who's up for an extended metaphor?

The first time I tried to canter, I was riding a touchy light mare. It seems whenever I ride a light horse, I end up flying... they want to go fast and I want to go with them. When Charlie started to go, it felt like I was being tossed in the air over and over again. The sensation, and the speed, were such that I couldn't think of anything to do but stop. As soon as I recovered my senses I pulled up and cowardly went right back to a walk. I wanted to try again, but there wasn't time. I tried again the other day. I knew what I was getting into, so I didn't panic about starting the canter... and to my surprise, it was a much smoother ride than the jog (which is bouncy, but familiar). I had some time to adjust to the feeling of the ride and realized part of my problem. In order to feel secure, I had been requiring a firm foundation. Once I felt comfortable that the saddle wasn't going to fall out from under me, I could start really riding. But in the canter, sitting is not an option. You're flying. Your body is being moved without your immediate consensus, and it's being moved to midair. If you're going to ride, you have to put your heels down and start pushing, and skip the step of being comfortable altogether. If you wait until you're ready, you'll never go.

A fool as I will ever hope to be weighs in
And back, again, and again, to #42.