I had three increasingly bad falls on the same, new
horse. The first fall didn't really affect my confidence. The second
(that broke bones) did, but I found some training Fox really liked (Harry
Whitney) and very, very slowly started riding him. Even rode him over a
no-hands metal railroad bridge with a rocked creek below. Then one day, I
got on him, feeling confident and happy and he started bucking. Not bad
bucks. The kind of little bucks we all ride out anywhere anytime, but I
froze. I couldn't see, or hear. I remember him bucking for what
seemed like a long time and thinking I should grab the saddle horn. As I
reached for it, he unloaded me. I don't remember the fall, but I might
have gotten hung up in the stirrups as I had a bad gash on one of my
ankles. The next thing I knew I was lying on my back thinking, "good, I'm
off the horse and I'm still alive."
I guess I think my reaction was a kind of post-traumatic
stress syndrome. I never expected to feel that way, but it was like being
asleep and trying to wake up. I was in a cocoon of my own
fear.
Fortunately, I realized that the third fall was more my
fault than anyone's. Fox has turned into a horse that is so quiet and
good, a child could ride him. Who would ever have thought? And I got
help by taking him to Bryan Neubert for a week-long clinic.
