Well, I guess it was going to happen sometime...

Well, things can't always be perfect, can they?

I fell off of Missy today. I don't know if I fell or if I bailed- it all happened so fast- but I hit the ground.

Doug has been off of the farm twice with Missy and some other horses, and she was nervous, but good. So, today I invited two girls to ride with me, and I thought that everything would be okay- she'd just follow them, right?

She did- for about three minutes as we rode alongside the road, by the cornfield. Then she decided to go back. I was not ready to turn around yet, so I insisted on arguing with her. She tried to bolt up the hill, and the only way to turn her (which we are working on, but she is not good at yet) was up to the road, and I was quickly losing the fight. I don't remember what she did, but it was the last straw, and the other girls suggested that I should get off and lead her for a while- no problem! So I led her across the bridge, which she had never crossed before, and across the highway (I actually felt SAFER that way!). Then I decided to mount again, when the area looked to be calmer. When I finally got on (she KNOWS to stand still when being mounted- what's up with THAT?!!), she sniffed noses nervously with one of the other horses for a second, and then began to pivot on her front feet, turning her butt to the ditch (We were standing on the road, at the edge.). Then she REARED. Not a little baby rear like she did a few months ago when I first began riding her- NO, this was a REAR. I guess she began to fall backwards, and maybe she even walked backwards, because I was thinking (as the other girls began shouting), 'How am I going to get out of being smashed? I've got to kick my feet out of the stirrups- leap to the right?' I guess she suddenly spun to the left, because I DID land to the right, still holding the reins, and luckily, with NO HORSE ON TOP OF ME. Praise the Lord! So we walked. And walked. All through a field brimming with nettles that pricked me through my jeans- imagine how my HORSE felt! Oh yeah- I forgot to say- I wasn't hurt by the fall. I landed in the grass on my side, I think, and the only thing I got was some weird rash on the inside of my left upper arm (I brushed the Western saddle horn, maybe?). And OF COURSE, I had been wearing my HELMET (I'm SUCH a good girl). So we walked.

Finally, we were walking beside the highway, closer to the field and we see this SUV pulled up alongside the road. As we get closer, the other girls recognized the couple and began talking to them. They are horse people and had seen me walking a saddled horse along with two riders, and they were wondering what could be the matter. So, of course I am introduced as being the owner of a new horse at my stable, and who are these people?

MY FIANCEE'S BRAND NEW EMPLOYERS- that's who these people are! I hadn't met them yet, but when they said their names, what do I do? Blurt out to the other girls- "Oh- these are Doug's new bosses!", and then to them, "Do you want to meet Missy?" (Because OF COURSE, they have heard of MISSY! Doug talks about her all the time!). And I led my beloved mare up to their vehicle for the woman to pet her while we chatted about my fall and Missy's training and stuff.

SO, TO THE HORSE PEOPLE LOCATED IN AND AROUND HOOPESTON, ILLINOIS:
I know this is a small town, and people talk, but this is MY STORY. No, my horse did not spook at an Unidentified Flying Object hovering around her ears. No, she did not grab me with her tail, swing me out over the soybeans, and hold me over the pavement while she demanded a hefty ransom of fifteen bags of treats a day for the next month. And No, she did not get even with me by yanking a girth around my belly and making me trot so long that my head exploded. She just threw me, or something. That's all. So, YES, I fell off of my fantastic beautiful mare Missy, and I survived.

So, I mounted her a couple of times on the way back, but she was just too wound up, being close to home and all. So we waited. I led her into the roundpen, mounted up, and walked and trotted like nothing had ever happened. We worked on circles, trotted over a couple of trotting poles, and relaxed. Then I gave her a cool spongebath and let her graze for a while.

THE END.