For Eleanor “Lee” Byrd, riding horses is more than just a pastime. It’s also more than the professional career she’s enjoyed for 44 years. In fact, for Lee, working with and being around horses goes far deeper than either of those qualifiers — it is, simply put, a way of life.
As far as she remembers, there has never been a time when horses weren’t part of her daily life. Many of her fondest childhood memories revolve around her grandparents’ pony, Star, who was, “extremely naughty,” she says, with a laugh. Of the many horses that would go on to teach Lee valuable lessons throughout her life, Star helped teach the first and, arguably, most important lesson.
“He would run away with me and run me under a tree branch and, if I learned to duck, he’d pick a shorter [branch],” Lee remembers, laughing.
Citing a particular moment of frustration, Lee says she finally asked her great-uncle how she could possibly handle this unruly pony. What he told her would go on to shape how she interacted with these beautiful and mysterious creatures for the rest of her life: “be smarter than the pony.” Admitting that she first scoffed at this advice, Lee says it didn’t take long for it to become a light bulb moment.
“That single statement made me turn the corner and realize this was not a vehicle, but actually a living, breathing, thinking, feeling entity — and I had to get on board with his emotional energy, too,” she says.
Over the years, this degree of patience, respect for living creatures and keen observational skills has influenced how Lee interacts with both humans and animals alike. Her deep sense of empathy and knack for reading body language made her the perfect instructor for a group of students who she found her fellow instructors often avoided: teenagers.
“The value in teaching teenagers is it’s not about teaching them to ride, really,” she says. “It’s actually teaching them to put together their emotional and intellectual side, have the two work together to stop and think, and then put all that information together before reacting.” Just like she learned as a young girl to respect Star the pony’s intellect, Lee believes in respecting the intellect of her teenage students — and allowing the horses to pass along meaningful life lessons.
And Lee isn’t done learning those life lessons herself. Following the Kendal principle of taking care of the mind, she believes maintaining her riding routine has helped keep her both physically and mentally sharp.
“It’s huge,” she says, when asked about the influence riding has on her health and well being. “First of all, it keeps me fit, which is wonderful and I don’t feel like I’m exercising when I’m riding. And also, emotionally horses are amazing because they connect with people so much better than cats and dogs do. Horses are terrific at reflecting back to a person — where they are, who they are, and they instinctively know what to do for a person.”
It’s this connection of total body and mind stimulation that Lee believes is so important for people who live in retirement communities to find. Regardless of what type of activity you choose, finding something that brings you joy and fulfills your passion is an important part of nurturing your mental health.
As a third generation Kendal resident — and granddaughter of early Kendal founders — Lee knew exactly what she was signing up for when she moved to Kendal at Lexington eight years ago. She may have had to say goodbye to some aspects of life on her farm in Vermont, but she knew Kendal would be a place that would nurture her adventurous spirit and allow her to continue chasing her passion. And while she no longer wakes up and spends her mornings doing farm chores, Lee says she can’t imagine a time in her life when she won’t be “the barn woman.” Though boarding her horse has been a transition, she still makes it to the barn almost every day to ride or train — and that’s not changing any time soon.
“My family or friends who don’t know horses or understand it will say, ‘well, when are you going to stop this?’ And I say never. I hope I die on a horse. I’ll never give it up unless I’m absolutely forced to.”
Written for Kendal at Lexington by Cortney Phillips Meriwether
