You are absolutely correct. I had a horse from the time I was 12 till about 17 and then again later on when I was older and married. When I was a teen I didn’t even own a saddle, I rode bareback (not me, the horse) and there was no sexual pleasure. The pleasure was the wind in my face and the freedom.
The pleasure was the wind in my face and the freedom.
You are right-the freedom is the first thrill of riding-not sexual sensation.
I began riding one of the horses on the ranch-a mare-when I was about 8, and like the other kids in the family, we learned to ride bareback first, then got a saddle (English, not Western), because my parents and other family believed that you learned the “feel” of the horse if you rode bareback first.
I still ride when I have the chance-but like me, few of my neighbors can afford to keep a horse in these hard times.