The year was 1984, the summer Olympics were held in California, USA & for the first time in history of television, the Equestrian games were televised in the US.

After a year searching, I finally found the horse of my dreams: "Shetan," an unbroken 4 year old breeding Arabian stallion with 8 get {kidz} on the ground. The breeder agreed to let me break "Shetan" on the same property where he was raised and we did it without any major explosions.  I was so proud!

In the english dictionary the word "Proud" should read: HUGE False Sense of Security!

In Proverbs the Bible clearly reads: "Pride goesth before a Fall". Well, I was headed straight for another lesson learned the hard way!

I thought, Hey! if I could get this far without incident I could probably do the rest of the "under saddle" training by myself!   Boy was I in for a BIG SURPRISE!

GOD took care of the arrangements of Shetan's and my education way before I even knew I needed lessons.  Two weeks before finding Shetan, Raymond & Nicole Medina, my mentors, insisted on giving me 6 months free board at the Middleburg equestrian centre with USET Olympic riders in exchange for the sign I designed and painted.  We had Olympic equestrian contestants from Peru, Europe and America still training in Middleburg, VA. If ever there was a golden opportunity to learn from the best, Here it was!  I didn't realize it at the moment, but GOD placed me in the right place at the right time.

He made sure not one moment of this golden opportunity. was wasted. He got my attention and not just Once! He wanted me to take lessons, so he allowed me to have an accident (totally my fault); I shattered my collar bone in 3 pieces and broke my toe while riding in the indoor arena. Sheesh! 

Oh! I was forewarned. Someone yelled "come down to this end of the arena, there's a wet spot down there"

Did I listen?  Nah!

We hit the wet spot at the exact moment I asked Shetan for a canter transition. I tilted his head too far to the right and we flipped & fell to the left.  Hit the indoor arena floor like a hammer. I was still in the saddle when I hit the ground. All I heard was 2 pops.  That was my collarbone shattering. It didn't hurt right away but I still couldn't get up. Only my head would lift to my chin and that was it.

Raymond, manager of the equestrian centre & my mentor, raced over. Right away, I knew I was in trouble! Once again, I'd broken the cardinal rule: I wasn't wearing a hard hat.

As I looked up at him from the arena floor, all ll I could say was "Would it have been any different if I'd had a hard hat on?"  He said "No" then laughed, as he always did when I got into trouble. I immediately felt better. 

No one believed me when I said it was my fault.  Everyone blamed Shetan.  This accident only confirmed everyone's fears that Shetan was definitely going to kill me. 

Of course it didn't help when I embroidered
"It's all Shetan's Fault" on my sling.

Grounded for three [3] months I tried to make the most of everyday and every opportunity to learn.  Watching the professional equestrians ride in Middleburg was always pure inspiration. Then a wonderful woman, Billie Poole of Pooles General Store gave me an instructional Dressage Video tape of a Canadian Olympic Dressage rider.  I watched it over and over and over while I was bed ridden; the entire time pretending I was the rider in the saddle. Today its a proven effective learning technique called "visualization". Back then it was all I had and I made the most of it! 

The doctor gave me permission to ride 3 months later, so I took Shetan for his first trail ride. 

Keep in mind, Shetan is only 4 years old, an ex-breeding stallion with 8 kids (had him gelded after I broke him, but still he had lots & lots of Testosterone & too much Ego leftover. Looking back, I can see all the ingredients were ripe for an exciting ride! But I didn't see it then, not until it was too late!

Shetan had never been off the farm where he was raised; had never been in the company of another 'guy' horse and had always been the king of his own herd of mares. Are you getting the picture?   This ride was going to be very different for both Shetan & me on so many different levels! 

I can now say I am living proof GOD protects the stupid! 

I rode with this gal and her quarter horse. The 1st half of the ride was quiet.  The 2nd half is what this story is all about.  In a blink of the eye, my life flew before my face.  We jumped a big but simple looking log.  That was all she wrote!

Soon as we landed, Shetan and this Qtr. horse, in perfect unison dropped their butts, dug in & went from zero to 60 in a split second!

They'd decided to race, on their own!  This was not your friendly, wind in his mane gallop through the forest race. No way!  It was a hell bent for leather race. WAR WAS DECLARED!

Shetan was determined not to let this Quarter horse beat him, regardless or in spite of what I wanted! In a split second, I changed roles 3 times. I went from rider to passenger to hopefully survivor. 

