And I Landed on the Ground...

Denece and I both had ponies when we were little, and then we 'graduated' to taller horses when we were a little older. The world was ours...and what a beautiful view was ours from the back of a horse. We took picnic lunches up to the canal road and found secluded spots to tie our horses and dangle our feet in the water as we ate. We stacked up bales of hay and poles for a "jumping event" as we raced around the alfalfa field. We scheduled horse races and spent hours grooming them afterward. Homes were few and far between, and we seldom rode on the roads so our horses went barefoot (without shoes) most of the time. Denece's horse Dolly was a water baby, and once when we were riding along the canal road on a very hot day there was a sudden splash and there was Denece on top of Dolly in the canal!

My horse Banner was famous for being pretty skittish during his younger years. He loved to dance around when he saw something unusual or something he felt was a danger to him. Windy days were an exceptional nuisance because of blowing weeds and papers. We rode bareback much of the time in the beginning because we didn't own saddles and therefore it was easy to find ourselves on the ground if our horse reared or shied. We would squeeze our legs as hard as we could but sometimes it just wasn't enough and we slid onto the dirt. A couple of times when Banner was having a really frisky day he would take the bit and start running so fast that he would literally jump out from under me, leaving me sitting behind him. We rarely got hurt but there was the occasional injury...

One day we were just lazily riding up the tree-lined path between Denece's corrals and her house. Denece was riding Dolly in front and I was behind on Banner when a sudden movement in the bushes caught Banner's attention. His ears flew forward and he snorted as he took several steps to the side and then burst into a full, out-of-control gallop with me hanging on for dear life. He was running through a little orchard area and as he ducked between trees he ran underneath a branch that hit me squarely on the collarbone and swiped me right off the horse. I remember the pain pretty well and I just laid on the ground moaning. Denece caught up with Banner and came 'round to assess the bumps and bruises. The fun was over for the day--hahaha-- I could barely move! She called my dad and he drove up, loaded me in the pickup and tied the horse to the back to follow us home.

I didn't have my collarbone x-rayed and I was up and about after a couple of very sore days so I suspect it was not broken--but maybe just badly bruised. With all the spills I took from the back of a horse I am grateful that this was the worst injury I had during my childhood. One day we were out for a little gallop and as we rounded a corner the horse hit a patch of mud and actually slid down onto his side on top of my leg. As quick as a whistle he scrambled up and continued on his merry way with a shocked cowgirl hanging on for dear life. Not even a bruise came from that episode.

Can you believe that?