Hey! It’s an ‘Oh $h!t’ weekend

If you ride, you’re going to fall off–it’s a fact of life. And the sooner you can embrace your inner lawn dart, the better off you’ll be.

A beginner adult student of mine fell off for the first time a couple weeks ago–it was a classic case of the horse went one way, she went the other. She dusted herself off and  later told me that it was the best thing that could’ve happened to her riding. She’d been riding around petrified–literally–by her fear of falling off, so when it finally happened, it came as a relief. The other shoe had finally dropped. “It was like something just clicked,” she explained. “I didn’t have to be afraid anymore.”

I lost track of how much arena sand I’ve eaten a long time ago. A few times I’ve gotten banged up; more often I’ve walked away with a bruised ego.

The best thing to do, in either case, is take a moment to think real hard about what happened and what you could’ve done to prevent things from turning out the way they did. Really dwell on that last part–study it like a dissected frog in biology class.

And then have a good laugh and move on.

This weekend, Horse Nation is celebrating the art of falling off. We’re owning, we’re embracing it, and we’re laughing hysterically about it.

But we need your help! Email photographic or video evidence of your own favorite lawn dart moments to [email protected], and be sure to include a brief explanation of what happened. (As always, if you’re using professional photos make sure that you have the photographer’s permission.)

I’ll kick things off with a few from my personal collection:

That's gonna hurt.

Going, going...

...Splash!

“Riding: The art of keeping a horse between yourself and the ground.”

Go Riding!