Second Chances

One of the great things about horseback riding is that it’s a sport that you can enjoy even as you grow older. And some of us don’t just enjoy it, but even compete at the highest levels.

Hiroshi Hoketsu, a 67-year old Japanese retiree, is a perfect example. According to an article recently published in The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Hoketsu qualified for a spot on Japan’s Olympic Dressage team. He’ll be representing his country later this summer in Beijing.

But this isn’t Mr. Hoketsu’s first appearance at an Olympics. Back in 1964, at the ripe old age of 23, he won a spot on Japan’s Show Jumping squad. After finishing a dismal 40th at the Tokyo Olympics, he went on to a career with a pharmaceutical company.

He never quit riding and competing though, and eventually switched to dressage. A self-proclaimed perfectionist, while working for a Tokyo subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, he trained every morning before work.

His dedication earned him a place on the 1988 Seoul Olympic team but at the last moment, his horse failed quarantine tests, dashing his hopes for another Olympic appearance. After that, he limited his competitions to Japan, racking up an impressive five national championships in a row, from 1988 to 1992.

Some dreams never die though, and in 2003 after retiring from Johnson & Johnson, Mr. Hoketsu flew to Aachen, Germany to train. Around that time, he got a little lucky when the Olympic qualifying rules changed, making it easier for non-European and Asian countries to qualify.

So Mr. Hoketsu gets another chance to improve on that long-ago performance at an age unheard of for most other Olympic athletes. And how fortunate we are to be able to enjoy a pastime that lets us participate long after we’ve had to put away the running shoes, baseball gloves, and footballs. Besides, riding requires such a likeable partner, our horse.

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