Dr. Stephen Fullmer
English 1010
17 May 2012
My Eventful Summer
“Cowgirl” has been my name ever sense I was put on a horse. Being involved in rodeos, 4-H, and been around horses my whole life is what got me into the sport of rodeo. My freshman year was my first year of high school rodeos, and they have been very successful ever since. The most exciting times of my life have come from the sport of rodeo, but also my lowest of lows. The summer of my Junior year proved it. I took a deep breath as I walked my horse, DJ, into the Winnemucca, Nevada Arena. Telling myself just to relax, and make a clean, run to be the High School Barrel Racing Champion was not easy. I had placed second in the first round, and third in the second …show more content…
round which put me second place going into the short round. Everything came down to the short round. The crowd was going crazy as they called my name. DJ was ready, but my nerves were raging, mainly in my stomach as the butterflies fluttered till no end. "Is everything ok? Will everything go as planned?" We approached the ally and were ready to go. Around the first barrel we went, second, then third. I was headed for home knowing that I had made a clean run. When I passed the timer my butterflies immediately settled. “Ladies and Gentlemen,” I heard the announcer say. “We have a new leader, 16.67.” Tears started to run down my cheeks. I couldn’t believe what had just happened. Whistles, bells, horns, and voices from the Utah section of the crowd would easily have been heard from miles away. My dad met me outside of the arena gate as I walked out and the look on his face will stay with me forever. He was so proud. Winning my first saddle and the title of Champion Barrel Racer out of sixteen different states was quite a big accomplishment to me, but more importantly, I showed everyone that I was someone to watch. My moment of success quickly ended. My Junior year was completely changed. The problem came on July 30th, 2011. I was on my own for the weekend, with my horses for the first time. The rodeo was in Junction, Utah and it was a success for me. I placed in the Barrel Racing and won second in the Breakaway Roping which won me a four hundred dollar check. I decided to make it home for church on Sunday morning at 9:00, so I left my friend Kylee’s at 7:00. After driving for over an hour and was only fifteen minutes away from home everything was changed. As I was going on the curvy freeway through Payson, a black fancy car that was on my right didn’t stay in his lane. He clipped the front of my truck, and then swerved back into his lane. I did all I could not to go down into the median, but the car was in my way. All I can remember was looking in my rear view mirror and seeing my horse trailer tumbling behind me, almost as if I was being chased. Somehow I managed to turn my truck around and drive back down the median of I-15 to devastating sight of my trailer upside down, and my horses ejected from it. Seeing my horses through all of the dust I ran as fast as I could to where the trailer was while my heart was racing out of control. Through the thick dust I could see the trailer in many pieces and debris scattered amongst the median. Saddles were thrown fifty feet away, bucket, hay, and everything that I had with me in the trailer was scattered. My only thoughts were to get my horses and take care of them. It was the most horrific sight I had ever seen.
My grey horse that I rope on was drenched in blood. He hadn’t run off like most horses would with all of the flashing lights and people around, instead he just stood there waiting for someone to come take care of him. DJ was lying on the ground right outside of the trailer. He wasn’t moving and I knew something was wrong. Running to him, I fell to my knees and lied on his neck. My Champion Barrel horse, more importantly my best friend was gone. All I could see was a tiny cut between his ears, but I knew he hadn’t made it. A man ran up to me through all of the dust and pulled me up off DJ. He asked me if I was okay, and that he had called 911. He asked me for my dad’s number so he could get a hold of him because I had no idea where my phone had flown. Flashing lights started coming from every direction and I couldn’t help but break into tears. Seeing my family passing me on the freeway going South bound so that they could get off the freeway to come back North was devastating. My dad was in a truck and trailer with my mom in her car behind him. The emotion I saw in their eyes broke me down. I couldn’t imagine the scene they were seeing. Once my parents and my little sisters made it to the accident, they cared about nothing but that I wasn’t injured. It was a miracle that my truck didn’t roll with the trailer. My little sisters couldn’t stand seeing me the way I was, and my parents were in complete shock.
The cops sat me down and asked me question after question. I couldn’t even tell you if I answered one question right because of the shock I was in. They were finally finished and reopened the freeway. Our vet met us at our house to stitch up my rope horse, and to make sure everything was okay with him. Feeling completely lost, devastated and still in shock, I felt that I had nothing to look forward to. I had gone from such a huge success, to such a low of everything. For days I felt like I just wanted to quit rodeo. I kept thinking to myself that maybe it just wasn’t for me. Why did this have to happen to me? Why my best horse? These questions never left my mind.
Less than a month had gone by and I had the opportunity to go out to Texas and find a new barrel horse. I knew that life had to move on and I couldn’t give up. My life wasn’t completely over and surely my luck couldn’t get any worse than it had already been. My new horse made it to Utah on a Sunday night and I couldn’t wait to ride him the next day.
Monday had arrived and I rode Scooby, for the first time at my own house. He was acting really fresh but I didn’t seem to be too worried. I started to lope circles in the bottom corner of our arena. The next thing I knew he had bucked me off and I was lying on the ground unable to move. I was rushed to the hospital and immediately put in for x-rays and a cat scan.
After hours of lying in the most uncomfortable bed in the world, no feeling in my hands, and medicine in me that made me so sick, the doctor came in with the news. He told me that I had broken my back, and more importantly that a piece of my spine had broke off was very close to my spinal cord.
By this time I was ready to be done. Maybe rodeo really wasn’t for me. I thought things had already been bad, and now they were even worse. My emotions were so high, I was a complete wreck. I tried having a positive attitude, but I wasn’t sure if there was anything to be positive about. Three months in a back brace and almost a month in a wheelchair was the start of my junior year of high school. The summer of my junior year had not been what I had expected.
A few months of living in front of the TV in a lazy boy chair my doctor informed me that I could slowly start getting back into the swing of things. I wanted to get back on a horse sinse the day I came home from the hospital, and that day had finally come. I kept feeling the same way that I did when I was leaving for my first rodeo by myself, so nervous. Learning or doing something new always makes me a bit nervous, and getting back on a horse was no
exception.
My dad’s assurance gave me the strength to go on. I trusted him implicitly. Getting on a horse for the first time in three months was a success. My dad held on to me tightly and slowly put me on. When my feet made contact with the stirrups, I heaved a huge sigh of relief. I could feel the fear draining out of me; I was finally back in the saddle. I had a feeling that my bad luck was finally gone and wasn’t going to come back.
I’d never realized how important life really was. Before I had my terrible experiences in the summer, everything in my life seemed perfect. Expecting that everything would work out the way I had planned was changed. My experience of my junior year was a real eye opener for me. It made me so thankful for life and the people that I get to share it with. Although it was a bad experience, it’s something that I will never forget and I wouldn’t take it back for anything.