Get straight back on the horse

Back on a my first week at CHICKS and I've got yet more to say.  Just so much goes on throughout a week.
This time i want to tell you just how happy the kids get when you get them riding high on the back of a pony.  Chicks has a running contract with a local stables and all the kids get the chance to go horse riding.  Something i sure didn't get to do when i was a kid, in fact even now I've never got riding lessons aside from donkey rides!  It really does give them something special, to talk about forever.
They each mounted a pony and the volunteers, i.e. me, took the reigns to lead them round.  It was one beautiful day.  But i got the rebellious pony and it really wasn't too excited about getting out and about on this day.  I was leading a young girl who was very nice and to my surprise made a complete fool out of me on the football pitch when i first met her.  Not that I'm that good at football, but 8 year olds rarely have great ball control.
Anyway, we took the kids up to a soft floored riding area and begun to get the basics.  We had been pre-warned the night before about the slightly eccentric style of the lady in charge but it didn't stop all the volunteers from giggling the whole way through.  She walks like a cowboy from a western and sings the instructions to the kids in time with the horses.  I'll admit it works perfectly however is rather humorous to the point where we were still laughing when we made it back to the home.  However part way through and i admit i was being tested.  As i said I've never had the chance to ride a horse and the basics i know are from theories I've heard and very primitive.  So when the horse began to play up, i struggled.  It started by stopping for a snack whenever it liked.  Then it would get slightly excited and drag me forward for a bit before i pulled it back in line.  It seemed to be going alright and the girl was doing very well and loving it when we reached a part where i had to let go of the reigns and just walk along side...

It went fine in and out of the cones as she controlled it till it got round the end cone and thought it had lost me, so it bolted and started cantering off to my bewilderment.  I had to chase it down and being in wellies that was no easy feat.  But i grabbed the leading rope and stopped the runaway before it made it too far.  The girl loved it, i however, did not.  That was on the worrying side!
That marked the end of the first set of kids and i was boiling over from the heat.  We walked back to the stables and the Kids dismounted.  They had really had fun.  What's really great is just how much they had actually improved and gained control.  I however had gotten no better, proven by the pony stamping on my foot, wellies aren't made for protection from lumbering oafs.  I swear it did it on purpose as well.
We got some water on and although talk had been made to change my pony we still ended up heading back out with the same annoying pony with another kid mounted upon it laughing as the pony made a fool out of me.  Immediately it was playing up again.

Realising i was at the point of melting and loosing control as the pony rebelled one of the supervisors relieved me of duty and took command, i felt better when she struggled as well though.  However the worst was yet to come.
Toward the end there was a race of sorts, the volunteers all pondered round as fast as they dare but it came down to 2 french stable hands who were leading the larger horses and they were up for a race.  They cracked the whip out and got some speed up.  But when one of them turned, the boy on board didn't follow, he rolled off the horse and fell to the floor...
The supervisor ran over to his aid.  The lady in charge walked on over, looked him up and down and said "right then, back on the horse".  I don't think he even considered what she said when he found himself back up on the horse.  Well that was easy.  He was fine.  But we were pretty shocked!  That's one heck of a life lesson!