All my life I’ve heard the tired old cliché, “When you fall off a horse you have to get back in the saddle.” This never meant anything to me until I was thrown from a horse.
When I was younger, I joined an equestrian therapy group called Silver Spurs. Every Saturday I got to ride a horse named Yellow Horse. I enjoyed riding and looked forward to my next riding session. Although I loved riding horses, I was always afraid I would fall off the horse. I felt comfortable trotting, but not loping. At that time, I had never fallen off a horse before and didn’t know what to expect.
The morning I was thrown off the horse started as a beautiful warm spring day. A few small clouds gently floated against a bright blue sky. On this day, we led our horses to the big open riding arena. I felt confident as I urged Yellow Horse to start trotting. I was suddenly startled when the horse began loping. I didn’t give him instructions to lope, but the size of the arena must have inspired him to start loping. I was so startled, I began pulling hard on the reins. That was a big mistake! I was leaning forward when the horse jolted to a full stop. Unfortunately, I continued moving forward and flew right over his head. I hit the ground butt-first and lay sprawled on the ground for several minutes trying to catch my breath.
Amazingly, Yellow Horse didn’t move an inch. He seemed to be very concerned about me. I cried as I lay on the ground. Everyone gathered around me to see if I was all right. I heard a voice telling me to breath. I told myself to stop crying and start breathing. My dad checked me for broken bones and said I was okay. As I sat up, I felt a shooting pain and realized I had bruised my tailbone.
Someone helped me stand up. I felt dizzy and my joints ached. I started walking and felt better with each step. When I felt better, my instructor suggested it was time for me to get back in the saddle. Although I was afraid, I knew that was what I needed to do, but I was even more concerned about further hurting my tailbone. With help, I put my foot in the stirrup and got back in the saddle. My tailbone did hurt a little, but it wasn’t as bad as I feared. I was able to finish the lesson and Yellow Horse and I were friends again.
My mother wasn’t there that day, because she was recovering from a knee operation. After the lesson, my dad and I drove to pick her up from the nursing home. I told her all about falling off the horse. She told me how proud she was that I was able to get back in the saddle and finish my lesson.
As I have continued with my riding lessons, I have learned to lope. To this day, I still feel nervous and hold tightly to the saddle horn, which is a no-no, but I can lope for longer and longer times each time I practice. I’m hoping the day will come soon when I can confidently lope with my hands free of the saddle horn as a good cowgirl should ride. I can’t wait until lessons start again this spring.
I learned the lesson that it is better to conquer my fears than to allow my fears to conquer me. I will try to remember this each time I find myself feeling afraid.