Back in the Saddle Again

Have you ever been bucked off a horse without warning? I was riding that day, doing what I always do, and without warning my horse bucked and jumped wildly and within a split second, threw me to the hard ground. I laid there flat on my back in the dirt with dust flying all around from the fall. The crowd went silent for a moment waiting to see what would happen next. Would I get back up? Can I even get up? I laid there for seemed like a year when in reality it was just a short few minutes in rodeo time. Here is how it happened.

I’m a horse rider in a Christian rodeo and have been riding for 23 years. I don’t own a horse, I just ride them. For four years I rode one of the best horses in the rodeo. We were a team and rode high and rode fast. The horse was sold abruptly one day out from underneath me and there I was with no horse to ride. For the next couple years, I rode a lot of different horses that were good horses but not like the one I had before. Changing horses often for a rodeo rider isn’t good. Riders must get to know that horse and ride him every day and bond together. I finally got a another horse and we started riding. It was a rough start but we were riding together. After 3 years as his rider, the unexpected happened. We were riding the rodeo that day and doing what we were both trained for, and out of nowhere that blasted horse reared its head up and bucked and threw me to the ground. Here is the rest of the story.

While lying there flat on my back in the dirt, in pain, I began reflecting on my life as a rider. Was I really a great rider? Do the people watching me ride like me? Do I want to keep riding after this fall? Would the pain ever go away? Will I ride again? Those were the questions in my mind. It felt like a year lying there but it was only a few minutes. I felt my legs move again and the pain was getting lighter. I heard the crowds that day chanting words to get me back up. You can do it! Get up son! We need you to ride again! You were born to ride!

I mustered enough strength to sit up and then finally stand . The crowds went crazy chanting my name and excited to see me get back up. It was incredible to hear them so loud and so excited. I got my balance and dusted myself off, looked all around at the crowds and waved my hat high in the air letting them know I was alright and will ride again. It was a glorious moment of exhilaration and emotion. I walked back to the horse stalls and there, waiting for me, was a new horse. It was tall and mighty looking with a beautiful hand engraved saddle waiting for me to mount. The horse appeared to be too big for a small rider like me, yet I sensed it was gentle. The horse turned its head around to me and with this look of gentleness seemed to say... get on and let’s ride son. 

As I mounted the new horse, I was handed the reigns by my riding partner. She was standing there ready to lead me out to the arena again with the crowd waiting in anticipation of seeing me ride. She had been there before I was ever bucked off the horse and right there next to me as I lay there in the dirt with dust all around me. She was praying over me to get up and ride again and show the crowds I can do it. She handed me the reigns but I pulled her up on the back of the saddle with me. The stall gate opened and together we rode around the arena waving our hats to the crowd. They were ecstatic and screaming with joy and excitement for us. 

We stopped in the middle of the arena to take the moment in and there we saw the rodeo owner sitting high up in his booth that overlooks the whole rodeo. You could tell who he was because we wore the finest leather and the finest clothes and the finest boots money would buy. His face brightly glowed with joy over the fact that I got back on that horse again and was riding for Him again. At that moment, I knew it was Him that gave me the new horse that was strong yet gentle and would never buck me off again.

At that very moment, the rodeo owner silenced the crowd. I hear with a loud voice…”ride em cowboy, you’re back in the saddle again. 

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