Blog Hop: One Favorite Thing to Do on Horseback

My fellow equestrian blogger at Love && Horses recently posed the questions: If you could choose to do ONE THING on horseback, both in general and on your own horse in particular, what would you do?  What is your FAVORITE thing to do on your horse?

Something that would never happen, but that I dream I could do on Knight is to take him to a racetrack and gallop him.

I have not yet experienced his gallop and that I know of, there’s not a place nearby where I could just let him go as fast as he can–which I’m guessing is pretty fast considering his sire (dad) won the Breeders’ Cup Classic not once, but twice! (Google Tiznow and you’ll see an impressive specimen of horse handsomeness).

Knight did win one race in his rather brief career.

Warning: gratuitous Knight-promotion photo below. And yes, that is Victor Espinoza on board.

There are trails adjacent to our boarding facility, but they’re kind of mountain wilderness trails. I’ve never been on them, but perhaps there are some nice flat open spaces where we could do that. Gallop.

The racetrack idea is fun because the footing would be top notch, freshly groomed, etc. I am a footing worrier (ever since I broke my nose when my previous horse tripped and fell at the canter and I landed face first) and so even if we do make it out to the trails in coming months, i would probably never feel truly comfortable letting him go as fast as he can. Note to self: get to know the trail riders at barn because they will have the scoop on the footing and if the ground is too hard, level enough etc.

I am in love with Knight’s canter. There are so many versions at this point, but the relaxed, soft, not-too forward version is pure poetry. When I tried Knight out to see if I wanted to buy him, when I cued him to trot he cantered. I didn’t immediately get him to come back and do what I asked and trot. I was so enthralled with his canter, I just kept going and I think I even started to giggle. It was so fun. I knew he was the one for me.

So now that we’re three months into our partnership and still working on basics, I’m content with his canter. I’ll save the gallop for some time in the future. 2015 is around the corner, you know.

If you’re a blogger, feel free to join the hop. If not, still feel free to pipe in in the comments section below with your fav thing to do on horseback. (Or your favorite thing to watch others do on horseback–yes, that was meant for you, Mom). 

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