A first for me

Warning: This post will probably make you laugh til you cry!

Things have been going well here for me, still busy as a one armed paper hanger but managing to get out and ride Frank three days a week at least. Let me start by saying Frank is doing GREAT!! I cannot believe how much progress he has made with Jed, the difference is amazing. The boy can stop ya'll! He consistently puts down a 20+ slide without even trying to hard.

I have been readjusting my riding form to reining. I say that because I was taught and rode very, well.... as Jed puts it "proper" you know the shoulder,hip, heel all in a straight row. Let me tell ya this does NOT work when reining. It is shall we say a much more relaxed look, feet forward and a bit of slouching thru the stop. I picture that I look like a vulture on a branch. It is taking me some real work to learn to relax and throw my feet forward but I am making progress...or I thought I was. Hence today's tale:

Last evening a very pleasant evening with temps that were tolerable compared to what we have been having I went for a lesson. It started much the same as usual: We jog some circles we work on softness, we lope some circles and work on softness, we move our shoulders in and out and we do some turnarounds. Then comes Fencing........
I HATE FENCING! There, I said it...... For those of you unfamiliar with fencing it involves loping then increasing speed down the middle of the arena from one end to the other. The goal is to sit deep at the end without picking up on the horse to teach him to stop at the wall. Most horses get this fairly quick and usually do not smack into the wall many times. Anyway, I was fencing which by the way did I mention I hate? Frank tends to drift one direction or the other while loping down the middle. Last nights goal was to use only my legs to steer him back on course instead of my reins (the thought being that if I were showing it won't show as bad).
Well...... I am not really sure what happened next, I may have accidentally hooked Frank with a spur or nudged a little to strong when he faded right but.... he whirled to the left at full speed and I was NOT sitting deep. What happened next you ask? Well.... I flew forward and left and got hooked on my 4 inch cutting saddle horn. (mistake #1: riding a cutting saddle while reining) I thought it was my xtra long tee shirt caught, but when I looked down to my amazement it was my jeans! Yep, the horn punched a hole right thru my thigh of my jeans and I was hooked on the horn. Jed left the building laughing and I was laughing so hard I was crying, some from the pain and mostly the absurdity of it all. I had to jump up to unhook myself from the horn which was no easy task whilst laughing so hard. I kept on riding but no more fencing for me! I loped off and did a beautiful stop down three quarters of the arena with no problem, just don't make me fence. I have several new nicknames at the barn now which I am not sharing with you. But heck, it is all in a day right?? I now sport a pretty bruise on my thigh and a great story to share with you all...

Taking Frank to a show next weekend in Indiana and looking forward to it. Stay tuned for more entertainment from my riding adventures....

Happy trails........