A Dishonorable Dismount

It was bound to happen eventually. Every horseperson knows that sometimes gravity is stronger than your will to stay on the horse. Two days before our two-year anniversary, I finally had my first fall off of Junior. It wasn't a big deal, just a big spook and my inability to stay in the tack. We were out on the trail with woods on one side and a soybean field on the other. My BO and I were in the lead with three more behind us. ALL the horses did a big spook at one time. We concluded it was probably a deer but we were all too busy trying to stay on that no one was able to confirm it. Junior did that sideways jump-thing and spun. I sort of spun off the side. I was hanging on fairly well (THIS is why I trail ride in a western saddle!) but it became clear that I didn't have any leverage to get back UP and I was sort of hanging on his mouth, which was not nice, so I just let go and thumped onto my back. If I had been just a little bit more of a ninja I think I could've found a way to get back on, but sadly I am no ninja. Junior was a gem, just stood still even though Gunner was running (riderless) towards him. One other rider (it was her first ride, poor thing) came off, too so we stayed dismounted for a bit while everybody caught their breath. It wasn't until after I got back on that I even thought about the fact that there was never a question in my mind whether or not I should get back on. Nice.

This was not my first dishonorable dismount, of course, but it's been over 4 years since. I've been deliberately thrown only twice, but I've lost balance and come off a few more times and there was the time Banee fell. I've been relatively lucky. *Knock on wood!* I do find it infinitely harder to get back on a horse that's thrown you than it is to get back on a horse that you fell off of. I do have a lot more confidence in Junior now, that I think I would still get back on if he threw me, but it would take an awful lot for him to decide to do that. He's just not that horse....thankfully!