Someone mentioned it, I think, but spooking and being
pitched from a horse you know is definitely not as likely to instill fear as
being hurt on a horse you really don't know.
The first injury I ever got (from getting old more than
the fall), I got when my horse was playing spook while we were riding at
night. He was amazed to see me on the ground. I had major muscle
spasms so I couldn't get back in the saddle, but I could almost hear my horse
saying, "okay, come on, just get back on. I won't do that again. We
can just have a nice ride." Meanwhile I'm saying, "No, we have to go
home. You have to walk slow while I hang on to the stirrup so I can walk
alongside you."
Now that I'm older, I guess I would not encourage those
play spooks, but before the fall I used to enjoy them as much as the
horse.
Dyane (whose horses wish she would get a little
younger)
