It is no secret that I have a hard time keeping up with this blog due to my very busy schedule. This week, I was able to sit down and prepare the entries ahead of time and set it on a timer to publish once a day.
Why did I have this time in my schedule? Because I am recovering! 
Sunday, I did a paper chase with my son, Barrett. A paper chase is sort of a race, kinda cross-country through the woods on horseback. I believe it is a two-mile race. I have some pictures to go with it. I rode my daughter’s horse, Stormy, and my son rode our other horse, Willow (who was supposed to be mine, but he has quite the connection with this mare… so I may be horse hunting again for myself this time…) This was the first time I have ever experienced such a thing. We started off, and Stormy basically said “Nuh uh….” and circled around, but no, I pushed her on… We were racing through the woods, cantering and galloping every chance we got - up hills, down hills, through water, etc. etc. I have to say it was the most amazing experience! Barrett is yelling “We’re free!!!!”
These pictures were taken by my daughter, Erynn, and my husband… Here we are waiting to start…
Here I am warming Stormy up… yes, I can jump a little (I’ll revisit that thought in a minute), but I’m learning English riding - so I wasn’t totally comfortable going English that day… while an endurance trail saddle is not optimal for jumping, it can be done… excuse the look on my face - I really think I was holding my breath - yes, even on a tiny jump like this… I had no idea I would be so uptight and nervous riding as an adult… we are working on that…
This is out of focus, but it’s me cantering to the finish line…see all the mud on Stormy?
Barrett and I won second place - not bad for beginners! lol!
We had also decided to go out on Novice over Hurdles (jumps were 2.6 feet or less). How bad can it be, right? I knew Stormy could jump that just fine… but the question is, could I? My daughter, Erynn, borrowed one of the lesson horses and wanted to follow us out. Willow decided to give Barrett a fit jumping that morning, so both my kids were going to go around the jumps. This was about getting the experience behind us, not about winning…
We started off… as we approached the first jump, I yelled “GO AROUND, I’m doing it!” It didn’t look THAT big….
In a split second, I was in the air and did a complete flip, landing on my back with the reins still in my right hand. At 32 years old, I have finally had my very first fall off of a horse (funny, because I watched my own son take the exact same fall a week earlier). I guess it was the adrenaline, but I didn’t feel a thing. I jumped up and screamed “I did it. My first fall, and I survived!!!” and without hesitation, swung right back up on Stormy.
We struggled through the woods, this course was definitely more difficult. At one point, Stormy decided we needed a bath, and veered off of the trail and jumped right into the water. As she stood there in chest-deep water and tried to play, I forced her back on the trail… we came to another small (heh… yeah… in my head, small….) jump, and I told the kids again, “Go around, I’m taking it…” I felt myself launch in the air, yet again… This time, I caught Stormy around the neck. I had both arms and both legs wrapped around her neck, and I am laughing so hard, I finally dropped to the ground. Needless to say, Stormy kept looking at me like “What the heck area you doing down there?”
At any rate, we did it! We survived… Here we are coming up out of the woods…
So it’s not the kids we have to worry about… apparently it is the adults… I cannot begin to tell you how sore I was the few days after the falls… but I feel so much better knowing what it is like to fall - no more anticipation, it finally happened!
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