Nothing to Write About?

As the month nears the end, it occurs to me that I didn't have anything to write about.  The rides have been fun, but there has been nothing of note that happened.  Has it reached that point in my writing career?

I should no better.  Fate wouldn't have that--not where horses are involved.

Just when I was losing hope that I would have something to inspire me, everything changed.

I went for a ride with Kevin on Starry.  Both horses had the previous day off.  Cole had the day off because he got a new set of shoes.  Needless to say, they were feeling rather frisky.

We were trotting down the trail with Kevin in the lead.  I felt Cole start to bunch up, and yelled out a warning to Kevin.  He stopped his horse, Starry.  Right as I yelled, and loud motorcycle went by.  That was just the excuse Cole was looking for!  He took off running.  I wanted to stop him before I reached Starry, so I bent him a little bit to slow him down and then asked him to stop.  He slammed on his brakes so suddenly I just could not stay on him.

As I lost my balance, I wrapped my arms around his neck.  Cole then lowered his neck, and when I finally lost my grip, I was only a few feet from the ground.  I didn't get hurt at all.  Poor Kevin saw the whole thing, and he was just traumatized.

In retrospect, I should have asked Cole to trot instead of to stop.  He only did what I asked him to do.  This has nearly happened a couple of times before, so I should have known better.  Cole has quite a stop.  It was only made worse because he had new shoes--with better grip.  At least no one got hurt.  Kevin couldn't stop talking about it.  He was so upset.  I was just relieved.

The rest of the ride was ordinary.  They were still frisky, but we were able to contain them.

Just 2 days later, I was out riding with Kevin on Starry and Ellen on Dante.  It was a great ride.  On the way home, we were crossing the final river.  Kevin was already across on the other side.  Ellen and I had finished crossing.  I started up the river bank.

Next thing I knew, Cole was running at least 100 miles per hour up the bank.  At the top, we have to turn right or left.  Cole didn't seem to plan to do either direction.  We were headed straight for a tree.  I asked him to turn to the right.  Ever obedient, he did, but we were still going 100 miles per hour.  He made the turn, but I didn't.  He missed the tree, but I didn't.  I slid right off his side, into the tree and then to the ground.

As I was going through the air, the only thing I could think of was, "I can't believe this is happening, again."

I was immediately on my feet.  This time, I could feel the bruises, but I knew immediately that I wasn't seriously hurt.

Poor Kevin.  He was traumatized.  He finally stopped talking about the first fall.  He had a whole new fall to talk about.

Starry was far enough away that he barely reacted.  Dante saw Cole running up the bank, and he turned and trotted away a few steps away from him.

Ellen told me she heard a branch falling behind us.  I am so glad there was a reason for his behavior.  I didn't hear it, but Cole must have.  He may have even seen it with his amazing peripheral vision.  It may have even fell in the river.  Ellen didn't hear it fall.  I forgave him.  No one was seriously hurt.

Sometimes I go years without falling.  This is the third time this year.  Remember, we fell in the river earlier in the summer.  I hope I am done with it for a while.  Falling is just part of riding, though.  That is why I wear a helmet.

I hope I don't have anything to write about next month...