It was my fault, not his. When I walk out into the pasture, the boys ( Reese and his pasture mate, JerryJeff) like to run all over the fields. They crash thru the woods and pop out and run down the hill. So when I rode him the first time thru those woods today, I thought he wanted to run down the hill......so I thought. First mistake. I decided to go with him..picturing us running down and away. So I did the one thing I tell every new rider NOT to do. I leaned forward. Second mistake. ( As my good friend, Kris asked " Didn't you see Snowy River??)
Well, he put his head down. My feet got behind me. He started crow-hopping and slowing down... downhill. Me, I just kept going forward cuz now I was leaning downhill and with his head so far far down there, I was now riding his neck. I hung on to his neck the best I could, and flipped over on my back and landed BAMM!! square on my back and head... so very lucky. The spongy pasture was pretty resilient, he didn't step on me and no serious damage ensued. (But I expect I'll be feeling it tomorrow.)(Yes folks, I was wearing my helmet..and glad I did!)
** Just an added note **
Thinking back on this I'm not young and bouncy like I usta be. I think as we get older the earth acts like a huge magnet and we just thud right on down to the ground and stay there. Stuck. Unable to move. Jeez.
** **
Reese calmed right down and looked at me like "What an idiot you are. What exactly would you call that maneuver?". After a breather, and making sure my brain wasn't rattling around in my skull, and there were no broken bones, I got back on and we tackled that downhill again.
Needless to say, I kept my feet under me, he kept his head up and a lesson was learned by both today.