Anyone out there have experience riding with MS? Or riding for much of your life prior to diagnosis… and continuing to ride after diagnosis?
I have MS. I was finally diagnosed after years with problems 25 years or so ago.
I have been trying to ride seriously for almost 50 years (hunt seat.) I used to gallop in the huge pastures, trail ride, and jump. I could ride up to 3 hours a day, plus grooming, rasping hooves, tacking up, etc…
Now I am totally exhausted after 30 minutes of riding, with someone else doing most of the grooming. I have not rasped hooves in years, I am just too unstable on my feet. I need help tacking up too, especially getting my saddle up on the horse’s back. I mostly walk, some slow trot, and that is it. I try to ride 2 or 3 times a week. I no longer own horses (too exhausted to do the work) so I ride lesson horses. I can no longer mount from the ground.
Right now I am riding an Arab/Welsh mare and a QH gelding. Once I get the QH to a point that my riding teacher thinks he is usable for other riders I hope, hope, hope to get back to riding an ARABIAN! (I’m excited.)
For over a decade my riding teacher has used me (hey, I asked her to use me to the limits of my ability) to retrain horses that have been abandoned at her stable. I do a 30 minute private lesson. The first horse she put me on after asking me the most advanced thing I had done on horseback, was an Arabian gelding named Glow who was not a beginner’s horse. He flunked out of the beginners lessons because he did not suffer fools gladly, and to him a fool was any person on his back that did not know what they were doing. Very sensitive mouth and he did not show any proof of advanced training, quick to feel insulted, and if a rider’s hands got too hard he had a tendency to bolt.
Glow took care of me while insisting that I never hurt his mouth. I got him going on good contact, played around a little with the Nurtural bitless bridle, went back to bits, and spent my time filling holes in his training. At the end I was introducing him to the double bridle (then his breeder called and said she would take him back.) Glow is probably the best horse I’ve ever ridden, and one reason I love my riding teacher is I do not think any other riding teacher would have put me on his back. She told me that over the years she had learned to tell when someone new was not telling the whole truth about their riding experiences. The fact that I had retrained a 7/8 Arab mare with a screw loose in her head from a double bridle and standing martingale to riding on a snaffle with loose reins safely with no martingale, while I had neither a trainer or a riding teacher, is what got me up on Glow. I never had serious problems with this sensitive horse at a walk, trot or canter, in fact he saved my bacon a few times.
After Glow left she put me up on another Arab, a mare in her late twenties, who had sort of frozen in place with arthritis. This mare felt like she would fall down under me at a trot at first. It took me several months riding her 2x a week and a good arthritis supplement before she stopped nodding at the trot. This mare had even bigger holes in her training than Glow, she did not know what good contact was and feared the bit. I got her trained well enough to serve as an emergency walk-trot lesson horse who was pretty safe on the trails in a group. This mare is now retired in her mid-thirties. She ended up with excellent contact with the bit.
The there was a series of other horses including other Arabians who I spent time on, fixing the gaping abysmal holes in their training and getting them to accept the bit thoroughly. Along the way I became too weak to canter any more (by the 6th stride I am completely exhausted.) So now I mostly ride at the walk, I work on gradual turns, turns in place-hind and forehand, the three speeds of the walk, backing up and leg yields.
The QH I ride now was the worst trained horse I ever rode. He was into balking, backing up when he got mad, and running away to the gate. He did not understand the bit at all, the only leg aid he understood was a kick to go faster, and he had absolutely no idea that being ridden could be a pleasure. He has HORRIBLE riding horse conformation, extremely thick throatlatch, low set neck, and very high croup. There is no way this horse will ever be able to have a “pretty” head set or react to the bit “properly”. He now understands my hand, leg and seat aids, accepts the bit, and I have introduced him to the double bridle which I should be able to start using again this week if the rain holds off. I never ask him to do anything that he cannot do because of his conformation and he seems to trust me now.
