Weekend Wrap Up

We had lots of fun with the camera this weekend thus the new look. The header is Classy with a little help from Adobe Elements. S took original.

Speaking of S, she had her very first buck off today. She's slipped off here and there over the years, but has never been bucked off. I was contemplating how many more years I would need to watch the girls ride, and what I could do if something happened anyways, when I saw S go flying. Unfortunately she was across the field and up a hill. I screamed her name and took of running. N was riding Gunner between her and I, didn't see the incident happen but heard me yell, so she reached her before me.

All I could do was hope she was okay. Dixie was standing looking down at her as if to say "I said NO." She didn't even think of running away until help had arrived in the form of N. When N dismounted (in true Tire Race form) Gunner and Dixie took off. Gunner bucking his way to the gate, Dixie chose the straight going for the money flat out run route.

By the time I got to the girls I could see S was standing. N had her arm around her and was holding her helmet. There was many tears but no broken bones. I would guess she is going to be a pretty sore camper the next few days. She landed on her back side and hit her head as well. I could see no concussion signs and no other signs of trauma, so I did what any horse mom would do. Gave her a hug, wiped the tears and told her to get back on.

She would have preferred to have gone in the house, but getting right back on does a world of difference for both horse and rider in this situation. She walked and trotted her until a crack of lighting and thunder sent us in for the day.

So of course the question comes up on what happened. From what S said she had been trotting her for awhile warming her up, and was asking for the lope but Dixie kept breaking down into the trot. S got after her a little too aggressively and Dixie got upset. Dixie will buck if not properly warmed up, but I sat and watched her trotting the horse for a good 10 minutes before asking for the lope. The best guess from my perspective is that Dixie just wasn't feeling well. She has been coughing lately from some hay they got into before I could remove it from the paddock. She has been better the last two days, but while unsaddling her I noticed she had her head lower than usual and coughed a couple times. Not like her at all.

So, I will keep an eye on her for the next few days and make sure she isn't worked too hard until she is feeling up to it.

Poor S and Poor Dixie. Lesson learned.

Oh, and on the way into the house the helmet got deposited into the garbage. I hate to take chances, and once a helmet is stressed, it is no longer safe. Period.