Sheer Joy!

As most of you are aware, last November our horse got an injury that eventually made her lame. Long story short, my sister and I could walk and canter (lope) her but we were unable to canter because we had to pass through the trot to get to the canter. The trot was what would have made it worse and become dangerous to us as the rider. So we were stuck with a walk. Of course, I was glad for a walk rather than nothing but it was hard since we got her mostly to really ride. Anyways, we had the vet come out to give Dream her annual shots. When he did, he also looked at her leg. He clarified for us that her injury is just like arthritis; sometimes she'll be a little stiff and limping, other times she'll be right as rain and on those days we could go through the trot to the canter. He briefly lunged her and told us that on this particular day she looked “right as rain”. So, later that day, my sister and I saddled her and then worked toward a canter. After several tries I was able to get her to a canter on my cue. My sister also had several good canters. 

Now, this wasn't even the best part! Well, I guess that the best part was that we can now canter her, but my post title is actually based on an event that happened the following day. Up until this point, I had both walked and trotted bareback but cantered only in a saddle. I had been thinking about trying to canter bareback since in all your movies and books they do canter bareback. (Yes, I know that they are not always the most reliable sources but I know that people do.) After making sure that this was one of her “right as rain” days, my sister and I worked her a bit and then rode bareback. Once again, after several tries, I was cantering bareback! When I came back I was absolutely speechless. It was an AMAZING feeling. I was flying! Sheer joy. That's just about the best way to describe it. Both my sister and I had several more bareback canters and we both agreed that, that . . . I don't even know how to describe it! It was wonderful. As I said, sheer joy!

Sorry, but I was unable to find any pictures or video of cantering bareback so this one picture will have to do! (A BIG thanks to my sister for capturing this beautiful moment on camera!)