The fact that I was already an experienced rider and had trained my own horses (I never could afford a trainer) has really helped me keep riding as a valued customer of a commercial riding lesson stable. After over a decade my riding teacher still seems to look forward to my lesson as much as I do. I think she likes seeing someone else train her thrown-away horses, she likes seeing my solutions to the horse’s problems, and we both enjoy our deep talks about riding theory.
AND my riding teacher takes pride in knowing that she is helping me to keep walking on my own two feet (with canes.) I had worn out an electric wheel chair before I started riding with her, and I have not had to replace the wheel chair. I was using my wheeled walker A LOT, now I just use it to wheel my saddle out of my house. Because I ride I can walk maybe 100-200 feet without any canes if I need to and in my house I can walk without any aids.
Several years ago I had a bad exacerbation (MS attack). When I got to the stable I was walking at about 1 MPH leaning heavily on both of my canes. Half an hour later when I dismounted I was able to walk securely and did not even need my canes every step of the way. She has never forgotten seeing that, when I went from so bad and crippled back to being able to walk again in just a half hour.
My balance is horrible both front-to-back and side-to-side. I have hand tremors. I have enormous difficulties in coordinating my aids many days. I have no stamina, my body is really, really weak, and there is absolutely no way I could “win” a fight with a pissed off horse. Even so I can retrain some ruined horses and get them to the point that they no longer dread being ridden.
Riding horses is the very best thing for me to keep walking. If I did not ride I would probably be completely crippled, permanently in a wheel chair and living in a nursing home.
I hope to ride until the day I die.
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@walktrot and@Jackie Cochran
thank you both so much for sharing your experiences.
I have a close friend who is dealing with some health issues and has now had MS raised as a possibility and is going in for some testing. I’m hoping that she can continue to enjoy horses for many years to come, regardless of diagnosis.
Your story in particular is beautiful Jackie. I hope you keep on riding for years to come.
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I know two women, both lifelong riders and serious competitors in their respective disciplines, who have MS. You wouldn’t know it unless they told you. I don’t know the specifics of their treatment protocols, but they are certainly working. Best wishes for your friend. Medicine has come so far, here’s hoping she will benefit like the people I’m thinking of.
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Hello! I have been a long time lurker but your post persuaded me to finally register and post. I have had MS for 30 years now but I had many good years until things started to progress about 5 years ago. I rode in college, had my own horses, then hubby/kids, etc came along. After my horses passed away I did not replace them. Fast forward to September 2019 when we moved to a beautiful horse area and the bug bit- HARD! I researched and found a wonderful therapeutic riding program about half an hour away. I knew how beneficial it could be for me and I’ll admit that I was a bit nervous not knowing what to expect from my body. I used a mounting ramp and the help of 3 people to get up in the saddle. The BO asked how I felt and I was in tears (actually I am now just thinking about it.) It felt so amazing! For so long I didn’t believe it would ever be a possibility again. There’s a lot of things that I can’t do on the ground but when I’m in that saddle the ground disappears and I feel most like my “old self” once again. There has been many other benefits to my riding program that I hadn’t considered. For a long time I did not go outside and didn’t have much of a desire to but now I look forward to my weekly rides. It has also gotten me involved in the wonderful local horse community. So many nice people who let me visit their barn to brush a horse or watch some lessons, etc. All in all the therapeutic riding and the horse community has really saved me and given me back a piece of my life that I thought I had lost.
Best wishes to you! Please feel free to message me if you have any questions or anything I may be able to help you with.
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Me! I’ve had it for about 10 years. Slightly nervous about sharing, but let me get braver and I’ll chime in. 
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@ToughShet, I look forward to your contribution!
With MS it is so easy just to give up, stay in bed and rot.
Because I got back into riding horses that has not happened to me, and I was well on my way before I got back into the saddle.
My ability to walk decreases if I miss just a week of riding. One ride a week and I do stay pretty stable though I do get more unsteady. Two times a week is even better and my walking is more stable. Three times a week and my muscles start regaining their strength.
