Riding Texas

One of the boarders at the barn has graciously let me help in the long-term rehab process of 9 yo Dutch WB x TB named Texas :)

He is huge, and his gaits feel huge to me because I'm so used to wittle Greta girl (who, by the way, is having a blast in her new paddock making the boys in the paddocks around her fall stupidly in love with her and finally being queen of her own domain.) He is also a big sweetie, and not hard to love.

This is the big guy that I fell off of a few weeks back. It was also reeeeeealy windy Tuesday and cold, and I didn't think anything of it until Texman spooked at a mockingbird on the ground that flew away, proceeded to spin lightly and bolt, and I would've stayed on had he not made a 360 turn away from an upcoming tree that I was not excepting (we felt like we were going the OTHER way around the tree). Bless his heart, he waited for me to come get him, with that same old worried look on his face like he did something wrong, and I once again assured him that he did nothing I was going to punish him for.

All of my falls off Greta have been lame, uneventful ones. All the exciting ones happen off of geldings. They're always keeping on my toes. Or on my butt, whichever lands first.

Anyway, since this is my second fall on my head, my helmet needs replacing :( Anyway, here is the other reason why I need to replace my helmet, plus a cute crack on the inside. Yay helmets! Observe the aftermath, aka The Tear of Doom:

But hey, that could have been my scalp. That would take scalping to a whole new level. As for the crack... well, another reason to always wear a helmet. That crack could have been my noggin and not my helmet ;)