Today was the day I anticipated. Today was the day I dreaded because I wondered, "Could I do it? Could I get up on Doodles and ride without injuring my new knees?" I groomed him for about an hour; he must have thought he was going to a parade! Doodles was surprised to see the mounting block and bridle, but NO saddle. I rarely ride bareback, but I thought it would be easier for me. Getting on was no problem. And I was riding! We were a motley crew: Forest, Oscar (the cat), Doodles & me. I only rode for 10 minutes and it was heavenly. The hard part was getting off: I wrapped both my arms around Doodles' neck and clumsily slid off. He stood there, steadfast and true. When I came into the house, Billy thought something was wrong, because I was crying. I told him "I did it. I rode the Doodle Bug bareback." Just wanted to share with my friends on the List. Penny in NC Forest the Brave and the Bold Doodles the Wonder Horse ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2011. All material remains the property of the original author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Each Author is responsible for the content of his/her post. This group and its administrators are not responsible for the comments or opinions expressed in any post. ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE PROSECUTED. For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxx VISIT OUR WEBSITE - http://showgsd.org SUBSCRIPTION:http://showgsd.org/mail.html NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/ ============================================================================