I was in the deep fog of sleep.

I was dreaming about the beach…………

Or maybe it was a roller coaster……………..

 

It seemed like a lovely happy vacation. Warm and cozy……….

Suddenly I was standing in the barn.

I had been DREAMING.

This was the first time in my life I have woken up from a dream and not found myself in a prone position. Though I do admit to perfecting the art of sleeping while sitting up during vet school.

My husband was staring at me. My stable manager was untacking my horse.

I started spinning around taking in all the evidence………..

Icy with all her jump gear on……………….

I was wearing my helmet………………

There was a stack of dirty bridles on the post – meaning I had been riding ALL morning………………

That’s when my head really started reeling………….

I wasn’t riding, I couldn’t have been riding………… I had been DREAMING!!

After several moments of walking back & forth & taking in all the evidence I finally started figuring out what was going on.

It’s called anterograde amnesia, the inability to form new memories.

It’s been the subject of many a film, Memento probably being the most notorious.

Apparently I was walking and talking and told my husband exactly what had happened.

The babies came galloping by the arena.

Icy was fine until they vanished from sight and then she exploded!!

I’m pretty sure I got the head injury when she smacked her head against mine.

Then I was dreaming……………………….20 minutes later I was standing at the barn.

I was fully conscious and apparently coherent during the entire episode. I can only imagine if this had been in “warm up” and I had run a XC course I didn’t later remember!!!

Today when deer jumped out of the trees & disappeared accross the field to the howling of some very large feline (mountain lion maybe?) It didn’t take me more than 2 seconds to bail off Icy under my own power.

Lesson learned. 

That is – if I can remember it.