The wonderful thing about the horses is that they are SO PATIENT with my physical problems, so long as I do not torture their mouths with my hands. Keeping my fingers relaxed and supple is the key for me with contact, by doing this I can get horses who have decided that contact is a bad idea to reconsider, relax, and reach out for the bit even though I have hand tremors and my hands tend to wander all over the place when I get tired (like after 10 minutes of riding.)
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Thanks @Jackie Cochran for your encouragement :).
I’m a bit of an outlier in that I was fortunate to be diagnosed accidentally. I was 29 years old when I went into the ER for a CT that was unrelated, but the attending physician saw something that made them refer me for MRI. I wish I knew who that was so I could thank them. Long story short, voila, the MS. (THAT was a fun doctor’s visit when I showed up alone thinking I’d just be told I had migraines…)
I’ve chosen to pursue an aggressive course of medicating early and often and have cycled through a few different drugs, as many folks often do. I had one bad relapse in 2017 after discontinuing a drug that had wiped out my immune system and given me shingles, from which I still have some mild loss of sensation in my left hand.
As soon as I was diagnosed, I decided, “Fork this, I’m going back to riding.” (I hadn’t ridden consistently for many years.) I was a therapeutic riding volunteer and instructor-in-training, so I knew from working with OTs and PTs that riding is one of the closest equivalents to walking in terms of how your body moves on the horse.
I’m fortunate that so far, my disease course is mild. A few things have changed over time: riding in temperatures above 80 requires a LOT of breaks, or skipping altogether (will be investing in some cooling products this year). Staying hydrated is no longer optional. I am more cautious about riding unpredictable horses, because I don’t really want to add more inflammation to my body with a fall if I can avoid it. Fatigue often kicks in towards the end of a lesson if we’ve been doing canter work, which means I simultaneously get tighter on my weaker side and lose some ability to be as balanced and centered. Like a wet noodle and a stiff board at the same time. 
But honestly, I also have some postural issues — don’t we all — and I can’t say for sure that everything is 100% the MS when it comes to awkward body alignment in the saddle. My riding goals are different than they used to be: I want to ride correctly and be as effective as possible in my aids so that I’m able to figure out how to adjust if the day comes that I can’t use them all the way I do now.
I’m sure that riding is helpful for me. Very rarely, I’m too fatigued to go, but 90+ percent of the time, being out at the barn grooming, tacking up, riding, etc, winds up making me feel better and more energized. Like others here have said, I also fully intend to ride until I’m dead.
Your friend is very welcome to reach out if they’d like to talk with anyone. It’s a scary thing, particularly when you don’t know whether you have MS and aren’t familiar with the difference between treatment options now and many years ago .
Ah, the heat of the summer.
I find that the modern technical fabric summer shirts are wonderful, as are the tights. I think they make me cooler than bare skin.
My ice vest is wonderful in the heat.
My old vented half-chaps are holding up.
I get out to the stable at 8:00 AM or 8:30 AM.
I think that TALKING during my ride helps cool down my core body temperature. At least I notice a difference between my lesson where I talk with my riding teacher and my more-or-less silent homework rides.
The people at the stables catch the horses for me so I do not have to go out and do that. My riding teachers see no point in me getting exhausted grooming the horse. I help, mostly grooming the horse’s head and brushing out the mane but when I do a full grooming all alone I get up on the horse totally exhausted and we just plod around the ring at a walk. Since I am often the only person riding the horse I have to do a full grooming, and that gets me really tired. My husband helps me groom for my homework rides. The last few years the people at the stable have helped me grooming more and more, I am very fortunate.
I try to keep the horse moving. When the horse walks at 3.5-4 MPH there is much more of a breeze cooling me down.
I invested in scrim “fly sheets” made for riding. This means the horse gets less antsy and I do not have to spend a lot of energy controlling the horse during a buzz-bomber attack. They also seem to calm the horses some, and I think that the horses feel like these fly sheets are a form of shade, at least they seem more willing to stand in the full, hot sun and I do not get as many pointed comments from the horses about how hot it is.
I hope some of this helps you too.
