“We’re going to the horse show; want to come along?” This, from Linda, the stable trainer/manager. “It’s cross-country, and you said you’ve always wanted to do it,” she added, coaxingly. “But I’m 74, Linda, aren’t I too old?” “If you can do it, you’re not too old!” she sensibly answered, so I signed up.
I didn’t own a horse, but there was a little mustang in the barn named Knight I thought could do the job. We trucked over that Saturday and “walked the course” so I would know where we were going, once I was mounted. I had chosen the lowest level of competition because neither Knight nor I could jump any higher. Frankly, even those smaller jumps looked like Mt. Everest.
As I was warming up, a splendidly turned out woman on a huge thoroughbred trotted up next to me. “WHAT kind of horse is that?” she snickered. “What does he look like?” I responded. “The clue is, he has a tattoo on his neck.” (Bureau of Land Management, a tattoo that all wild horses get when they’re captured). “No idea” – she was now chuckling. “It’s a MUSTANG!” I pronounced with pride. She was laughing full bore now, and rode off. “And I’ll beat your ass in this class,” I snarled to myself, at my competitive best.
Linda, at her most supportive, said, “Don’t worry, you’ll never make it past the fourth jump; it’s too high for the two of you.” Out on course we went, whipping and driving. I wanted Knight to be more afraid of me than of the jumps, and I/we succeeded, coming in third out of a field of 25 horses and riders. I was so excited, in fact, to have cleared all 20 jumps on the 2-mile course that I forgot to cross the finish line and was ultimately disqualified, but I successfully completed a cross-country course, for the first time in my life, at age 74.
Sally Haver is a senior career management consultant with a broad-based business background encompassing human resources consulting, recruitment, advertising/marketing, music production, academia and show business. Now retired, she is an editor and a frequent contributor to The Connector, covering the emerging new work force of retirees, who are choosing to work for the sheer love of it.
Sally Haver
Sally Haver is a senior sales/marketing professional and career management consultant with a broad-based business background encompassing human resources consulting services, recruitment, university placement, advertising/marketing, and show business. At The Ayers Group, in her 19th year of service, Ms. Haver adeptly leverages her wide range of corporate senior contacts, combined with excellent writing and platform presentation skills, to the bottom-line benefit of her firm. She is known in the field as a competitive, persistent, highly creative contributor who teams and mentors with a generosity of spirit.