You know what I know of Ace's history before he came to me.
What you don't know is our story.
Ace was my wonder horse. He was everything I had ever wanted. He was challenging, but he was also smart, loyal, and had more heart than any horse I had ever worked with. I knew that with my fearlessness and drive we would be unstoppable.
I bought him last March. All summer he was just what I wanted. He tested me, and I pushed him, and we went 15 miles per day, 4 days a week doing everything from riding down highways to moving cows.
Then, last September, we both scared each other. I knew he was acting flighty one day, but the weather was nice and I had the day off so I rode him anyway. He spooked at a garbage truck and bolted. I pulled him to the left. I now know this put pressure on his invisible wolf tooth. He started bucking, harder than any horse I've ever ridden. He wasn't going to stop running and bucking until I was off.
When I came off, I hit hard. Hard enough to break my helmet, compress my spine, herniate a disc, and severely bruise my hips. I was told not to ride for at least several months.
For those of you who have never fallen off of a horse, the falling almost happens in slow motion. And while I was falling, I actually considered the fact that my neck or back might be about to break.
My body healed, but I was scared. And I could tell Ace was too. He was scared when he was bucking, he was scared of the saddle when he finally quit running, he was scared of the paramedics trying to corral him before they took me away. He acted sore for almost a month afterwards so I'm suspicious he hurt himself at some point when he was flailing his body around.
Because Ace had been so good all summer I decided he had acted up because he wasn't being ridden enough and I posted him for sale. Then someone called to tell me he was crazy and I couldn't sell him. This is when I started asking around and piecing together his history.
It is also when I decided I was keeping him and started this blog.
I've given him time off so that we can start over.
And hopefully, with a little patience, he will become the horse I know he can be, I will become the horsewoman I know I can be, and we will become unstoppable.
