bareback

It's been years. Maybe ten? Maybe more. So long I can't remember what it feels like...I've always wondered, what does Koda feel like bareback?? 

Koda has no idea what a human feels like on his back, will he like it? Does any horse? I don't know, never asked one. I wanted the time to feel right to try riding Koda bareback. No rushing. No judgmental eyes. No pre-planning. Just letting it happen, whenever it might... 

Last night we enjoyed a misty outdoor arena ride. Altho we try to adjust our timing on weeknights, our rides tend to land during feeding time. Our boys are never very thrilled. What horse wouldn't rather eat then ride at supper time? They all know the signals and sounds. It's hard for them to stay focused, but they do. Doesn't matter if we ride inside or out, there are still signals.

I've been working on several things with Koda, mainly continuous movement. He makes me work so hard! I have also been asking him to listen more to my legs, and less to my hands. Needless to say, we have a long way to go. Side passes are better, but now our turns have gotten sloppy. There is always something to work on!

I have thoroughly been enjoying our rides, and last night was no exception. We typically end with one of us humans asking the other "are you done riding?" cuz if we asked our horses, we all know what that answer would be! When I got the "not sure" response from the husband, I saw my window of opportunity. I was done riding. Koda did everything I asked. So we unsaddled.

The look on Koda's face was priceless...he wondered why on earth are we going back into the arena? Did I forget something? He was too cute, silly horse!

First things first, how the H am I going to get up there with no stirrups? Koda stood like a rock by the mounting block for me, as I slid on....aww, my Koda is so warm - and 'um bony. Holy high withers! 

Couldn't remember if it was better to sit towards the withers, or further back? I shifted around, until it felt right. Bareback lessons from back in the day started flooding into my memory...toes up count, even more so.

We slowly sauntered, weaving around obstacles. My legs hanging, yet gently wrapped. I loved feeling Koda's strong shoulders shift, slowly from side to side. I wasn't ready to try faster gates. No need to rush into things. The idea wasn't to work anyways. It was to re-connect. To feel something different. Something special, like those big beautiful eyes gazing at me...