Ultimate shoulder rides

David, thanks for the clips of hot waterski riders, and to the administrators for putting the files where we could find them among the uploaded videos.

Did everybody notice that these riders sit tall and straight with their hips forward and their legs wrapped happily around their mounts' torsos?  Look at photos of trick cyclists, acrobats and cheerleaders.  All of us have been TRAINED to ride that way, although some, like me, figured it out for ourselves in advance.  A really muscular mount can carry a rider even if she's not riding snugly astride his neck, but the objective is to get the rider's center of gravity directly over her mount's spine, which makes carrying her for a long time much less effort.  Another very nice thing about that way of riding:  gentlemen, have you noticed that there's a little bump at the very top of your spine?  If your head is tilted just a bit forward, that bump is in just the right place to make your rider very happy when she's astride your neck.   By the time I became a cheerleader in high school, and even more so when I was a college cheerleader, I found riding with good form so pleasurable that I can't imagine why any reasonably athletic girl wouldn't jump at the chance to be a cheerleader.  I've only gone waterskiing twice, but I can see that ski shows offer another good opportunity for some really enjoyable riding.

Liz