitive.
Hey Robin, I get the eye stuff too. There are several good prescription drops on the market, but the most common one that is prescribed is not particularly helpful to anyone I know. I'm drawing a blank on its name, but I'll think of it.
Crolom is one that has to be used regularly to be of any help. But I find it and Optivar to be two of the best.
Juli - I'm lucky, though I'm 64 my issues are minor (so far), but perhaps my tips will help someone. Biggest thing is arthritis in my hands getting worse quickly. Fortunately I can still groom ok. I've started riding all my mounts, even the very well trained, very settled one, in a pelham bit, so that if someone starts to get strong I can settle him while still using my hands softly. I just can't tolerate a tug-of-war in a snaffle anymore, and they do sometimes happen. I just leave the curb rein longer than the snaffle except if I really need it. The other thing I've done is buy a set of the English stirrups that flex, they seem to really make a difference to my ankles. I've ridden since I was 10 and wouldn't give it up for anything! I am more careful about what kind of horse I'll take on, because I don't bounce as well as I did 10 or 15 years ago! I feel I've been really lucky.
I'm younger than most of the others who have commented so far, but I've just recently been diagnosed with degenerative joint disease. I'm told that at age 30 I'm a bit young for it, but it runs in the family. It doesn't affect my riding too much yet, other than back pain when I'm done riding. I can still get on and off and through the ride. I found a natural pain relief gel with arnica and some other ingredients that helps. I also do physical therapy to strengthen the muscles that support my back. If I keep up with that I don't get the daily nagging pain as badly. Of course ibuprophen or other anti-inflammatories help a lot, but I worry about the side effects and try not to take it too often.
I also had to re-think my career choice. I was going to go into hoof care, but even for a healthy body that's rough work. So now I'm trying to figure out what to do with my life from here on out.
I expect this to get progressively worse, and I'm sure some day it will stop my riding. Hopefully that day is far in the future. I get a lot of joy out of just being with my horses, especially the little milestones with the newly adopted mustangs. Horses will always be in my life.
Greetings Juli! At 55 and buying my first horse - no one thought I would be able to achieve riding with such a bad back. The pain has been close to unbearable - but my horse is gaited, and I'm learning to try to maintain a gait - because it is the only time I am painfree - on the ground or on Ginger (the Wonder Horse!) I am now starting to use a Glucosamine/MSM/Hyaluronic Acid supplement to see if this will help as well. I will never give up on finding an answer, or at least looking to improve my health where my back is concerned, so I hope I can find helpful suggestions through your future article. It sounds as though many people are looking for the same thing. Good luck!, Charla
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