Just passing through...

I think the interpreters should consider that perhaps this is written from the feminine point of view.

The rider might be male - the usual pun, but many female riders would not prefer a horse of this size, and the remark about light hands - as a mark of surprised assessment is more likely to be made of a male rider than a female. Women usually have lighter hands (Princess Anne excepted).

Comparably the reaction to the thumbnail from above the hipbone towards the groin is I think more characteristic of the female sexual response than the male.

Again, it is more usually the female who is constrained by social circumstance to remain behind and not to roam.