After my accident, many people asked me if I’d stopped riding. Honestly, that never crossed my mind. I was too concerned by figuring out how soon I could get back on my horse. While I do know people who have chosen to enjoy horses from the ground, rather than in the saddle, I’d like to think I’m like Dinnie Greenway and will still be riding at age 96, with no plans to stop.
While Dinnie might look a bit precarious on her horse now (at 27, he’s also getting on in years), her prowess as an equestrian has spanned decades. She figures she was riding before she could walk and by age 7 was already out foxhunting with her family.
‘I don’t drink or smoke but I do have horses. This is always going to be my addiction.
Greenway said that her love of horses gave her the chance to see the world and to compete, including winning the first modern-day show jumping competition at Toronto’s Royal Winter Fair in 1949. But now she just enjoys hacking around the property that her family has owned since the 1880s. Sadly, she has sold the land to a developer who gave her life tenancy, so with her passing, so too will pass a way of life.
“[The developer] calls me regularly to ask how I am doing and I say, ‘Fine, thank you very much,’ and I can always hear a disgruntled sigh.”
I have to agree with her proclamation about horses being my addiction, I just hope I can enjoy myself as much as she appears to have!
Read more about Dinnie Greenway and watch a video of her riding.