Arguing that riding horses is a great outlet for the stress women feel when facing the challenges of middle age, this unique book provides step-by-step instructions for getting back in the saddle. Though the physical, emotional, and financial demands of midlife horsemanship can create unanticipated insecurities, this guide answers with insights from sports psychologists, advice from world-renowned equine experts, and moving, real-life stories from women who share how rediscovering their love for horses has added to their lives. Tools and resources for easing the transition are accompanied by words of encouragement and empowerment that demonstrate how enriching a midlife relationship with horses can be.
When you were a little girl, did you dream of horses, choosing Breyers over Barbies—plastic horses over plastic dolls? For the past several decades, has your life been more about taking care of others than taking care of yourself while your dreams have gathered dust on long forgotten shelves? Are you at that point in life when you’ve begun to wonder whether you’ll ever find the courage to do all the things you wanted to do someday?
Offering horses as both metaphor and solution to the natural malaise that often rears its head just about the time we blow out that “midlife” birthday candle, this is the book that will help you ask (and answer), “What about my dreams?” and “Is it my turn yet?” and “If not now, when?” and best of all, “If now, how?”
This unique book is the guide women need to get in the saddle—whether for the first time ever, or just the first time in a long time. You’ll find it leads you down a path of discovery on how to find the mystical and magical connection between humans and horses: finding your dream, making time and space in your life, getting fit, conquering fear, navigating the world horses and horse people, choosing a riding discipline, deciphering advice, leasing and buying horses, boarding and keeping a horse at home, the basics of horse care, competing, and best of all, savoring the pure joy of having horses in your life.
Melinda Folse is a horse owner who has contributed to Blueprints magazine, Texas Monthly, and several equine trade publications, and is the coauthor of Grandmaster. She lives in Fort Worth, Texas. Clinton Anderson is the author of Clinton Anderson’s Downunder Horsemanship and the first horse trainer to launch a made-for-TV weekly training program broadcast on satellite television. He is the owner of a training facility and the winner of both the 2003 and 2005 Road to the Horse competition. He lives in Stephensville, Texas. They are the coauthors of Clinton Anderson’s Lessons Well Learned.
Melinda Folse is a writer based in Fort Worth, Texas, who for the past twenty-something years has considered herself a woman on a mission to write stories that can make a difference. As former senior writer for Clinton Anderson’s Downunder Horsemanship and co-author of his recent bestseller, Lessons Well Learned (Trafalgar Square Books, 2009), she came face-to-face many times (personally and in learning the stories of countless others) with the soul-provoking lessons provided by midlife horsemanship. After a career spent writing the success stories of others, including Grandmaster: A Story of Struggle, Triumph and Taekwondo (about the life of Ninth Degree Taekwondo Grandmaster Won Chik Park), and dozens of America’s top entrepreneurs as Senior Editor and contributing writer of Time Warner’s Millionaire Blueprints Magazine, as well as writing for Cowboys and Indians Magazine, she realized she had a story to tell of her own. Finding herself to be just one among millions of Baby Boomer women who once dreamed of horses and are now recapturing that dream, Melinda let her own struggles do the talking in this tongue-in-cheek account that is a little bit memoir, a little more self-help, a whole lot of practical guidebook, and all heart. This is the book Melinda wishes she had been able to find when she made the bold decision to get back in the saddle at age 45. She lives in Texas with her family that includes two horses who continue to set her straight every single day.
