# Pacific's Ride



## cfralic (Jan 17, 2011)

Today my mom and I finally got to ride our half-leases, Amber and Pacific. 

Amber is a flashy buckskin dun, and Pacific, the white horse, is her daughter. They are both morgan/qh crosses, and neither is particularly young. Amber is 18 and her daughter's age is unknown. 

We were unsure of which horse we were going to choose, but when I heard Pacific was the speed demon, I knew I would like her most. 

I rode her in an English saddle. English was how I learned to ride when I was very young, and how I rode until my teenage years. I took up riding again as an adult in the Western style, but man, getting up into that English saddle seemed to bring back all of my forgotten skills. I found my confidence and had so much more control of my body. Western is always a struggle for me and I took it as a stab at my equitation skills - my balance was poor, I tended to lean and slouch, and my control of the horse was always a struggle. In that English saddle I could simply use my seat to talk to Pacific, no hands, no legs, just thinking where I needed to go and going there. My mom was shocked by how my position was so seamless. I am very proud of myself, too.

We walked, trot, and then cantered around the ring. I learned to take te gas easy with Pacific. She has no fast walk or fast trot, and she loves to run. I had a lot of fun hacking around the ring. In my recent riding lessons I couldn't grasp canter and it was frustrating me, because I knew how to do it and had done it years ago with little thought. Today, when I cantered, it was like floating on air. I loved feeling the gusts of wind in my hair and seeing her ears pricked forward. We cantered around and around the ring and she moved like we were connected - my brain to her body. 

I have never ridden a horse like Pacific before, and I don't know if it was her, me, the saddle, time of day or just pure luck. Either way, I will be seeing more of her over the next few months.


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