GET BACK ON AGAIN!
Three weeks ago, I fell off Norma for the first time in about three years. I have struggled in lessons and had to shift my weight a lot or adjust speed, but nothing like this. I've always managed to stay on. It was painful but didn't make me want to stop riding. I'm nervous to go around that spot again but not about getting on again. My instructor always told me, "when you fall, go jelly and it won't hurt as much." Fun fact: when you experience falling, there's no time to go jelly. The first thing I asked when my instructor came over to make sure I was okay was what I did to make her react that way because I was already struggling that day after a break. I hadn't ridden for a while because I was on vacation for two weeks, then got sick. One contributing factor was the nice weather making Norma want to really go and do things. I was not ready for what was coming next. It was a bang-up way to start riding again (no pun intended). The second contributing factor was the outside horses. They were running around and that caused Norma to start running. The result was me being dragged along the wall, then I hit the ground hard. I fell on my back which is why it hurt to get back in the saddle, got some good road rash all the way down my left arm, and a bruise on my left leg. I did a very good job hurting myself. I didn't feel ready to get back on right away, but my instructor told me since I wasn't really broken, we were going to continue the lesson. Luckily, she was right there beside me and we only did a couple more circles.
Here's a fun twist: this all happened the one time my mom left the arena for a minute. She was helping somebody else get their horses back to their stalls so my horse could go out. When she reached the arena, the gate was closed so nobody else could come in and I was on the ground. At first there was a little freak out, understandably, but when she saw me sitting up and being able to get up, she was okay and made sure I was okay.
My takeaway from this lesson is you should get back in the saddle when you fall off. I never knew how true this was until I fell off for the first time. It's very true. When you fall, you don't want to do that thing again, but you have to do it again. That's what makes it better and removes the fear.
Here's a fun twist: this all happened the one time my mom left the arena for a minute. She was helping somebody else get their horses back to their stalls so my horse could go out. When she reached the arena, the gate was closed so nobody else could come in and I was on the ground. At first there was a little freak out, understandably, but when she saw me sitting up and being able to get up, she was okay and made sure I was okay.
My takeaway from this lesson is you should get back in the saddle when you fall off. I never knew how true this was until I fell off for the first time. It's very true. When you fall, you don't want to do that thing again, but you have to do it again. That's what makes it better and removes the fear.