Dandy!  I'd promised my mentor (who managed the equestrian centre) that I wouldn't let Shetan go fast for a year.  I seriously intended to keep that promise, so I tried real hard to stop him. However, I was using only my reins. (keep in mind I'm riding without any proper lessons and learning as I go along, mainly from the seat of my pants.   I'm just a Cowgirl in an English saddle.

While I'm pulling the reins with all my might, that son of a gun, Shetan, threw a 'reach for the sky" buck with his rear end while we're still flying at the speed of sound. 

OK, I admit it! It was all My fault!! I didn't know you need to control their rear end. The rear's the engine, not the front end.  How the heck did I know. That's a lesson I didn't learn until 3 months later when I was humbly taking lessons. 

The Buck that followed taught me good!

In a split second I went from the saddle to the air flying over Shetan's neck. I had a clear view of the ground in front of Shetan.  But, by the grace of  GOD Shetan was running so fast he caught up with me. I grabbed hold of his mane & wrapped my arms around his neck. To my delight, my big toe was still on the front of the saddle where it meets the withers, but the rest of my body was under his neck and holding on for dear life.

We're still "flying" at the speed of sound.  I didn't think we could go any faster but there we were gaining speed with each stride; eating up the ground.  Felt like we've reached at least 100 mph. That's how fast the ground moved underneath me. 

The two horses were "Neck and Neck'.  Neither one giving in an inch.  Neither one showing any signs of tiring or slowing up.  Both with a sparkle in their eyes! 

Let me see, the Quarter Horse is known for its blast of speed for at least a Quarter Mile.  I know we passed the mile mark minutes ago, but they were both still running fresh.  On the other hand, the Arabian is known for their incredible 100 mils endurance races. GEEZE, I'm in BIG trouble!  

For what its worth, my desire to live was strong enough that I refused to give up.

Still nothing & I mean absolutely nothing I did slowed Shetan. not even my entire 106lbs of body weight hanging around his cute neck slowed him down. It didn't even made a difference. 

The entire time he was aware I was there and while I knew he was taking care of me, I was also painfully aware Shetan was totally invested  in this race. For him, it was DO or DIE!  Nothing less!

This was Shetan's first outing with another horse, let alone his 1st race with another male horse.  In his whole 4 years on this earth He was always KING and nobody, not even me was going to  rob him of this victory!. 

Testosterone was swirling in the air!  Nothing was going to stop him.  Nothing!  His lightening speed never faltered for one second.  My heart was beating as fast as the horses were galloping!

Neck and neck with the Quarter Horse we stayed.  Except Shetan's neck was still carrying the weight of ME!

When I could get my face over his mane I yelled to the girl on the Quarter Horse, pleading to stop her horse.   But, I didn't see any motion to slow up. Maybe she didn't hear me? Maybe she wasn't interest in slowing down?  Don't know what she was thinking.  I mean seeing someone hanging underneath a horse's neck at a flat out gallop tells you something is amiss;   Don't you think? . . . Maybe? 

Then again, maybe not!  Even at the high speed, we stayed balanced.  Shetan knew where I was and what I was doing.  I certainly knew what he was doing! 

Maybe this is the way its suppose to be.  Maybe I would have fallen off if Shetan tried to slow down.  My only job was to hang on for dear life and pray. That's exactly what I did.

Realizing we weren't going to be slowing down anytime soon, I took one quick glance toward the ground.

MOTIVATION!  BIG MOTIVATION! 

My left collarbone [recently shattered] was pointing directly toward the ground]. If I let go, I'll land on a shattered collarbone that's still healing.  There's a good chance I'll get run over if Shetan doesn't jump over me,  If I'm lucky, I'll die!  If I'm not lucky I'll be crippled for the rest of my life. What a choice!

That image shook me to the core! That's Motivation!  The adrenaline started pumping. I forgot ail about the race and what was happening and what was not happening.  Instead I focused on getting my body back in the saddle. 

Not sure how long I'd been hanging on.  It was a long while but it wasn't important now. I found the strength to inch my upper body up along Shetan's neck, grabbing mane for support as I moved.   Inch by inch I reached his withers and kept focused on getting back & sitting erect in that saddle. 

I can't tell you exactly how I did it, but there I was back in the saddle while Shetan was still neck & neck at full speed in a flat out gallop!  Not once did Shetan's speed falter.  Not once was there any hint of my interfering with his balance.  

Incredible as this sounds; it felt like Shetan held his head & neck steady on purpose, supporting my weight to keep me safe.  Now all I had to do was stay safe. He helped me back on board while he's still flying through the woods defending his ego.  This was Pure Circus!  This was Pure Shetan! 

I found out what I was made of too.