Autobiographical Narrative

I have to do this for English class and I thought I might as well post it here too. (:

One day in early February, just before my twelfth birthday, I went to the barn where my aunt worked. The owner of the barn said that if my aunt was willing, she could give me lessons for free. That day though, she didn’t have time to give me a lesson and I was bored. So she asked me if I would like to ride bareback. I immediately gave an enthusiastic yes.

I got out Moe, the old chestnut gelding that I rode sometimes. After putting on his bridle my aunt helped me get on him and I was allowed to walk with him down the side of the drive way and through a small unused paddock. We had to walk on the side of the drive way because it was icy and with his horse shoes he would slip so it was safer in the grass.

On the way down the drive way we approached an apple tree that had long since lost its leaves. I ducked my head under one branch and then noticed another so I ducked again. I didn’t notice the thicker branch right below it until all of a sudden it was in my face. What happened next was a blur. My head was hit backwards and I felt pain in my face and for a moment I couldn’t see anything except a foggy blur. I was too concentrated on trying to figure out what had just happened! My mind was racing and I could barely register what was happening. Finally I tried to get my horse to stop but Moe kept ambling along.

I could hear my cousin freaking out as she stepped out of the barn. “Emily’s bleeding!!” she cried and got my aunt.

Meanwhile I was angry at my horse because he would not stop. I yanked on the reigns and tried to hit his flank. I realize now how lucky I was that he was calm and old. Any other horse might’ve taken off with me and I was still a beginner rider back then. He took me to my aunt and then stopped. My aunt took me off the horse and took me in the barn. I got a paper towel to put on my chin which was bleeding and realized one of my teeth was sticking straight out! It was pushed back into place, by who I’m not sure.

Then my aunt and her boyfriend were trying to figure out what to do. They called my parents and wrapped me up in a saddle blanket and we loaded into her jeep. The whole way back home – which was a bit of a drive – I was listening to them talk about what they were going to do while I dabbed at my chin with the paper towel. Her boyfriend was worrying my dad would sue the owner of the barn or my aunt but my aunt was worried about other things.

I got home and my parents got the story from me and my aunt. Then my dad took me to the emergency room. I was really nervous because I didn’t want stitches – I’d had them before and they were really painful. The nurse told me that they were going to basically use super glue since that wouldn’t leave a mark whereas stitches would leave tiny circular holes.

My dad and I waited for a long time, watching My Best Friend’s Wedding on TV, or parts of it anyways. Finally the doctor came and asked about my tooth. He poked my tooth on the opposite side of my mouth and my dad tried to explain which one it was. Finally the guy found the loose one and looked quite startled. He moved it back and said to just go to the dentist. Then he cleaned the cut on my chin and glued it so it would heal.

Later that week I went to the dentist and they said that there wasn’t much they could do. My tooth that had been knocked loose was an adult tooth. If it healed, it healed, if not, oh well. Luckily it did heal and it’s perfectly fine.

That year all my birthday pictures of me showed off a colorful band-aid on my chin. But eventually the glue peeled off and my cut healed. To this day though, I have an almost perfectly vertical scar on my chin to remind me of my first time riding bare back.

Looking back I realize I was lucky to have stayed on. I had never ridden bare back before but somehow I managed to stick to that horse while he tried to scrape me off on a tree. I was also lucky that Moe was patient and calm with me while I got mad at him and he took me safely to my aunt.

Often, accidents on horse back, like this one, scare people away from riding. Not me! I love it even more because horses are truly amazing animals. While I haven’t had the chance to ride bareback again I’ve had many adventures since that episode all those years ago in February and I plan to keep having adventures on horseback as long as I’m able to.