Thursday, July 24, 2014

Ride 61 and I finally fell off.....


The pictures and story are going to be in order of how it all happened.  You have to read the whole thing lol.  I'll try to not talk too much and just let you see the pictures... key word try!  Okay so we finally got the brush hog fixed so hubby spent the day mowing the pasture.  My best friend wants me to ride horses with her next week so I decided to ride Chrome and see how my back was feeling.  Feeling totally lazy I just put his bitless bridle on and since I was in shorts I put my black dressage pad on to keep my thighs from getting all hairy and gross.


 My sidekick.  That white blur is Chrome's tail lol.


 Chrome likes to follow Jackal. :D



 Sorry for sharing a poop shot (but look at that fat hiney!), but this is the only one that shows the saddle pad I was using... it's important for later lol.



Checking out the process on mowing.  He's having to cut it really short because the weeds are bad since the pasture hasn't had regular maintenance in a while.  The flies were making Chrome crazy even though I covered his WHOLE body in fly spray (that's another hint)!!  He was feeling kind of up and kept trying to break into a trot, but listened when I asked him to walk.  My back wasn't up for trotting yet.


 Sorry for the pup shots, but he's so cute!!


 What's he looking at?


 Oh it's the tractor!  No big deal.


 Drinking.  I LOVE the reflection and ripples in the water!!


 He was thirsty!


 We went to the back pasture to see how the mowing was going.  See how grown up it was??



 Jackal rests when we stand still.  When the flies got really bad I asked Chrome to stand still so I could smack them or he could bite them.  It was so cute because at one point he bent his head around and touched my bare leg with his nose.  I pulled my leg up and he proceeded to chew on his ribs where he was itchy.  Such a sweet, polite boy!


 Love this guy!  That expression!
He is losing weight on his diet btw.



As we were walking around in the front yard I saw the salt block my dad put out for the deer and decided to see what Chrome would do.



He licked on the salt block for SEVEN minutes!!!!  Yes I timed it!!  So after his salty seven minutes in heaven I decided to see if he wanted another drink.  He did.  Then on a whim I asked him to walk into the pond because before when I've asked him he did not want to go in.  He walked right into the pond!!!



And started pawing (which is why I'm pulling on the reins), so I decided to turn him around and get out of the pond ASAP before he decided to lay down.  As soon as I got him turned around, with no warning at all he went down!!!!  I screamed (loud) in surprise and my hubby heard me halfway across the pasture over the sound of the tractor (I scared him!).  I kicked Chrome asking him to stand back up since I was still sitting on his back with my feet on the floor of the pond, underwater.  He lunged to his feet........... and I didn't go with him!  I got dunked in the pond... camera and all!  Damn!  I should have just stepped off of him, but I didn't think about the saddle pad causing me to fall.  Oh well.  He didn't mean to.  It was totally my fault because I should have known he would want to roll with all the flies bothering him, not to mention I had the saddle pad on his fly spray slicked back (in my defense when I sprayed him I had no intentions of riding).  I didn't get mad at him because I was laughing the whole time.  Even though my camera is possibly destroyed (I won't know for a few days) I couldn't be upset with him because it was all my fault and when I was asking him to walk into the pond I had a gut feeling something like that was going to happen (one day I will learn to listen to my gut feelings since they are rarely wrong).  When I fell into the water his leg hit my thigh and it's bruising, but otherwise I was unhurt thank goodness!  For my first fall off of Chrome I can't complain lol.  Better the camera than me!


The last picture my camera took before getting dunked.

When he realized I was standing in the pond and he was free he trotted off to go graze in the front yard (jerk! I shouldn't have left the gate open, but he'd been out there all day and I was riding back and forth).  He proceeded to step on his reins and break my bridle in half.  :(  I'm so sad.  That was my awesome yard sale bridle that I got for seven dollars and it's a Kieffer!  So I fell off, possibly destroyed my camera and totally destroyed my bridle.... I think I learned my lesson about riding with an uncinched saddle pad!!  Oh well.  It happens.  :)  Besides it makes for a really hilarious story to tell!!  Hey on a good note my helmet didn't get wet even though I got splashed in the face!  Yay!

And just to rub it in... here is a picture of us after we went "swimming".  :D


Those shoes and socks will never be white again LOL!  Chrome is happy though!  

