It was late Wednesday afternoon and I just got the word that uncle Ray was branding on Saturday. Papa told me when I got home from school. On Thursday I heard that my cousin and dad were going to the branding. I hate when my dad comes because he tries to tell me things I already know. I know my dad means the best but I just hate that he won’t let me try new things like dragging, roping, and all that good stuff. 

Friday came, that morning I had school so I went straight to school, got all my work done, and got ready for Saturday. I got home from school and brought my saddle out and my saddle pad. I decided I was gonna ride my mare that I haven’t rode in forever. It was about four 4 in the afternoon and I brought her home, washed her, and made her pretty. By the time I finished, it was still warm so I left her tied up so she could dry. Six o’clock came around and she was just finished drying so I brushed her and braided her mane and her tail. I can still smell the mane and tail shampoo. She was all pretty so I put her in her stall and went into the house and showered so I could get the main and tail smell off of me. 

After, I ate dinner and went to my room, and went to sleep so I could wake up early because I didn’t want to get left behind. Before I went to sleep, Papa came into my room and said “Goodnight, we wake up at 5:00 because uncle Ray said we are meeting down there at 7:00 am.” Tiredly I said, “Okay I’ll be up.” It was just about 7:30 at night, I slowly fell off to sleep.

The next morning I woke up way too early at about 4:00 am, and I panicked because my stepdad was leaving and I thought he was my Papa. When I realized it wasn’t him I just got ready so I was playing Luke Comb’s new song on my AirPods and straightening my hair. By the time I finished, it was 4:30 so I grabbed my favorite jeans and my brand new Natin2Krazy shirt and I was ready. It only took me 15 minutes so I sat in bed and waited. Once Papa was ready we got the horses and started to saddle up.

That morning my horse wasn’t being herself and I could tell but I didn’t let it bother me. I continued to do the usual thing and saddle up. I was loading her in the trailer and still, she wasn’t being herself. Usually, she gives me no trouble, this time she almost broke my hand cause she kept pulling back like she didn’t wanna go. 

We got to uncle Ray’s. I unloaded her and she was perfectly fine. I got there and I tied her to the trailer so I could tell everyone good morning and hi. When I got back I saw that she was calm and ready to work. As we were riding to go get the cattle she tried to bite my leg and tried to throw me off but I was perfectly fine. Uncle Curleh told me to just hang on. The cows started coming down. They started coming fast and I didn’t check my cinch.

I started running down the hill and I could feel my saddle sliding and I knew something bad was gonna happen. I was running and I could feel my saddle going back fourth. I tried to stop my horse and she wouldn’t stop. I already knew what was happening. I knew I was going down. My mind went blank. All I could hear was Uncle Curleh yelling “Hold on bebeh, you got it, just hang on!” I felt my foot slip out of my stirrups and my hands drop the reins. By the time I tried to grab my saddle horn my saddle was going over my horse’s neck and so was I. I felt like I was in the air for hours waiting for me to hit the ground. My other foot was stuck in my other stripe and when I tried to get it out it wouldn’t budge.  Once I hit the ground I tried to brace myself with my weak arms and my wrists were so sore. I couldn’t feel my wrist and my left hand was dangling. I was wearing my boots so it looked like nothing was wrong with my ankle but I couldn’t feel it.

Once reality hit and I realized that I needed to get up everyone was surrounding me asking me if I was okay. My Papa was the most concerned. He checked me and made sure I was fine. I told him I was fine but deep down I knew that I wasn’t. The first thing I made sure was my horse was okay, she was my biggest concern because it wasn’t her fault it was mine. They took me and my horse, back to the trailer and then took me to the emergency room where they gave me x-rays and exams. They told me that my left wrist was broken and my right wrist was sprained. My ankle was sprained as well but it didn’t matter as long as my horse was okay. 

I went through a lot of physical therapy to make sure I would be fine in the future. I hated it. They always pushed me and it hurt. It took me weeks, it felt like years, to get back to my normal self. Mentally I was sad because I thought I would never be the same, but today I’m even better than I used to be.