Thanks for the encouraging words, I felt like a fool! Usually I anticipate the light and either speed and blast through or slow way down and just wait, but this light for whatever reason, changed so I was going to turn right and ,....Oh it could have been bad.
I am DEFINATELY going to take the advice on going to a parking lot and practicing braking though. Thank goodness I'm comfy with my clips or I would have hit the pole and been laying on the ground like a turtle on it's back.