I put his other bridle on because I had to get back on for a few minutes... because you know, that's just what we crazy equestrians do!

So how many of you managed to guess where and how I fell off before I finally said it?  It was a total surprise to me and even now I'm grinning because it was so hilarious!  

Also we rode thirty five minutes total at the walk only and my back doesn't hurt!  Yay!  Thank goodness I landed in water!!!  :)

18 comments:

  1. Well, making it all the way to ride 60 before falling off is pretty impressive. Hmmmm... maybe water therapy is just what your back needs.

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  2. I had a hunch it might have had something to do with the pond...or maybe some deer. But when you went back to the pond, I knew what was coming! ;-)

    I had a pony go down in a huge mud puddle in a corn field on me when I was a kid. I totally deserved it - I had been cantering her back and forth through the water and after the 10th or so time, she had enough. :-)

    I hope your leg is ok, a bruise should heal quickly. Really too bad about your bridle and especially your camera. I hope it dries out and keeps working. Can you put a camera in rice to dry it out? I know people do that for cell phones...

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  3. I'm sorry that you fell off, but I'm glad you landed in the water and didn't get hurt! That stinks about your camera though :-/

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  4. At least it was a warm day! I'm glad you weren't seriously hurt and you got a good story to tell.

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  5. You just wanted to swim. Don't lie ;-)

    Good it was in water! My first time off Griffin was on turf. And I busted my ankle pretty good. I'd take water over that any day! Lol

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  6. Too funny! I avoid water while riding for this exact reason, my horses are pigs who love to wallow around in puddles and I'm sure they'd plop right down in it!

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  7. Yep my camera is in rice. It has to stay there for a few days so I'll let you guys know if it's still working after the weekend.

    I'm very glad it was in the water!!! Like I said better the camera get wet than me get hurt. There is a bruise on my leg but it's not bad.

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  8. Seriously? You couldn't ask for a better first fall off of him - it hasn't bad behavior, no one was hurt, and you both lived and get to tell the story! (Which is great!)

    ...but, you have to embellish it now... (It's something silly my sister and I do when we have accidents...) So, when you retell it, tell folks you were bravely riding Chrome through a flooding river to save a basket of kittens. ;)

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  9. LOL!!! You seriously cracked me up with that comment!!!! I totally have to embellish our story!! You're right it was a great first fall. I'm hoping there isn't another one for a very long time and when there is I hope it's just as entertaining and painless as this one... Although it would be nice if it wasn't as expensive with the ruined camera and bridle next time lol.

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  10. Pretty good for a falling off story - I vote for embellishing too!

    Those two ripply drinking shots are gorgeous - hope the rice works on your camera. :D

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  11. Yes Story you are right!! From now on it's sweaty, hairy thighs all the way LMAO!!!!!

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  12. "Equestrian Journey" has been included in our Arlynda Lea's Sites to See #10. We hope this will help call more attention to your efforts.

    http://arlyndalea.blogspot.com/2014/07/arlynda-leas-sites-to-see-10.html

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  13. oh dear. Poor Chrome- he doesn't realize yet that he can't do what he wants when you're up there. It probably surprised when he screamed.

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  14. Yeah he was so preoccupied with the flies that I think he forgot I was there. I don't blame him though. It was my fault. The scream didn't startle him. He's used to me being loud. Heck I scream when I ride into spider webs LOL!! Me landing in the water beside him I think surprised him because he was quick to get out of the pond when I came off. After I got back on and rode him around for a bit I dismounted, took him back to the pond and turned him loose. He rolled in the water several times and then took off bucking and playing. That's not the first time he's run around goofing off after I have dismounted and turned him loose so when he's feeling playful he does contain himself when I'm on his back so he does know that at least. ☺

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  15. Sorry but haha haha!
    Glad you're not hurt & I hope the camera survives!!!

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  16. Oh, Chrome! That must have been a rather refreshing fall though!
    I had a similar thing happen with Ypke. I was riding in some warm, deep sand on a blazing hot (and buggy) day. Needless to say Ypke was very itchy, began pawing, and went straight down. The helplessness of it all haha!

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  17. Yeah, glad you were all ok and kind of sounds like fun, he he. Glad camera made it too! :)

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  18. How did I miss this?! yikes! Glad your first fall wasn't too damaging, even though you might have lost your camera :-(.

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