The Somersault

It was an ordinary day at my job, the sun was shining bright, no clouds were in the sky, and the heat was finally dying down. I was riding one of Marilyn's hoses, a 28 year old Tennessee Walker named Sheila. Sheila is all black, no spots or other colors at all and she stands between 15 and 16 hands tall. At my job, there's a large arena where the horses can go out and play during the day, stay out all night, or where you can just ride in a bigger space. I was riding Sheila with a western saddle and a blue, nylon bridal. Of course I had my boots and my helmet on to be safe at all times. We had worked in the round pen for about half an hour before moving on to the arena to do a bit more speed. Sheila was able to canter now with me riding her bare back which I thought was really cool. So now I was riding her in the arena.

It was near the end of summer and all the grass was dying off in the arena so there are clumps of dead roots and grass all over in the arena. A soft dirt ground allowed the roots to be exposed. I and Sheila had been cantering, gating, and walking all over the place in the arena and not once did we have any trouble with these clumps of dead roots. We were gating back to the arena gate since I thought it was time to put Sheila away before I had to start feeding for the night. We had turned around and cantered one last time and now were slowing down to a walk. Sheila was gating at a normal speed towards the gate but about half way down the arena, she stubs her toe on one of these dead root clumps. Sheila has had ringbone and has arthritis in her joints so she is not a nimble as some young horses. Unable to catch herself, Sheila goes down, sliding on her neck at first as she tries to get her front feet back up again. But she doesn't and her head gets pushed underneath her massive body. Her rump comes up and makes me fly out of the saddle and over her head, landing on my chest in front of her.

I lay there for what seemed like several seconds but at the time, everything was moving in slow motion. I looked behind me and was shocked to see Sheila's massive body coming down on top of me. I looked rolled onto my back and barely managed to scramble out of the way before her rump hit the ground inches from my body. There was a loud crack as she hit. I now lay there, her butt inches from me. She had missed by that much. I instantly got up, my entire body shaking. I was terrified that I had hurt her somehow because she was twenty-eight years old; old for a horse. Sheila was on her stomach and looking around, an expression on her face like; "What happened?" Sheila got up and I took hold of the reins, trying to assess what had just happened. It finally hit me as I saw the dirt on top of the saddle horn. Sheila and I had done a full somersault. Her butt coming up had thrown me off and when I had looked behind me, her butt was coming down. She had flipped over all the way. I stood there shaking, looking over her body. I walked a few feet, checking for any limping or swollen joints. She looked perfectly fine to me but I wanted to get Marilyn's opinion first.

I led Sheila out of the arena and headed up to the hitching post where I put on Sheila's halter and tied her. I then quickly went to get Marilyn and tell her what happened. Marilyn had guests over, a few of her friends who wanted to meet the horses there. I walked up to them and waited for them to stop talking. I then told Marilyn about my fall and she quickly went to see Sheila. I told her that I didn't think anything was wrong with her but she wanted to make sure. I walked Sheila around in wide circles, Marilyn watching for any signs of injury. She finally told me that Sheila looked as if nothing had happened and as I was just getting ready to ride. It was a huge relief to me and I finally stopped shaking. I walked Sheila around the arena to calm down from the whole experience. I looked over at the spot where she had fallen and the whole fall played through my mind again. Trying to block out the fear of it all, I continued walking her.

Over the next few days, I found that I had not completely escaped the fall unscathed. My left knee was sore for about a week and Sheila had been sore for about the same amount of time. Ever since the fall I have never cantered on Sheila bare back again. Being 28, both Marilyn and I had agreed that Sheila was simply too old to go at that speed anymore. After the fall I didn't canter at all on any horse for about 4 months, petrified that the same thing would happen again. But over time, my confidence grew and through the encouragement of Marilyn, my other friends, and myself, I finally got back into it and remembered how much fun it was. I cantered on a new horse named Annie but Sheila remains in retirement. I only ride her for exercise and entertainment. Ever since the fall I have referred to the fall as The Somersault.