After 13 seasons on trail, I figure my Maggie is
fairly well trained. Spooking is still an issue. Sometimes it is
legitimate, like the log eating machine that was bouncing up and down when we
came around the turn in an extended trot. I never had a chance.
Maggie dropped to the ground, spun 180 degrees while leaping 10 ft sideways, and
I flew off the saddle in the sitting position. Kristie rushed over as I
lay there and asked 'are you dead?' Then she went and caught Maggie and I
got back on and we ran half mile hill. Good run too, plenty fast!
The log eating machine was still bouncing! I couldn't sit the canter for a
month my tail bone hurt so bad but I could post. I consider Maggie very
manageable, well trained, but she can throw some of the most obnoxious spooks I
have ever tried to sit. For the most part I am successful and mostly at a
ride, she is so business like, that I don't get very many. Home is a
different story. I believe that she likes to liven things up and make sure
that I am awake and paying attention. My only defense is the right handed
death grip on the horn. I never know when those spooks are coming, I swear
she lays in wait for me and then does it on purpose.
Jeanie
