Hero? Me?

Whoops. :)

Quick recap of last night: I'd planned to ride without the draw reins to see where we were, outline and contact wise. However, there was a lesson going on when I got there, and then there was a lesson scheduled for right after. I didn't want to have Rev hang around in the crossties for two hours, so I decided I'd just groom her, do some bonding, and then put her up.

This morning, I got up at ungodly o'clock (okay, 6:30) to be really ready for our jump lesson at 9. I have to wonder what the blazes got into me! It was 10 degrees out there! Jeez! Well, long underwear, chemical heat packets, and moving around go a very long way. So we got started. Rev was fresh, wanting to spook and be tense, so I threw her on the longe and sorted that out.

We were riding with a newer student of MT's, who's on a rather cute green pony and hasn't been doing this all that much. Warmup, yay, walk/trot/canter over poles, yay. Start jumping, yay! Rev was being quite good. So MT put the fences up for us. We were having SUCH a good go.

Then Friday the 13th reached out and bit me. I didn't get my leg on enough in the approach to a fence, we had an awkward rhythm, and Rev kind of went through a fence rather than completely over it. We got over/through the fence okay, but on the second stride after landing, I couldn't stick it any further and ... ate sand.

Alas. :) I was a little worried at first, but it was pretty clear pretty quickly that I was okay. MT kept me from leaping to my feet (smart guy, that one), then helped me up once he saw that the little tweeting birdies and stars were no longer orbiting my head, and I went to take a seat for a bit. He jumped Rev over a few things, I requested ibuprofen, and then I got back in the saddle. I felt amazingly clear-headed and calm, which is rare for me after a fall. But I felt okay, so I got out of the chair and around we went a couple more times. Yay for us!

It turned out to be a great lesson. We had some really good jumps, and overall, other than that one blip, I rode well and Rev jumped well. I just paid extra for that blip today. :)

The hero part came in when I had finished jumping after the fall, and I went into the corner to wait while the other student took her turn. I told her to NOT do as I do. *grin* She looked at me with an astonished expression and said, "Are you kidding? Oh my god, you're my HERO! I could NOT have gotten back on after that -- I couldn't have trotted, and definitely not jumped like that!" Well, shucks. I didn't know that I could do that either, to be honest.

So yeah. I felt Eventing Strong after that comment. :)

I'm sore now, in my right hip and the left side of my neck, and I had to clear about a pound of sand from my bra and my breeches, but it's all good. I'm not even all that sore. We're going to have two great rounds at the show tomorrow, and I will call it a big win.


(I have to admit that I scared myself afterward, though, when I went to the bank. I couldn't remember my PIN for my debit card. I knew what numbers go in, I knew there was a duplicate, but I couldn't for the life of me remember what order they were supposed to be in. I was really worried for a bit ... but I remembered it later, and I have no other signs of concussion. I didn't even really hit my head hard at all. Not that it takes a hard hit, but still. I think it was just delayed anxiety/stress making my brain all fizzy, not actual damage. Whew!)