Bad day

I fell down today. It hurt and now I'm tired and kind of cranky.

I thought it was going to be fun day. Mom came to the barn and it was windy and cold and I was feeling very frisky because I had to stand still for so long yesterday plus I have my new shoes and that always makes me feel good. So I was kind of silly while she cleaned my stall. She left me inside today while she did it and I was out in my paddock and saw this chair out in the Flat Arena.

There's something really weird about that chair. I don't know what it is. There are always a couple of chairs near that arena but this one is white and it makes me feel funny whenever I see it. Sometimes I just can't help but go sideways when I see it. One day it had me so jumpy that Mom finally got off me and led me near it. I was skittish and snorty and I kept stopping and putting my ears up toward it because I just knew it was going to do something scary. Then when she got close enough, Mom sat in it! I couldn't help it, I startled badly. But then I felt kind of silly because it didn't eat her or anything.

Some days it doesn't bother me much but today it was right there at the end of the Flat Arena not far from my paddock. I saw it and it gave me an awful start. I jumped, I don't mind telling you, and then I ran into my stall and peeked out the door at it. Mom petted me and told me it was okay and I finally came back out but I didn't much like it being there.

Well, all that added to my general friskiness. Mom seemed to know I wanted to run and when she was done with my stall she put my halter on, grabbed a whip and took me out. I was happy because I thought she was probably going to turn me out. Sure enough, we went past the Round Pen and continued on down toward the Pony Arena. I couldn't help but dance around a little. I wanted to run really bad and I like to run in the Pony Arena. It's big and round and you can get going pretty fast in there. Me and Indian run there sometimes and sometimes me and Sparky do. It's a good place to go out.

But just our luck, someone already had their horses out in it today! Mom told me we'd go check another arena and we started up the hill. I was getting really anxious by now. Sometimes when you want to run, you just can't help yourself. I even reared a little bit. Mom knew I was excited and she just talked calmly to me and told me to wait for her. That helps a lot. She doesn't get mad usually - only if I'm really being bad - but she does expect me to be a Good Girl. Even so, she seems to understand that I can't help being a little bouncy. I do love my mom.

We got up the hill - I trotted most of the way up but really slow because I had to stay with Mom - and found that there was a horse in the Gremlin Arena too! I guess lots of horses were frisky today but it sure made it hard for us because we needed to find an open arena. Mom told me we'd have to go to the Little Fence Arena but I could tell she wasn't very happy about it. She doesn't like that one much. I heard her telling Sparky's mom that she's seen holes there sometimes and she worries about me getting hurt. I didn't care though. I just wanted to run.

As soon as she got my lead rope off, I took off bucking and running! I ran fast! I didn't go far though. I just ran along the fence a little way then circled around and ran back to the gate. It's no fun to run all the way around the arena if you don't have a friend to run with. It's kind of strange. I feel so much like running but I can't seem to decide where to run to. I race back and forth by the gate and then Mom waves the whip at me to get me to go further and I do but I just want to run right back to that gate for some reason so I cut around in a circle and do it.

And that's where the bad things happened. Mom waved her whip at me and I ran along the fence but as soon as I'd passed her, I cut sharp to go to the gate and I was running so fast that my feet slipped right out from under me! I couldn't stop myself - I fell right down on my side and slid a little bit. It startled me but I was so excited and frisky I barely even thought about it. I just jumped right up again and kept running.

Mom was worried, I could tell. She called out, "Easy Bella, easy, slow down..." and I dropped to a trot. I was still frisky and wild and I didn't even notice anything about where'd I'd fallen. I just wanted to keep running. Mom didn't want me to do any more in there though. She stopped me and checked my front shoulder and leg where I'd landed. I had some scrapes but they didn't really hurt. She petted me and told me I'd be okay but that we had to go somewhere else. The other horse was done in the Gremlin Arena by then so she brought me up there.

That arena is better to run in. There are no little fences in the way and no tree like there is in the Little Fence Arena. That tree is kind of in the middle of things. It's really big and it has a little fence all the way around it that people sometimes sit on. It's a nice tree when you're just walking around whuffling on the ground but it's in the way when you want to run. Sometimes you can find things to eat under it. Mom calls them acorns and tells me I shouldn't eat them but I try to get them when she's not looking. They're crunchy.

I ran a little more in the Gremlin Arena but I wasn't quite so wild as I'd been. A little bit of running does wonders for you. It makes you feel happy and satisfied and I was feeling pretty good. After a while, I settled down and walked around a little bit and Mom just watched me and petted me when I came near her. She checked my scrapes again and that's when I started to notice that they hurt. Not a lot but they were starting to sting a little. Mom told me we needed to go home so she could clean them out and doctor them and I was ready.

Walking down the hill, they started to hurt a little more. Mom cleaned them all up which felt kind of good and put some stuff on them that stung a little at first but felt cold after that. It was okay. Then she gave me some alfalfa and my bucket dinner and a carrot and petted me some more. I'm okay but kind of sore. I guess I have to be more careful when I run around like that.