Horse rider here too, had 2 of my own a few years ago, well 1 for me & 1 for the wife, hers was a good little , what I would call a "plodder" , a Welsh section "D", cracking "in Hand" show horse...
My own was a 16 hand Thoroughbred chestnut mare, & wow was she "flighty"
a great show jumper, higher the better, she was great, used to turn her into the jump, she,d see it & her ears twitched as if to say "I see it, here we go"
, i,d "give" her the reign & she,d jump it perfectly
, tho I then would "take" the reign in mid flight, as otherwise we,d be off like a speed train once she,d landed
.
I used to spend more money on horse shoes in a year than I,ve spent on shoes for myself in my lifetime LOL.
Tho, must agree, its a great feeling galloping flat out along a beach, its hard to describe, but , wow, took my breath away.
I also dabbled with motorbikes....used to race them for a team....ouch.
cheers
andy