Tough Shet pointed out something that many people don’t realize, which is that the horse’s body moves your body as though you are walking yourself. There isn’t anything out there, no machines, that can do this. The horse moves your body through 3 planes: forward & backward, up & down, and side to side. I’ve done a lot of Centered Riding over the years, and if you close your eyes while someone leads your horse, you can concentrate on the movement of your seat bones, which made a circular motion, counter-clockwise.
When we first met the BO’s friend we didn’t know her diagnosis. I knew it was neurological, but didn’t know it was MS. I had no idea of how severe it can become over time. My experience is somewhat limited, but I know that a good horse and willing volunteers can extend your riding career well into the future…
My horse’s barn name is Speckles. He is registered as Mr Eternal Fun, which he is without a doubt. I hope each of you will find your Speckles and that you will have many years of enjoyment on the back of your horse.
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A friend who doesn’t frequent these forums has MS. You’d never know it to see her, and she’ll be quick to tell you it’s less of an issue to her riding than her directional dyslexia. She was diagnosed 20+ years ago, in her mid 40’s. Now in her late 60’s, riding better than ever, just moved back up to Training level eventing. She frequently comments how thankful she is to have found a neurologist early on who encouraged her to “go live your life” while maintaining as much fitness and activity as possible.
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This is great to hear, and definitely something I will pass on.
My friend has gotten some contradictory medical advice from multiple doctors, and is trying to sort through it and figure out if she should get 2nd opinions or not. She’s also in her early 40’s, and has had some significant health issues and symptoms for a few years, off and on. She was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and depression a few years ago, and been in treatment and on medication for some time to help with symptoms. After a recent run of bad health, she followed up with her primary care, who noted hand tremors, and told her that when combined with other symptoms, they wanted her to follow up with a neurologist. Primary care mentioned MS, and that an MRI might be in order. The neurologist saw her, reviewed testing they did a few years ago about various symptoms, and did a physical exam. After doing a physical exam, the neurologist thought pursuing another MRI now wasn’t merited (I think she has a brain MRI a few years ago) unless symptoms worsened, or other symptoms appeared. And has encouraged her to reduce stress, improve diet, increase fitness, and “go live her life” for a few months then follow up.
She actually already sees a neuropsychiatrist regularly because of the existing diagnosis of fibromyalgia and depression. That doctor concurred with the neurologist’s advice, and advised that in the early stages, multiple conditions have similar symptoms to one another, and living as healthy a life as is possible, and staying active is the best course for almost all of them. He also advised that most of the medications she’s already taking for the fibromyalgia and depression issues are also used to treat early MS symptoms. He cautioned her that some of the immunosuppressive medications for more advanced stages of the disease can have serious side effects.
She’s stressed and upset just hearing MS mentioned, and a bit confused by the conservative approach two specialists are taking towards more testing and diagnosis. And worried about what one doctor said concerning immunosuppressant medications. She’s trying to make sense of all of it relative to how the primary care doctor reacted to her tremors, and trying to figure out if it makes sense to seek second opinions, or just try the “eat well, exercise more, try not to worry, and follow up in a few months” advice.
She’s currently jumping, and had been excited about it, and enjoying herself and riding before going through a few months of poor health. I did some reading about MS (I’m admittedly ignorant on it, but knowledgeable on a lot of other health issues including autoimmune and neurological issues) and thought I’d post here to see if others had real life stories to share. I know many autoimmune conditions can be slow to progress, and go in and out of remission to a certain degree for years, before progressing into more advanced and debilitating stages. I wanted to know if other people who were in early stages of this disease were also still riding, and jumping. She’s read some about Ann Romney’s story, and dressage. But I’m glad I can pass on a story about a rider in her 60’s with MS, who is still eventing, and actually moving up to training level. That is really inspiring, and made my day to read! And I’m hoping it will cheer her up and get her out on her horse more for a few months… which is likely to help everything (just my opinion).
Thanks so much for sharing, and tell your friend good luck with her move up, and to kick on
