Monday, November 28, 2011

First Fall Post-Crash


Check out this action. This is the jump set up for my (and Devon's) lesson on Saturday. It looks pretty cool and a little confusing, and it totally is.

We started out by doing some position exercises--mostly two point at the walk. As the sun came up, we went to trot around the whole arena, and just as we passed the spot where I'm standing to take this picture, Izzy took off like a bat out of hell. I give you this section from Izzy's perspective:

"So I'm totally trotting around with mom bopping along on top of me. I have no idea what she's doing (nor.mal.) so I'm just looking around at these big pretty bushes. Clearly mom has no idea what's going on-she's just kicking me forward and keeping the reins loose. Doesn't she have any idea what -might- be in there???? OMFG GIANT ATTACK BUNNY RABBIT!!! RUN RUN RUN GET AWAY SAVE YOURSELF!!! SADDLE SLID!!!! ZOMFGZFZFZ THERE IS A DERANGED MONKEY HANGING OFF MY SIDE WHERE DID MOM GO MUST GET AWAY FROM MONKEY!!!!#%^#@%!!!"

At this point, I fell off. Izzy stopped a stride or two later and gave me a bit of a look. Her saddle was twisted off to the side. Thankfully my breastcollar kept it from going under her. Nothing like a loose-ish girth and a round horse, is there?

Anyways. There were drag marks in the arena from me. I landed on my butt and my neck and it hurt like crazy.

I got up, rearranged everything, and got back on. After all, I am having a lesson. I'm not going to lie. It was terrifying. It was all I could do to bite back the tears and grit my teeth. I MUST finish. I WILL finish. I hurt, but I will.not.quit. At least, not until the lesson is over.

After all, I still had this to do. (NOTE: video is of Stephanie on Foster. This is to demonstrate the exercise we were doing.)

Do you see the line? Not yellow to yellow. Low yellow to red to red. Three jumps. One stride between each. 45 degree angles. One straight line.

There is no time to make adjustments or use the reins. You have to come in perfectly straight and stay perfectly still.

Izzy and I totally rocked it. I may have been terrified to trot around the perimeter of the arena, but I could canter complex courses. So it goes.

Sunday was not my best day ever. I couldn't turn my neck and I was in constant pain. I opted not to ride, but I noticed that after I came off, Izzy was still super spooky every time we went through that corner. I had to grab mane each time just to keep from hitting her in the mouth.

So Sunday I booted her up and we went to lunge in the scary corner.

Damn, she looks good.

I made use of our groundwork training from this summer, really getting her to be responsive.

I kept her forward, made her stop and reverse directions on command, and let her work the kinks out. All without turning my head. Ouch.

No worries--I am/was the expected level of sore, so nothing is broken. It just hurt.

I have not been back on yet. I was all alone at the barn today and am in process of replacing my helmet, so I decided that plus the residual pain made it a bad idea. Still, I am playing through my head mental video of what happened and trying to change my reactions. I need to correct this 'cling like a deranged monkey' trait. It's really not helping anything.

16 comments:

  1. I am glad you are ok and didn't get seriously hurt. That is no fun. Falling off with grace is a good thing to learn. Less of a chance of getting hurt, you scare the horse less, and as a bonus look less 'deranged money like', lol!

    Darn bunnies.

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  2. Even though falling off is not amusing, your Izzy commentary was. Deranged monkeys are scary.

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  3. Hope you feel better soon. Falling is never fun. I never seem to have time to cling on - I just go flying off . . .

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  4. Glad you weren't hurt. A slipped saddle is going to leave you hanging on like a monkey. Epsom salts in a hot bath can do wonders for all the bruising and stiffness.

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  5. Very glad to hear you are ok, though left with some soreness. I am not a flier not a clinger. Good choice to take it easy for a couple days.

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  6. Good on you for getting back on and finishing the lesson. Glad you weren't hurt worse than you were.
    That 45 degree turn looked pretty hard, you guys did great :)!!

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  7. You poor thing! Falling off is a BITCH, no two ways about it. It doesn't help when your tack lets you down, either. I'm glad you are ok and hell yes, I bet Izzy rocked that line of jumps:) She does look like a million bucks, too. I would have done the same thing with lunging in that corner, and good for you for waiting for your helmet. Rock star!

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  8. Hope you're feeling better soon. Very brave of you to get back on and ride! :)

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  9. Deranged monkeys throw feces. I am sure you were just a concerned primate intent on staying on her present perch =)

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  10. Owie. I'm still not getting that jump exercise though. We need video.

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  11. Cling like a monkey is just reaction! I know this reaction haha. Sorry you were hurt, I sympathise. Super brave to carry on that, mad respect

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  12. That exercise looks like fun! I'm going to have to figure out how to set that up.

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  13. Well, I suppose it still is "fall." *sigh*

    Going off is never fun, but you did tell a good story with Izzy's version of the whole affair. *lol*

    Glad you finished up the lesson even though you were shaken up. Sorry you ache, but I hope that will fade quickly.

    Just take it easy. I'm sure Izzy didn't mean to be a goofball...

    Oh, yes, deranged monkeys don't usually stay on horses very well. I would change my style if I were you. (Not that I should talk as I performed my own failed version of the "vaulting monkey" myself. *G*)

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  14. Well, good for you for getting back on and kicking @ss through that line, which btw, looks AWESOME and SCARY.

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  15. Indeed -- BTDT. And I'm glad you didn't get worse hurt, too. Still, you didn't mention how much you hurt afterward! Ack! Ice. Lots of ice.

    Count me in the "flying monkey" camp, too. If I cling like a deranged monkey, I tear my shoulders up, as proven by my torn-up shoulders. ;)

    Anyway, take good care of yourself! Let me know if there's anything you need that I can help with.

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  16. I hesitate to put this in writing, because you know how that goes, but I have not fallen off a horse before. Could be because I have only been riding for a year consistantly and have never attempted more than a raised trot pole. So I can't say I know how you feel...expect I know how it felt to watch my daughter go flying a few times!

    Hope you are feeling better and indulging in hot baths, chocolate, and wine :)

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