A Great Day...

   Today I'm so happy with my horsey! We did a pure thirty minutes of bareback trot! I decided to ride him bareback in the round pen. Sicne the round pen is circular, and not super big Udex can't step as largely as he'd like to, or decide to take off. Overall, it doesn't make it any easier.. just a little bit safer. As I don't ride with a helmet and have no support of a saddle I'd like to play it extra safe. (-; I used a halter as a bridle, and two lead ropes as reins.. and no bareback pad. It was true butt-on-back today. (Hah-hah.)
    Although we didn't do canter (I'm not ready for that.. yet) our trot was so succesful. I've finally mastered keeping my hands very quiet while sitting on him without a saddle! Yeah!!! I'm thrilled about that! They aren't perfect yet, but my hands certainly don't flop all over the place, jab him in the face, or look bad! Even with the saddle quiet hands can be a big task.. So the fact that I've managed to also steady my hands while riding bareback makes me a very proud rider!
   On top of my newfound quiet bareback hands, I'm also discovering more and more of my seat. Sitting him bareback is an entire different feeling than what I'm used to. He's very sharp and has big powerful strides. Even with the comfort of a saddle he's not the smoothest ride. Either way, it's not an excuse for not being able to sit him pretty. Anyhow, with every ride,(especially today), my seat gets better.. resulting in my stamina increasing and it taking less effor for an enjoyable ride on my horse. (-: As I said before, today I was able to do around 30 minutes of trot without feeling like I was going to flop off his back or murder his mouth. I think that within five more rides or so I'll be able to start introducing canter to our workout! I just have to learn to sit his extended trot first! Sometimes coming out of canter he decides to get a bit frisky and extend his trot. Normally when I'm riding with a saddle and bridle I can prevent that from happening, or sit it. Like I said before, he's an entire different feeling without a saddle. Once I've got that frisky trot down... Hellooooo canter!
  Another thing I'm proud of... We're working on bareback and bridleless... Kind of. Since Udex and I aren't used to going tackless I left the ropes on his halter, but let them rest on his neck and rode around for 10 minutes without any connection to his head. At times he did want to rush and if he wouldn't respond to my voice, then I'd give a little tug on the rope. I rode a bit without any hands, but majority was holding onto his mane. I'm trying to train him so that a tug on the mane means stop.. Towards the end it got a bit better, but he's still oblivios to what that means. Riding tackless isn't something that can be learned in just a few rides.. it takes a lot of trust, time and effort. Udex and I are nowhere near ready to go %100 tackless anytime soon.. but we are doing our best to learn it! I can't wait for the day that I'll be able to ride my horse with absolutely nothing! I hope we'll get it down sometime this summer!

  Overall today was a super day! I'm so proud of myself for sticking with my goal to ride my horse bareback, and I'm so proud of my horse for being such a star and putting up with me. (-; Everytime I see a picture of him, or see him in person, I can't help but think how lucky I am to have such a beautiful horse.. I dont know what I'd do, or who I'd be without him.

Ik hou van jou, Udex.

"Rollkur opponents care for horses. Rollkur proponents care more for success."