Do you feel too old to ride a horse? Did you love riding years ago but think it an impossible dream now? Are you acutely aware of how easy it is for your bones to break?
Buy a well trained saddle donkey. A large standard donkey can carry much more weight than a horse of similar size. A mammoth donkey can carry more than you'd imagine.
Here is the part that people don't realize--not only can they carry you, chances are they can carry you with a smoother, steadier gait than a horse--yes, even a Colonial Spanish horse. The only down side is that one does not get a hard workout from riding a donkey. They are too smooth.
Finding a well trained saddle donkey is not easy or cheap, but if you are old enough to start thinking about things that medicare covers a well trained donkey is a sound investment
Odessa is becoming quite a nice saddle donkey! And here is the good news: I am the one training her. She is 12 hh and weighs 435, but she is motivating me to lose a little weight, and we both have been "working up" to condition us. We started out training to pull a cart, but on a whim, I decided to try a saddle (and cinch) on her. Cinching was NO problem, and driving her with it on was a breeze. She is a formerly wild BLM burro. :-)
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