Ever have such a nice ride you have to tell someone about it?

I know, the title is too long.

I just had the nicest ride today~! I was a little worried about going out alone in the woods since Mac hasn't been ridden much lately , but out I went. He was worried, as he usually is, but I felt that I was able to keep just the right amount of support on him to let him know I was there and was in charge. But I didn't micromanage him either.
I am getting a feeling of how much directing I need to do when he indidcates that he's worried about something he can't quite make out what it is. Used to be I would immediately take up the slack in the rein and try to either MAKE him see it, or keep him busy doing something else like sidepassing so that he wouldn't get worried about the unknown thing.
Now I wait a bit and watch him and if he looks at the scary thing I wait and see if he can digest it and decide for himself whether he needs to be fearful or not. So, I don't help him make that deciscion unless I feel that he is really worried. It's a wonderful place when I can trust Mac to figure it out himself, but I am aware enough to know when I need to "be there" for him in his time of need.

It was just so wonderful to feel him moving under me and let him have that nice loop of rein and when he felt good, I just said, "Wanna go?" and he sensed my energy and offered me several lovely canters.

Man, what a day!

I had that exact same ride on Saturday! My horse is also someone timid when out alone. Same thing, let him think about it and every time he chose to move on with little help from me. I always love to talk about good rides, but I have to do it here on HF since nobody at work understands horses!

Well, we hear so much troubled things that I just wanted to post something joyful. As I get older, I appreciate the daily miracles of the mundane.

Aww that sounds relaxing! Glad you had a nice ride!
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Amen to that.
The last ride I had on Maggie (who sadly is in a new home ) was just that way. She was walking with an, "It's an awesome day for a trail ride" attitude. The last crisp breeze of Autumn was blowing, and the air was sweet. I got comfortable enough with Maggie that I let go of the reins, took my feet out of the stirrups, and closed my eyes for a few seconds, letting the waves of pure bliss run through me.

If I could only keep one memory, that would be it.

I love rides like that! Lacey's finally getting to where we can just go out and have a good ride so most of our rides lately have been like that, it's really great!

Last week, we ponied my Border Collie mix and it was really cute and fun to be out riding with my two favorite animals. My dog did so good too (he's pretty dog aggressive and has snapped in the past at strangers [he hasn't in years but there's always a chance] so he can't be off leash unless I can grab him easily), he just trotted along next to us and even when Lacey and I started trotting, he just galloped next to us like he does it everyday.
The funny thing is that every other horse he's been around, he gets kind of anxious and barky if they move too quickly, but with Lacey he just acts like she's a big buddy of his. I think it's because she couldn't care less about him. Heehee!
And then, Lacey was being so cute to him too, every time he'd get a little too far in front (he was on a 6 ft leash so he really could only get his head about a foot in front of her head), she'd pin her ears and swing her head slightly at him and he'd immediately let her lead again. She wasn't really looking to bite him, she was just showing him that she's the leader. It was quite hilarious since she's REALLY not dominant to other horses but dogs betta watch they'selves around Ghetto Poneh.

Yeah, I had a wonderful ride yesterday!

My qh started with the attempt to dismount me (by bucking me off) because she felt too fresh and didn't want to do boring trot "on contact". Then she decided it's time to snore, which she did SO loudly that I almost fell off the saddle and neighbor's ponies were scared away on other side of the field like crazy. So I'm not sure how wonderful it was, but it's definitely was hard-to-forget one!