The spring has got me back onto a horse after a too long winter pause. I am very lucky to have found some new riding companions, although, alarmingly, they are all much younger than me. Hmmm...
It has got me thinking. There were days when I would gallop around the valley with the best of them, up and down steep hills, take part in trek competitions, show jump ... there were days ....
Today I still love to ride, as someone famous once said "it is amazing how much good the outside of a horse can do to the inside of a man" or in this case woman. I love their smell, I love that you can't lie to a horse, that he will pick up on your slightest mood change. If the rider is relaxed, happy and confident then so is the horse, and magical things take place.
So while I was riding with two young women last week, we went past a long alley, and I looked down to the far end wistfully. "Wow, the gallops I've had here, the rides I've been on in this forest, especially with my girls, .... ". I turned to look at my companions, expecting I think to see looks of indulgence and maybe even pity on their faces. But no, their smiles were happy, they were sharing in my pleasure. Dare I say there was a hint of admiration.
There was a pause, then one of the girls said, "When I was a teenager, I would have loved to have ridden with my mum".
How sweet was that!
And then I got it. Maturing gracefully is not about regrets for things we no longer feel up to. It's about adapting, finding new pleasures and simply being grateful for ever having had the chance to do the other stuff, the more daring stuff, more dangerous even.
To celebrate this new found wisdom, I ended the ride with a lovely long canter, punctuated with a couple of jumps over fallen trees, yes!
To each age its pleasure, and when some pleasures can be shared between generations then that is just a big fat bonus.
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