Day 16, well, 17.

Day 16 was, "Your worst fall." and the only "fall" I've ever had was when I slipped, literally slipped, off bareback, so I don't count that as a fall. Also, I never hit the ground. I managed to catch myself on Red's neck and he let me crawl back up. :)) :)) Anywho, I'm skipping to day 17, which is, "Your Equestrian idol." I hate the word idol, so I'm going to use the word "hero" or something like that. ;) Lol!

I have two equestrian "heros" one of them is Stacy Westfall, a woman who rides horses using a more natural approach.

 Westfall did not originally compete without a bridle on her horses until one time when she accidentally dropped a rein while in a traditional reining competition on her mare, Can Can Lena, a move that normally results in disqualification, but which also gave her the idea to test herself with a new challenge. She then began to perform bridleless in freestyle reining, a form of reining competition where exhibitors design their own routines and perform to music.Costumes are allowed and there are fewer rules for equipment. In 2003 she won the National Reining Horse Association Freestyle reining competition riding with no bridle, and in 2006, on the black American Quarter Horse, Whizards Baby Doll, aka “Roxy," she won twice while riding bridleless and bareback.

My second "hero" is a girl named Amberely Snyder, who, after a bad car accident, was paralyzed from waist down. Before the accident, she was a barrel racer. She owned horses for all of her life, and after the accident, she was determined to continue her riding career.

 The doctors said she'd never walk again, and definitely never ride, but she proved the doctors wrong, and began riding again. With the help of a special saddle that buckles her in place, she now barrel races again.

This was her truck.

She flew out of the truck and hit a post with barb wire, like this:

And her back broke the post and ended up paralyzing her.

After wreck, back in the saddle.

After wreck.

After wreck.

After wreck.

After wreck.

After wreck.

So, there's day 17! :) I'm going riding this evening, probably later in the day, so look forward to that! Hopefully I'll be using my brown saddle for the first time! Hoping it works out, because last time I used it-also when Red had an awful bean-he started going down, but we're almost 100% sure that was because of the bean. Praying I can use it!!! If not, I'll be trading it for another barrel saddle. :)

It's too pretty not to be used!!!