Let's see how this goes...

This is a common theme for me.  I ride horses, which means there's an element of unpredictability.  Each time I go for a ride, in general I expect certain things to happen, but the specifics are fluid.  When introducing something new to myself or the horse, I add in an extra amount of "who knows?" as to how things will go, which is probably part of why I don't get too upset when things go sideways.

A little about me-

I'm an adult re-rider.  When I was a teen I took lessons in western pleasure and trail, with a smattering of english thrown in.  I had a pretty good foundation slapped onto me, and was a good enough rider that I was eventually moved on to the more problematic horses, like the overweight mare that was brought in that no saddle would fit, or the mare who had been "cowboyed" by a couple of yahoos that only went at the "haul ass" speed, and in only one direction.

Then came college, and the long hiatus from horses.  Eventually I managed to get a few lessons in, and leased a horse for a short time.  Then it happened...My first bad fall from a mare that I was exercising.  I was using a just purchased used english saddle that the owners of the mare had bought, and none of us realized that the stirrup leather was dry rotted.  Posting at the trot, the leather snapped and I end up on the ground faster than I could react, startling the poor mare who was quite confused as to why I was not on her anymore.  It was winter and the indoor arena dirt was frozen, so landing on my hip gave me some long-term issues.  (Did you know that when muscle gets hit really hard, it can bind up to itself?  I didn't, and had a very unfun time with a chiropractor getting that somewhat worked out)  Add onto that a bad trail ride where I ended up bucked off a horse I didn't know bucked when asked to canter (and the "trainer" neglected to inform me of that fun fact) and another fall from a mare I was leasing due to a bad saddle fit, and I got pretty anxious about riding.  I no longer had the glue like seat from when I first started, and wasn't as fit as I used to be.  I still had that core of knowledge, and could manage even a rank horse on the ground, but would feel sick to my gut at the prospect of mounting up.

Another break in riding due to circumstances changing, and I pick up a new love...Archery.  I'm an instinctive shooter, which means that I don't faff around with sights and such, I just look at my target, adjust a bit, and shoot.  I have a pair of fiberglass recurve bows and a couple of bows (currently in repair) from Hungary.  Between archery and a weekly exercise class, I started getting back in shape.  Add in riding lessons that my friend T managed to find for us, and I'm starting to finally feel good about riding again.  I helped that we were started off on "Flash", the appy pony that inspired the bit of doggerel "Flash, Flash, hundred-yard dash!" for his distinctly un-speedy ways.  ;)

 For almost a year now I've been riding a Pintaloosa mare, Goblin, who has her own quirks, including being deaf.  We introduced our mounts to archery with pretty good results, but decided that more training with consistent movement is called for.  T rides Josie, Goblin's mother, who has a lot of nervous energy and will speed up into a jackhammer trot if she doesn't know what to do.  Goblin has the opposite issue, and will slam on the breaks when given half a chance when she's in the mood.  Neither of these are conductive to a good time with archery, and neither is the endless winter we're going through for that matter.

So now we're current.  I'm still a big chicken at times, and still kinda out of shape (especially without getting my weekly ride in, or better yet multiple rides a week), not shooting or riding as much as I want, and have all sorts of ideas for where I want to go.  So let's see how this goes.