Two years ago, I was riding a mule in a Hunter pace, and I went over her head resulting in a broken ankle. I was competing again as soon as I was healed, but the mule was borrowed so I was riding horses. All good. Last fall I bought this mule for myself and have been riding him western. All good there too.

Well today I put my English saddle on him and he was an ANGEL but I panicked the whole time. I had to stop frequently to check my girth and crupper and check that the saddle hadn’t moved (it hadn’t, it was all in my head). I also had to take breaks to catch my breath just from the anxiety. We successfully w/t/c. But I still ended up cutting the ride short.

Wtf brain. English, fine. Mules, fine. English mules=primal brain takeover.

Griff is my steady eddy and we will work through this. Mostly I needed to rant, but would also love to hear your overcoming trauma stories or commiserate about current trauma.