A delightfully honest look at the realities of starting out with horses — when you're getting older. Are you a woman at midlife or beyond? Have you just discovered you have a passion for horses? Or maybe you've now found time for them after years devoted to a job and family? Surveys show that riders over the age of 40 are the fastest growing segment of the equestrian world, with those age 65 and above seeing the biggest jump—so you are far from alone! With carefully curated guidance collected over years of horsing around, rider and writer Fran Severn wants to embolden and empower you with tips, lessons, and advice as you begin enjoying a life with horses in it. In these pages, you'll find options for: Riding—and not riding (but still having horses in your life). Finding an instructor and being a good student. Coming to grips with what your body can and can't do in terms of fitness, weight, and fear. Understanding the realities of arthritis, menopause, and changing vision, hearing, and breathing. Knowing the rules for buying, leasing, and boarding horses. Dealing with family and horse-related finances. And much more. Riders of a Certain Age provides an important reference to any older individual who craves the companionship of a horse and the sisterhood that can go along with it.

Fran Severn is a freelance writer and broadcaster who grew up in the city but was determined to get horses in her life. After earning her degree in Mass Communications, she worked in broadcast news in Louisville, Kentucky, where she covered the Kentucky Derby, events at the Kentucky Horse Park, produced equine-focused features, and finally bought her first horse. Moving to England with her Air Force husband, she discovered dressage and continued her training when she returned to the states. Her work has appeared in USDF Connection, Newsday, The Trail Rider, Western Horseman, Dog Fancy, and Games. She’s written about the exclusive “tailgate” party at the Royal Enclosure at the Ascot races, shipping horses to the Olympics, riding on Civil War battlefields, and the chuckwagon races at the Calgary Stampede. A past president of the Eastern Shore Writers Association and former PR Director for the Maryland Office of Tourism Development, she lives on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, where she enjoys riding on the beaches and trails and promoting local equine activities and businesses and travel to the region (ridersofacertainage.com).