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| about to head out - I pulled the Circle Y out of the basement! |
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| Lucy splashing around in the water |
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| Cairo got brave and went in up to her belly |
As you can see, I had Lucy's new red ear net on because the bugs are AWFUL right now, and I suspect they may have contributed to her short fuse yesterday. She got lots of bug spray today and the ear net and these seemed to deter the bugs for the most part.
After we were done splashing around, we headed home. We got over both bridges and were walking along the trail when Lucy shook her head - maybe the ear net was bothering her? She shook it again and all of a sudden, her bridle fell off her face. I think the crown piece may have popped up on her ear during the first shake, which caused her to shake her head again, and instead of righting itself, the bridle just came off the front of her head. She was wearing the hackamore bridle, which has no nose piece and obviously no bit. The throatlatch wasn't tight so that didn't stop it from coming off. Before I knew it, I had a horse with no bridle on, in the middle of a trail ride, out in the woods. I wanted to panic but instead, sat deep in the saddle and said "WOAH". Lucy calmly halted. I silently thanked myself for installing voice commands and patted her before quickly dismounting. I saw that she had actually stepped into the bridle, so if she had taken off, it would have been ugly. She happily stood there, munching on some leaves that were growing up a tree near her, while I untangled the bridle from her leg and put it back on. Then I got back in the saddle, still in disbelief that I wasn't broken on the ground.
Sometimes, this horse really impresses me.
That's so scary! My horse's sire's bridle has come off before, I think due to his tiny pony head and small stallion ears. We'll braid the browband into his mane and secure it with a band if we're worried about it, that seems to help. You were so lucky!
ReplyDeleteEr, not browband, crown.
ReplyDeleteWow, GOOD MARE!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a good mare! Glad it had a good ending.
ReplyDeleteOh man! Way to stay calm under pressure! That could have been so bad on so many levels. I am very glad it was a non event! Phew!
ReplyDeleteWHOA, GOOD GIRL!!! :) and whew..crisis averted!
ReplyDeleteOnce on a property trail ride, Laz's rein unclipped so I had one rein and felt panicked but he stopped (we were trotting along) once he felt something was off. I had to hop off and walk back b/c we were bareback but was SOOOO thankful he used his brain. They save our butts once in a while ;)