09/07/2025
This is beautiful written.
Having lost my mother’s 31yo horse last week, she is going through the grief of losing her ❤️ 🐴 and the end of her horse-life 😞
Jo Szegota
What No One Tells You About Life After You Stop Riding
One day, you’re tacking up like it’s just another Saturday.
And then suddenly……you’re not.
Maybe it was an injury that never properly healed.
Maybe your horse had to be retired and another just isn’t possible right now.
Maybe the lorry needed selling, the bills got too much, or the yard changed.
Or maybe, quietly and unexpectedly… the love just faded.
And no one really talks about what happens after.
When the boots start gathering dust.
When you pass the stables without turning in.
When you realise you’ve lost a part of who you were.
Here’s what I’ve come to understand:
You grieve. And it really is a kind of grief.
You miss the rhythm of hooves beneath you like a heartbeat.
You miss your yard friends, the ones who just got it.
You feel a bit adrift, like you’ve lost your direction.
But bit by bit you find your way again.
You find echoes of that love in other places.
You help out at shows, teach, or lend a hand at the local RDA.
You stop at the gate to stroke a nose and breathe in that familiar scent of hay and horse.
You realise that stepping back doesn’t make you any less of a horse person.
You were never just a rider.
You were a carer. A grafter. A dreamer. A partner in a silent language that few ever truly understand.
And whether or not you ever ride again, that part of you doesn’t disappear.
Because once you’ve truly loved a horse…
That stays with you.
So here’s to the riders in the in-between.
The ones who are hurting, processing, figuring it all out.
You’re not alone. And you’re still one of us. Always. 🐴❤️
If you had to stop due to ill health, age, finances etc, what have you done since, how did you process?
