He's a *real* pleasure horse now!

Sometimes you have those special milestones or goals that you don't realize you had until you reach them.

Last night I was able to ride Hemie bareback, outside of an arena, all around the property. I am just tickled pink that we are finally able to do that, I've still got a goofy grin on my face from it.

I've decided that being able to ride bareback outside of the confines of an arena is my personal definition of a true pleasure horse. While the rider needs to have balance, the horse has a big job - he needs to understand that his speed, self-carriage, and overall awareness is different when the rider has no saddle. And he needs to know that he can't get spook-tastic - he needs to look out for his rider.

We've been working on bareback riding maybe once every month or so. Let's just say it did not come naturally to Hemie. But he's a trooper and I'm proud of of our progress.

I give us a gold star.