NaBloPoMo Day 05- Your first fall

Now this... this I remember.

For reasons I still don't understand, my instructor at the time threw me up on a pony that had a) flunked out of a handicapped riding program and b) had only been at the barn for like a week.

The little felon himself.  Pony is a four letter word...

And then, to make it even better, the night I rode him was the first time he'd been in the covered arena with the lights on.

If you're thinking "recipe for disaster," yes.  Yes it was.

Everything was fine until we started to canter.  He was getting a little sticky and breaking to trot when we passed the flower box sitting in the middle of the arena, so my instructor said to kick him the next time he did that.

So I did.

The next thing I knew, I was lying on my back in the dirt, staring up at the roof and wondering what had happened.

According to what I was told, the little jerk reacted to me kicking him on by spinning on a dime, pitching me off into the dirt, and took off.  My helmet hit one of the ground poles with a nice solid clunk, although I don't remember being next to a ground pole when I realized I was lying in the dirt.  I didn't have a concussion or anything; I just legitimately do not remember the time between "kicking the pony" and "why am I in the dirt?"  (Not the only fall where I've had that happen, and the others definitely did not involve hitting my helmet on anything.)

And yes, I got back on.  Granted it was after a cry in the bathroom and like ten minutes of getting the pounds of dirt out of my clothing... lol