Ep33 Transcript – 8 Ways to Get Involved with Horses in Midlife: Quick Fix Friday

Andrea Vahl: Maybe you didn’t have a pony when you were little, but you always wanted one. Or maybe you did have some horse riding lessons and feel like getting back to that in midlife. It’s not too late. Horses can be very therapeutic. And in this episode of Quick Fix Friday, I’m going to give you eight ways you can get involved with horses in midlife.

Intro: Hello Dreamers. Welcome to the Late Starters Club, giving you the inspiration, mindset, and tools you need to start something midlife and beyond. Remember, it’s never too late to follow your dreams.

Andrea Vahl:  In episode 31, I interviewed Olympian Mary Hannah. She’s been working with horses her whole life, and you might want to find a way to get connected with horses now in this time of your life. But maybe you think it’s too late.

I’m here to tell you it’s never too late. If you’re feeling a little bit lost working with horses can be a great way to reconnect with yourself and find a little joy.

Who am I really? I don’t even really know anymore.

Let’s dive into some of these tips and there’ll be links in the show notes.

Tip number one is to just take riding lessons. That’s really easy. There’s lots of riding lessons probably in your area, and that can be a great way to give that a try.

Tip number two is to volunteer or work at a stable part-time. A lot of stables might trade volunteer hours for riding time, so check into that for sure. Others have lots of different part-time opportunities available, and some of those don’t even need any experience.

Tip number three is to volunteer at a nonprofit. Riding for the Disabled Association has some great opportunities, as well as Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship. There’ll be links in the show notes. These types of nonprofits provide really necessary opportunities for certain populations to have therapeutic access to horses, and it can be a great way to get a horse fixed and also give back in your community.

Tip number four is leasing a horse. Leasing is a great way to have a more flexible option to get connected with a horse without having a longer-term commitment of owning one.

Tip number five is to look for different horse sanctuaries that might be in your area. Horse sanctuaries might have different opportunities to connect or a different way to just spend time with horses.

Tip number six is to learn a skill or some type of trade that can help horses. My friend Susie learned reiki therapy and now provides that for horses who need some therapy in the area. She has really loved it and she started doing that when she was in her fifties and is having a blast.

Tip number seven might be to take a horse-related vacation like a dude ranch or some type of horse trip.

And tip number eight is just to participate in the local horse community. There might be some great shows around or events that happen once a year that you can really plug into and get connected with the people there and find out what other opportunities that they might have to work with horses.

If you are looking for an actual job working with horses, not all jobs need prior experience. There might be some types of jobs that need a little bit more training, but there are job boards, there’s Facebook groups. There’s great ways to explore that option if you’re interested in making a career change.

Outro: Hope that was helpful, and make sure you grab the free guide Top Tools for Late Starters on the website at latestartersclub.com and let’s turn dreaming into doing.