After Margaret and I had such a fun time at the fall hunter pace, we opted to go again this spring! This time, while I rode Rejoice again, Margaret rode her horse Jester and had a friend ride Ladyhawke. All Kennebec Morgans!! Jester and Rejoice have the same dam and Jester and Lady share the same sire. Unfortunately instead of a lovely late spring day, we had one of the first intensely hot and humid days of the year. It was definitely a bummer, but the ride was mostly in the shade of the woods and we had a great time! most of the fences were 3' coops but we found a small log and this hay to jump haha Until we didn't. 😑 We brought along a third friend who rode Margaret's older mare, Ladyhawke. She's a good rider but hasn't known Ladyhawke for very long and didn't realize how much of a cranky boss mare she could be at times. She kicked Jester right in the front leg just about halfway through the ride, and while the cut itself ended up not being a big deal in the
Day Sixteen: Your most recent fall
I rarely fall. I'm serious. I am not sure if it is because I have a Velcro butt, good horses, or really good luck, but I have been lucky to not take too many tumbles in recent years.
Of course, my most recent fall was last spring (April 2010) at a horse show. Yup, I actually fell off at a horse show! :-/ So perfect. But I still placed fourth in the class......ha ha ha ha. I thought if you fell off you had to be disqualified, but apparently not. Before that, I had not fallen off since the winter of 1996. And that was during a jumping lesson where the (17.1 hand) lesson horse and I parted ways over a jump. LOL!
The full blog post is here, in case any readers want the entire show story. But here is just an excerpt of the actual fall...
"Our last class of the day was Adult 3-Gait Command. The class started off well, and we ended up being part of the last five still riding. I was thinking, "Just stay in while one more rider has to go to the center and you will get a ribbon!" [Note: at this particular show they only placed to fourth place. Not sure why...] No sooner did I think that, going along in a nice canter, and my lovely mare tripped. I am 100% convinced she tripped on one of the big honking ROCKS in the ring, and she just went down in a heap. As we were cantering, and suddenly stopped short, I was bounced off over her right shoulder. I landed on my left shoulder first (OUCH!) and I remember yelling the word, "SH!T". Yeah, great. I am so classy at horse shows! :P
"I tried to get up and saw Dreamy halfheartedly trotting away, the reins around her right front leg. I knew immediately that I was not able to walk on my left ankle and my left shoulder was in searing pain. The darkness started to close in and I knew I would faint. I got to the rail but there was no way to get out of the four rail fence unless I climbed it. YEAH RIGHT. So someone told me to roll under the lowest board. I remember saying, "Seriously??" But I also knew I had to get out of the ring and get someone to help me not pass out. All I could do was ask about my horse. I started getting weepy because I just wanted to check my horse and I could feel my body starting to shut down. I hate passing out. And this was no dust-yourself-off-and-get-back-on kind of fall. I had hurt myself!
"The EMTs had not arrived yet (they were parked up by the barn) and someones dad came right over and had me lie back and he raised my legs. Suddenly, I was no longer about to pass out. I was so thankful! There were many people around me and suddenly there was ST too. I cannot really remember the order of things, but the EMTs had me move everything and they examined me. Within a few minutes I felt much better, though my shoulder pain was horrible. They put my arm in a sling and my ankle in a splint. The judge handed me a fourth place ribbon....seriously? How did I place if I fell off???? Shouldn't I have been disqualified? Whatever......at that point I was not questioning the poor organization of the show. I just wanted to check my horse and get home.
"Because there did not seem to be any broken bones (though the EMTs recommended I get x-rayed) and we were three hours from home, ST and I decided to head home. We figured it would be better to just get as close to home as we could, as it was about 5PM when we rolled out of there. I felt good, just very very sore. By the time we got to ST's farm, my arm felt 95% better and my ankle was killing me. Dreamy seemed fine, thankfully. We had many many helpful friends who not only assisted me, but also helped ST get the horses loaded and ready to go home. I am so thankful to everyone who helped and has continued to check in with me. I think it looked a lot worse than it really actually is! LOL!
"I had x-rays on Monday morning and nothing is broken. My ankle is just sprained, so I am wearing an air cast. There is some swelling and a tiny bit of bruising. I really thought the entire thing would be purple! Today is Wednesday and I am already feeling 95% better. I still have a little stiffness in my shoulder, but I can put my weight on my ankle again and walk almost normal. It is still a bit swollen, but that will go away.
"What an exciting show! The worst part was telling my parents. LOL! They worry about me too much. And seeing as I have not fallen off since 1996, when I was 17 years old, this was a pretty big deal! LOL! And I have never been injured in a fall, just had a bit of soreness or stiffness.
"I tried to get up and saw Dreamy halfheartedly trotting away, the reins around her right front leg. I knew immediately that I was not able to walk on my left ankle and my left shoulder was in searing pain. The darkness started to close in and I knew I would faint. I got to the rail but there was no way to get out of the four rail fence unless I climbed it. YEAH RIGHT. So someone told me to roll under the lowest board. I remember saying, "Seriously??" But I also knew I had to get out of the ring and get someone to help me not pass out. All I could do was ask about my horse. I started getting weepy because I just wanted to check my horse and I could feel my body starting to shut down. I hate passing out. And this was no dust-yourself-off-and-get-back-on kind of fall. I had hurt myself!
"The EMTs had not arrived yet (they were parked up by the barn) and someones dad came right over and had me lie back and he raised my legs. Suddenly, I was no longer about to pass out. I was so thankful! There were many people around me and suddenly there was ST too. I cannot really remember the order of things, but the EMTs had me move everything and they examined me. Within a few minutes I felt much better, though my shoulder pain was horrible. They put my arm in a sling and my ankle in a splint. The judge handed me a fourth place ribbon....seriously? How did I place if I fell off???? Shouldn't I have been disqualified? Whatever......at that point I was not questioning the poor organization of the show. I just wanted to check my horse and get home.
"Because there did not seem to be any broken bones (though the EMTs recommended I get x-rayed) and we were three hours from home, ST and I decided to head home. We figured it would be better to just get as close to home as we could, as it was about 5PM when we rolled out of there. I felt good, just very very sore. By the time we got to ST's farm, my arm felt 95% better and my ankle was killing me. Dreamy seemed fine, thankfully. We had many many helpful friends who not only assisted me, but also helped ST get the horses loaded and ready to go home. I am so thankful to everyone who helped and has continued to check in with me. I think it looked a lot worse than it really actually is! LOL!
"I had x-rays on Monday morning and nothing is broken. My ankle is just sprained, so I am wearing an air cast. There is some swelling and a tiny bit of bruising. I really thought the entire thing would be purple! Today is Wednesday and I am already feeling 95% better. I still have a little stiffness in my shoulder, but I can put my weight on my ankle again and walk almost normal. It is still a bit swollen, but that will go away.
"What an exciting show! The worst part was telling my parents. LOL! They worry about me too much. And seeing as I have not fallen off since 1996, when I was 17 years old, this was a pretty big deal! LOL! And I have never been injured in a fall, just had a bit of soreness or stiffness.
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