Pixie and I reach another milestone

Yesterday we spent the whole day with the ponies! We made it out after breakfast and hopped on Willow and Pixie for a nice little trail ride. I decided to take Pixie out bareback. We have been riding bareback quite a bit lately and for the most part have covered all of the barns property. There was only one place left that we hadn't tackled bareback yet, and that was the island. So we did it yesterday! My partner and I headed over after warming them up around the barn. There is a lot of downed trees, sand, riverbed, and hills on the island. Over all it isn't easy terrain for them to cover and Pixie was perfect as always. She never took a miss step even with my shifting weight. This is why she is my perfect partner. It took us a long time to get to this. She has to trust you to work with you. There are a lot of things Pixie does not excel at...she is not an arena horse or a beginners horse. She still can't for the life of her canter collected for more than a few strides, her side passing under saddle is still a struggle at times, and she loses her steering (because she wants to leave) when we enter the arena. Are we working on these things? Yes, we are slowly, but surely she is getting better with those things.
But more important to me are the things that she is great at! The most important thing... I can take her anywhere to ride now and she will trust me and I will trust her. She is the most amazing trail horse! We can open/close gates, go through water, over dead fall, and through deep footing without a miss step. She never rushes out or home, which is important when you are going up and down a rocky mountain.  Besides being a great trail horse, she loves to play at liberty with me. She keeps me in check, she makes sure I am just as connected as she is. Our relationship is now at the level where if she doesn't feel like I am going to be connected when I go to catch her she will make sure I have to focus and reconnect before letting me catch her. We play at liberty in our pasture amongst 4 other horses and she will stay focused on me :)

I am so thankful that I am able to have multiple horses. I love each and everyone one of them as they are all perfect in their own way. However Pixie will always be my heart horse. She and I share a special connection that is a once in a lifetime thing. She is the one that taught me what I know today, she opened the door for me to be able to work with Navi as a yearling, Baby Berry as a weanling, and Char as an untrained adult. She made me listen in the beginning and prepared me to help Willow through the unsure times when we first welcomed her into the family. Pixie has made me think outside the box of traditional horse training, and I will be forever grateful, as will my future horses.  Pixie did not give me anything easily, in order for her to get better at what I wanted, she insisted that I get better too. She is my greatest teacher and friend!