My yoga teacher said it succinctly in the midst of a difficult pose: you’re stronger than you think. Somehow that struck me. As I’ve aged (truth in advertising: I’m 63), I’ve sort of tended to say “well I can’t water ski anymore” and “I’m not sure I want to fly alone”… when in reality, I think I probably am stronger than I think.
Wild Women Expeditions has proved that to me.
I always was a horse lover and rode a lot in my 30s when my parents were playing at ranching and I was in need of a hobby. I did cattle drives and tacking up, lots of falling off horses. But it was fun, challenging, a great way to cover a lot of ground in the outdoors (I’ve always thought of myself as efficient!). For a couple of decades, my own nuclear family rode horses on holidays, from the Marquesas to New Zealand to Kamloops. We had little adventures together on horseback.
Then, in 2021, bored out of my mind and anxious to go ANYWHERE after a trip got cancelled, I found Wild Women Expeditions and decided, in 2 weeks, I was desperate enough to drive to Banff, Canada, figure out how to cross the newly-opened border, unload my car and get back on a horse for a number of days. Also I got these very cute pink-lined boots and some half chaps, so that was a plus (nothing like vacation clothes shopping!).
Let’s just say the scenery was awe-inspiring. So was the saddle soreness. At a rest stop for lunch, I accidently fell over bending down to sit on a log. In slow motion. But I did get back on that horse, by golly. And decided after that trip WHY NOT DO A TRIP A YEAR DURING MY 60s WITH WWE? After all, I’m stronger than I think.
And so I have. Iceland followed Banff (I finally learned how to tolt on day #3!?) and then Mongolia for a grand adventure on horseback in Gorkhi-Terelj National Park—and next October India, riding the unique Marwari horses there. My Christmas letters got waaaay more interesting. My husband is slightly jealous of my escapades, but the silver lining is that he looks for trips for the two of us to take with a little more umph, wallet- and adventure-wise.
Mongolia was a trip of a lifetime, admittedly an overused phrase but so true. The wildflowers were amazing, abundant and never the same. I had a go-getter horse who was also somehow calm, a good match for me since I never did get how to tie on my lead rope so it would stay in place and he would calmly trot through the thing flying around. He was cool as Schwarzenegger crossing rivers in a rainstorm (not so true for some of my now close friends witnessing me swimming the river on horseback!). I finally figured out how to burn toilet paper. And I literally fell in love with the Mongolian people (okay, well not literally like Eat, Pray, Love but our Mongolian guide is coming to visit me in 2024!).
Mostly, I have made connections…to new, exotic places and unusual experiences, to the Canadian horsewomen with whom I’ll be making a third trip, to my beloved adventure guides and to, well, Wild Women Expeditions. It will be interesting to see, as I gain in age, how the horseback trips will be become “multi-sport” or adventure cruises, as I still have six more trips to go until I turn 70 and who knows what will happen next, eh?
Thank you to our Wild Women community member Lori for sharing her experiences with us! If you want to follow along in Lori’s footsteps, you can also go horseback riding on our Banff Horseback Riding Tour, Iceland Horseback Riding Tour, Mongolia Horseback Riding Tour and India Horseback Riding Tour! For more information email us at adventure@wildwomenexpeditions.com or call us at 1-888-993-1222.