When I lived in Australia I went horseback riding at a stable that showed horses. I remember watching Mona, my teacher there dipping her horse's tail into a bucket of olive oil to make it grow. He was a beautiful bay horse.
One of the best days of my life was when Mona , another girl, and I rode some of the horses from the stable to the show grounds. It took all day. We started out in the morning with our picnic lunches. I rode one of the show horses, the other girl rode another, and Mona rode a third, leading a fourth. We went down country rails and paths, and then we got to the beach. That's where we stopped and ate our lunches, while the horses grazed. Then we got back on and rode down the beach.
I remember the sun being hot and the water being cold. I remember feeling the horse's warm side beneath my legs and the mane slapping me in the face. I was 7 and I knew I had just died and this was heaven. To me the beach stretched out in front of my forever. But it ended and we left the beach and headed into civilization and the real world again.
That was one of the best moments of my life. I was 7. I absolutely loved Australia and never wanted to leave.