Crazy time!

So I wanted to give everyone a quick update on the last few weeks. It has been pretty tough, but my head is up. After the last time I posted I took a four day trip with Gracie my 5 year old to a barrel clinic at the Josey Ranch. I had the opportunity to take a mustang with me but I opted not to so I could focus on Grace and Macaroni. Little did I know I could have used the days for the saddle time. So I came back recovered for a day and then rode them that Saturday. Both girls did awesome and I taught both of them to side pass. I was ready to start riding them everyday and things had slowed down. The next day (2 Mondays ago) I was out riding a clients colt he was very fresh and bucked under saddle as I lunged him in warm up. This wasn't out of the ordinary for this colt so I figured he would be fine if I moved on and jumped on. After all he had been ridden 12+ times and has been solid. As I started moving him around he started skipping. I made a joke that he was gonna try to buck but I never thought he was agile enough to really do any damage. All it took was one moment for him to decide he didn't want to do what I ask and he sucked his head to the ground and pulled away from me into a buck. My first thought was to stick with him, he had not really bucked hard even in the beginning so I figured he didn't have a hard buck in him. Boy was I wrong. He bucked harder then I have ever ridden before. I rode him about six jumps and every jump I thought I was off, then I would land back in the saddle still with him. So I kept riding. Finally the physics of it all caught up with me. The horse was going down faster then I was and then would meet me on the way up. It took about two of those jumps and I was off. My instinct was still trying to get his head around, so the pull of the reins flipped me upside down and straight on the back of my neck. Let me tell you it HURT. I laid there trying to feel if everything was working. Thankfully it was. Unfortunately, everyone that was standing around not five minutes before had left to go unsaddle other horses and get a drink. Which left me on the ground for 10 minutes before my sister came and found me. All I knew was I didn't want to sit up or move until I was sure I didn't break my neck. There was a lot of panic as everyone ran around trying to find out what happened. Finally with assistance of my family I sat up and started moving. Obviously I didn't ride my mustangs that day.  After three days I decided that my body wasn't healing like it should so I went to the doctor and they let me know that I had a moderate concussion and that I should be off for at least another week. I have been off for two weeks. I was not planning on that much time off. Thankfully I had a friend come in and ride Sunday (the dun) for a day in the middle. I was so happy to see she did really well.
After all the stress of missing work and getting way behind on the mustangs. I called in a friend to see if she wanted to ride and show Sable (the black mare). I am a little bummed because Sable has really started to shine up and look good. It has really taken a load off that she will be leaving and going to my friend. I would rather separate them and give them both a chance then me to finish both and not have the time to make them great. So since that decision I am super excited to finish Sunday.

Yesterday I went out and rode for the first time since my incident. Being that I don't have one "broke" horse on the place I pulled out Sable. I had a lesson and I needed a steed to help me out. I rode her around in the round pen first to test her and then I took her into the arena. She walked around as three other horses warmed up around her. I wasn't expecting her to do anything great. Just being there was a huge step forward. There was only once that one of the girls loped passed her and she jumped. As the girls were finishing up their warm up I watched and suddenly I lost my horse. She apparently thought that the sand was way to good to pass up and laid down right underneath me. We all laughed. I chose to take advantage of the moment and sat on her and rubbed all over her. After a minute or two I gave her the "up" cue and she hoped up. The rest of the lesson she stood quietly and watched. I was really proud.

Today I rode Sunday and tried her out in our new bosal. She seems to like it much better then the bridle. From here on out I will be doing a little of both to get the effects that I want. I have to kick it in to high gear to get her ready to do all the things that we need done. I have really gotten excited about working with Sunday. She is really a neat horse.

On a personal note, this has been one of the most mentally and spiritually challenging few weeks. I have listened to many podcast on positive sports mentality trying to keep my head straight. It is funny how a small issue can send you in a thought process that can defeat you before you get started. At this point I know that I finish Sunday and she can be a nice horse. My issue is making her spectacular in the limited time that I have. There are so many aspects of the competition that I am not prepared for. In the end I know that God has a plan. Now I just need to work really hard and let Him do the rest.  Stay in tune.