The good old days: Day 13

Dee was being a cuddle-bunny yesterday

Day 13- Your worst ride ever

I think it would have to be when I was maybe 11 or 12, with Sierra.  It was winter, and although there was no snow on the ground, everything was still frozen.  We went out on a hack with our instructor and a few other people.  Sierra was never well-behaved on hacks.  When he would hit the road after leaving the driveway, he would usually rear.  If the other horses got too far ahead of him, he would freak out and start flying backwards, refusing to go forward.  
On that particular hack, he did his usual road-rear.  We then went for awhile without incident.  While we were crossing a field, however, he suddenly decided to completely lose his marbles.  I don't remember exactly how it happened, but he ended up tossing me, and when I landed on the frozen ground, I got the wind properly knocked out of me.  At this point in our [short] relationship, I think I was pretty terrified of him [on hacks].  He had never done anything good on a hack, and that was the last straw for my 11 or 12-year-old self.  I was sobbing, trying to catch my breath and my horse.  Then, when I finally climbed back on and got back in line, my instructor turned to me (no, she never asked if I was ok) and said: "If you don't stop crying right now I'm going to tell your parents to sell him."
I immediately stopped crying, and got on with the rest of the ride.