Disclaimer:  Sometimes I reiterate a point in my posts.  That is because it’s a very important point that I don’t want people to miss.  The circumstances in part of this post may not be entirely true, but the point I’m bringing out is.

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So do you want what’s behind Door Number 1, Door Number 2, or Door Number 3.  It’s just so easy on TV.

When we make a decision, we take the information we have at the time, and try to choose the best way to handle the situation.  Sometimes we’re right, and sometimes we are not.  The not times can be dangerous when it comes to our horses.

Most of the time we think “Oh it won’t happen to me,” but it can.

I was putting blankets on last night and I stood behind the horse to pull it straight.  The little voice in my head said “this isn’t a good idea”, so I moved off to the side.  I know better.  I know the dangers.  But you think, oh just this once and it will be okay.  When that little voice speaks to you – LISTEN!  I don’t care if you think it’s God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit, your Guardian Angel or whomever, or maybe it could even be your common sense.  Imagine that.  If the bells, whistles, red flags, or whatever goes off in your head, LISTEN!

With horses it’s not just a situation that can be dangerous, it can be fatal.

Every once in a while something happens that challenges by beliefs about teaching.  I don’t mind people questioning me on why I believe in what I do.  It makes me take a second look to make sure I still believe what I’m doing is the right thing.  This past week I had that happen.  I reexamined the situation and came to the conclusion that I had no doubts in what I believed.  I believe keeping the child safe, and giving them the right foundation is most important.  I’m not there to buy into what makes them happy, I’m there to keep them alive.

We all fall off.  We pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and get back on and try again.  Rarely, but occasionally, it doesn’t work out that way.

I’ve seen two people killed on the Hunt Field.  When the first one was killed we had to go to the Police Station and answer questions about the incident.  There were 50 mile an hour gusts and a tree snapped and caught her across the back.  The Police asked “What could have been done to prevent this.”  My answer was, stay at home.  There was nothing we could have done except not be out there.

The second time could have been prevented.  I had told this woman for years, when she was getting dumped, to let herself go and push away from the horse.  She always insisted on hanging on his neck and pulling herself back into the saddle.  The last time she slipped under him, and was killed.  She was an excellent rider, but made the wrong decision.

This week a beautiful Professional Barrel Racer, only 28 years old with a small child, was killed.  I don’t know all the specifics, I wasn’t there, so I won’t make any comments as though I was.  My prayers and love go out to her family and many friends who are mourning her loss.  I will make comments on the information that is circulating in hopes of it being a wake-up call to others.

Supposedly as she came around the third barrel her horse tripped and her reins went flying over the horse’s head.  As she was running for the finish line she was reaching forward to either grab the bit or his bridle.  Now I did that once when I was on a horse that was out of control and running for a road.  I put my fingers in the rings of his Pelham bit to turn his head in hopes of stopping him.  (The reins were doing nothing to turn this drafts head.)  The problem is that when you are reaching forward it is throwing you off balance and encouraging the horse to run faster.  Since sitting back and pulling wasn’t working, I did the next thing I could think of, the turn.  Jockeys get off their horses back every day to get more speed.  It takes your weight off their backs and they move freely and faster.

I remember fifty years ago when we hosted the Eastern Barrel Racers Association at the barn where I worked, the riders didn’t want the in gate closed (that’s how they were exiting).  They wanted to run their horses right out of the ring before stopping them.  If the gate was closed the horse would set up to stop before breaking the beam on the timer.  I thought at the time it was dangerous, but the horse was going to stop when they hit the eight foot high chain link fence that was 100 feet in front of them.

From what I was told, the gate was open at this event and the horse kept running until it hit the asphalt.  Whether he stopped or slipped I don’t know but from what I heard, she hit face first into the pavement.  They rushed her to the hospital, operated, they thought she was going to make it, but didn’t.  I don’t know why.

I don’t want her death or any other riders death to be in vain.  If it makes one person stop and think before making the wrong choice, and saves that person’s life, the person who gave their life will be an angel on a mission.

I know the gate person will question themselves for the rest of their life if they should have shut the gate.  Yes the horse would have either stopped and thrown her over the gate, or turned and dumped her into the fence.  It might have injured her severely or even killed her, but it could have saved her life.  But like everything else, you make a decision and live with the consequences, good or bad.  You’ll just never know and there’s no point in beating yourself up about it either.  You took the information and made a decision.

We only have a blink of an eye sometimes to make the right decision, make everyone count.  Sometimes there are no do overs.