Horse and man alike respond poorly to force.
"For what a horse does under constraint, as Simon says, he does without understanding, and with no more grace than a dancer would show if he was whipped and goaded. Under such treatment horse and man alike will do much more that is ugly than graceful. No, a horse must make the most graceful and brilliant appearance in all respects of his own will with the help of aids."

Equine Body Surfing!

azbackcountryriders Ocean Ride photos by krogershorseman

Heading out to stalk waves at Border Field State Beach, June 2009:

Jessie and Hawk catch a ride:

Judy and Baybay turn to catch a wave just as it curls:

Caught the wave above, free-floating as it broke --
then loped in the soup as the wave helped push us into shallow water:

Both Hawk and Baybay quickly learned the game of stalking breaking waves, turning, then pushing off the bottom and lifting their legs to let the wave fully support the half-ton equine body surfers.
Horse surfing rocks!