Learning by mistakes and how to scare your parents..and everyone else 101

I was 9 years old at a Josey clinic and they still had that deal where they put you into 3 teams and those teams compete and it was a 50 cent jackpot. Well the two loosing teams had to run the pattern on foot and I just wasn't going to do that. I tell my dad i'm going to win this thing! (you think from my previous story he'd know what was going to happen by now) He said Ok, you go do that. I had a pretty new to me mare and she was great. I was the first one out. I come flying down the alley and turn the first..I go running across to the 2nd and I knew you had to check her to slow her down to turn, but checking takes time away and how was I going to win if I slowed her down??? Bless her heart she turned anyways and lost her rearend. She tried not going down but finally her rear end slid way down and her front feet came out from under her..WHAM we hit the ground on our sides. The swells of the saddle caught my ankle cracking it.

Next I hadn't had my bay horse too long and we were winning quiet a bit. We went to a little show in Longview and I decided i'll run in the youth then the open. Well miss Spoon had been stepping off the backside of the 3rd and I decided i'd make sure she wouldn't do that today. The youth was first, went in and turned two good barrels and we're off to the 3rd. The ground is pretty deep but she handles it well. I get to the backside of the third and my plan to keep her from blowing off was to pull her. Pull her I did..right off of her feet. Wham we hit the ground all four feet out from under her at once. She got up stepping on my hip, then trotted back to my dad.

Now how to scare your parents..and everyone else.
I came running down the Marshall,Tx alley on Jet (for those of you that don't know him, he starts from the back 40 and comes to the first wide open) He drags his rear and about the time he goes to start his turn his back end comes out from under him. I went up and he slid out from under me. When he came back up I was behind the saddle. I knew there was NO way i'd make it across the pen, much less around the 2nd barrel like this. I see Paula Muirhead coming over the fence and she's yelling pull him around! So around and round the first barrel we went till she got him stopped and I slid back in the saddle.