I didn’t know what to do.
(This is a continuation from Part 1 and Part 2)
I had just been told I have a neck issue & to “bounce less.”
I’m not sure if you’re all up to speed on the BadEventer ponies, but some of them are REALLY freaking bouncy.
This neck thing had showed up on a perfect day where everything was going well. There was no trauma involved……at all
and I ended up in an ambulance.
What the hell was I supposed to do now?
I decided my days of riding 7 horses a day were over & I should sell most of them. I decided I’d consider keeping two of them.
Worst case the two that stayed could be trail horses or pasture ornaments…..
And then I remembered that I supposedly sell horses for a living & haven’t actually been able to sell a horse in – um……….. years.
I have so many people comment about what nice lovely talented horses I have….. you think I could sell one…… but that’s a blog for another day (future blog on selling horses called Cryptonite)
But even if I’m going to sell them, they still have to be in work, so I still have to ride them….
The day after my ambulance ride I tried to do a few trot sets.
I got on the first horse and when I started trotting the world started spinning and the next thing I knew I had my arms wrapped around her neck, thinking, “don’t fall off, don’t fall off, don’t fall off.”
It passed and amazingly I was able to do a 20 minute trot set.
But by the time I got on horse number two, the peanut gallery flagged me down, said I looked like ten miles of bad road and promptly sent me home.
So then…….officially grounded, I scratched the horses from the next show and sat around pondering the nature of the universe.
After several days, I gave it another try and managed to ride a couple horses on the flat.
Over a couple of weeks, I basically just built back up to where I had been and started jumping again.
I have no idea what set my neck off that day, but whatever it was the issue clearly isn’t new. There’s really no telling when it will be a problem.
So for now, I’m back in the saddle.
I just ran a 3 star, so for the moment I’m back to full speed.
I really don’t know how long that will last, but then none of us do,
right?
Carpe Diem.
.