Bucking Horse(First Fall)

 I woke up bright and early to go to the barn and have my lesson. I was going to be Ginger's first rider that day, so she would be fresh and ready for me to ride her. After grabbing her, brushing her off, and tacking her, I led her to the arena to begin my ride.

 I started by warming up with walk-halt transition as a rode around the perimeter of the arena. Then, I brought her nearby the entrance, where a set of four walk poles had been placed. Four trot poles lay at a 90 degree angle to them, along the short end of the arena, so I'd be able to circle over them. I started by circling to the right, walking the whole way and passing around the trot poles. Then, I trotted the circle, including the trot poles, walking only when I reached the set of walk poles. Going over the trot poles was a little bouncy at first, but as I became in rhythm with the trot and focused on keeping my hands forward so I don't sent contradicting cues, I went over them much more smoothly. I did this for a bit before making a U-turn after going over the walk poles so I could change directions.

I begin tracking to the left. Things were going fine until I reached the trot poles. Suddenly, at the last pole, Ginger made a small leap and began bucking. I lost control of her, and the next thing I knew I was tumbling over her left shoulder, landing on my butt and left elbow. I found myself facing Ginger. I scrambled to my feet grab her while Meghan came over to check if I was okay. I hadn't been hurt, and wanted to continue riding, so brushed myself off and led her to the purple mounting block by the gate. I remounted, then went over the walk poles, turned around, and began the circle again, still going to the left.

 Meghan explained to me that when I am on a bucking horse, I need to make a choice not to fall off. She also told me that if Ginger bucks again, I should turn her in one direction to stop her from bucking.

 The rest of the lesson continued without incident. I tracked to the left, trying to stay in rhythm with Ginger when she went over the trot poles. I changed direction one last time after that before walking her around the around on a loose rein to cool her done. There had been a few times throughout the lesson when my rhythm riding the trot poles had been really great. I'm looking forward to doing it again.

 I'm not sure why Ginger had bucked. Perhaps she did it because she had spooked, or maybe of was out of habit. Meghan said that Ginger occasionally bucks to test a rider. If she does it again, I'll be prepared. I'm working working on editing the video Mom took, so hopefully I can get it up soon. The bucking one will probably be its own video.