Serafina
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
So I went to the tack shop today and told them I needed to replace my helmet. The woman there said "Hey, didn't I just sell you a helmet a couple of weeks ago?" and I said "Yes, you did."
When I brought the new one up to ring out, the women settled in for a nice little chat. "SO! Tell me all about it!"
"What?" I said. "My fall?"
Oh, yes. And within 30 seconds, every single person in the tack shop had drawn up to the counter to hear all about it. They were vastly interested, too. And then I got to hear all about their Impressive Wipe-Outs.
It seemed clear that "got hauled off in an ambulance" conferred some sort of status over "got right back up"...but the ambulance, in turn, bows before "life flight".
Every single person there had a story of some kind. Most of them did not involve Poor Behavior. One of the women with a "life flight" story said she had just been out in a big pasture with her horse, and another horse snuck up behind them - she didn't hear it - and bit her horse on the butt and sent it flying.
I received, to my utter surprise, the congratulations of everyone assembled. I'm not sure whether I was being congratulated for a spectacular wipe-out, or for responding to my spectacular wipe-out by buying a new helmet (i.e., coming back for more).
I was pretty happy, though, to have it validated that the Stop...Uh-Oh...BAIL OUT! judgment was probably the right thing to do under the circumstances (avoiding the potentially catastrophic consequences of inadvertently directing my athletic steed at a jump).
Someone suggested that, instead of trying to just rein him in as I ordinarily would (which is what I was trying to do when I irretrievably lost my seat), that I might consider pulling back on one rein pretty tightly - she said like I was going to bring my horse's head to my knee - and that this would cause the horse to make a very tight circle and come to a stop.
Any thoughts on that strategy?
I did get a new helmet, one just like my previous one (since it did such a great job). I vaguely recall someone telling me the instructor had my old helmet. That one needs to hit the rubbish pile, I think.
I stopped off at the toy store and picked up a package of stickers. There was one that looked just like the horse I fell off of last week. I put it on the new helmet. I figure, one fall = one horse. I feel the need to commemorate this, and to remind myself that I've already fallen, nothing to be frightened of now, and that I got right back up. Like a helmet star. Only for the horse. WTH...It's easier than getting a tattoo.
When I brought the new one up to ring out, the women settled in for a nice little chat. "SO! Tell me all about it!"
"What?" I said. "My fall?"
Oh, yes. And within 30 seconds, every single person in the tack shop had drawn up to the counter to hear all about it. They were vastly interested, too. And then I got to hear all about their Impressive Wipe-Outs.
It seemed clear that "got hauled off in an ambulance" conferred some sort of status over "got right back up"...but the ambulance, in turn, bows before "life flight".
Every single person there had a story of some kind. Most of them did not involve Poor Behavior. One of the women with a "life flight" story said she had just been out in a big pasture with her horse, and another horse snuck up behind them - she didn't hear it - and bit her horse on the butt and sent it flying.
I received, to my utter surprise, the congratulations of everyone assembled. I'm not sure whether I was being congratulated for a spectacular wipe-out, or for responding to my spectacular wipe-out by buying a new helmet (i.e., coming back for more).
I was pretty happy, though, to have it validated that the Stop...Uh-Oh...BAIL OUT! judgment was probably the right thing to do under the circumstances (avoiding the potentially catastrophic consequences of inadvertently directing my athletic steed at a jump).
Someone suggested that, instead of trying to just rein him in as I ordinarily would (which is what I was trying to do when I irretrievably lost my seat), that I might consider pulling back on one rein pretty tightly - she said like I was going to bring my horse's head to my knee - and that this would cause the horse to make a very tight circle and come to a stop.
Any thoughts on that strategy?
I did get a new helmet, one just like my previous one (since it did such a great job). I vaguely recall someone telling me the instructor had my old helmet. That one needs to hit the rubbish pile, I think.
I stopped off at the toy store and picked up a package of stickers. There was one that looked just like the horse I fell off of last week. I put it on the new helmet. I figure, one fall = one horse. I feel the need to commemorate this, and to remind myself that I've already fallen, nothing to be frightened of now, and that I got right back up. Like a helmet star. Only for the horse. WTH...It's easier than getting a tattoo.