Dear Shelby,

You are about to have a brutal fall off of Snooze, the horse you are riding. He is going to slam on his breaks in front of the jump and you are going to flip forward landing shoulders first on the opposite side of the fence without Snooze. You are going to be in pain and shock while staring at Snooze praying he does not jump the fence, because if he does you are going to be crushed. The pain is going to be a burning sensation that runs from your shoulders into your arms and fingers. The middle of your chest is going to be tight making you panic and feel as if you are not breathing correctly. To make matters worse, you will realize that the bridle slipped off of his face when you slid forward up his neck while falling. Snooze is going to take off into a gallop then stop, look at you with a devious glare, and then roll on the ground with your saddle on. Not only are you worried about yourself, you are now freaking out thinking that your saddle is being destroyed. The commotion gets even worse because your mom is going to come running into the arena and say “Shelby I told you that something bad was going to happen, and your knee better be okay.” She is not being mean, she is just upset because you did not listen to her and you are going in for knee surgery in a week because of the injury you got a few months in advanced. She does not want to see your knee hurt even more. You are also going to be really upset with yourself. Your confidence and pride will be crushed because you know for a fact that you got cocky about jumping Snooze. You knew for a fact that everyone who rides him falls off, but of course you have to be the best and ignore your mother’s advice. The recovery from the fall is going to be about a week and a half, and that’s just for you to be able to lift your arms about three quarters above your head.

            This fiasco of a fall should and will be prevented. The first step in preventing the fall is to listen to your mother. Mother knows best, although you don’t like admitting it. She specifically said not to ride him; therefore you must listen to her. She can predict the future and you know it! You seem to like to learn the hard way, but trust me; you do not want to learn the hard way this time. Secondly, when you get to the barn for your riding lesson you need to ask to ride another horse since you were assigned to Snooze a week in advanced. Then once you are on any other horse than Snooze, you will have a great lesson. You also need to keep in mind that you have a terrible knee and it is about to be operated on in a week or so. Staying healthy and safe is very important before the surgery. Just by taking your mom’s advice and switching horses will save you from a lot of pain.

Best wishes,

Shelby