Out for the Summer
I hadn't planned on taking the entire summer off. Handsome Hank already had the winter off for the first time since I've had him. We were just getting out to the brandings and doing some roping. Mack just came back from Blue Allen's winter training camp and I had plans to show him this year in the junior ranch horse classes. All the colts were branded and needed to get handled and halter broke. While I have been busy this spring with a new business, I was really looking forward to my annual summer trip to the Alvord Ranch in Oregon. But I guess that wasn't in the cards for me this year.
I had met with my friend Heidi, her sister and a mutual friend to go on a real slow trail ride to talk a bit of business one lovely Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago. Heidi was riding her 3 yr old filly, I was on Handsome Hank and the less experienced riders were riding Heidi's two seasoned horses. We get everyone saddled, stirrups adjusted and were just waiting for Heidi to close the gate. Heidi steps into the saddle and her filly decides to rear. Not a problem for Heidi! She had ridden tougher. When the filly landed, I saw her hump up and she took off bucking. Heidi stuck with her for a couple of good jumps, then landed hard in the grass. The filly continues down the trail, squealing and bucking, like a little idiot. Heidi was on the ground, not moving much, so I got off of Hank to make sure she was alright. All this time, the other two riders were behind me, sort of wondering what to do next. As I walked towards Heidi, the filly noticed that she was all alone about 150 feet down the trail. She stopped, turned and started running back to the group. I didn't want her to run into the horses behind me, spook them, and have all of the riders get hurt. So I tried to block her and slow her down, and wanted to grab her reins when she came by. Hank didn't like that idea. He turned in front of me but when he did, I couldn't see where that filly was at. Hank being 16.2h and the filly was 13.2h, she just disappeared behind him.
After Hank turned in front of me, he knocked me over and I fell to the ground. I really thought I had just twisted my ankle, but when I noticed that my boot was pointing off in the wrong direction, I knew it was broken. I told Heidi, who was still on the ground trying to get some air in her lungs, that I thought my foot was broken. She struggled to her feet. She had horses to tie up, unsaddle, and put away with cracked ribs! After the horses got tended to, I was helped to the awaiting car for the ride to the hospital emergency room. That's when I started getting really sick to my stomach and the whirlies hit me.
Once at the hospital, I had to get my boot off. The first words out of my mouth was "SAVE THE BOOT!" I really didn't want them to cut my boot off so I talked the staff nurses into giving me some morphin before they tried pulling the boot off. Now at this point my foot was pointing off at about 10 o'clock. One nurse held my leg up, one nurse pulled on my boot and spur, while I held my sock with two hands. After some not so gentle maneuvering, the boot came off, and I went to get xrays.
Within a few hours, I was admitted, the Orthopedic Sports Medicine Surgeon was called and I was prepped for surgery. WHAT? I thought I could get the foot taped up with duct tape and I was going to come back the next day, when the swelling was gone to get the broken bone set. But that was not going to happen. Apparently, the dislocated ankle along with the broken bone, that was suppose to be holding my foot to my leg, was very unusual and bad enough to warrant immediate surgery ~!YIKES!~
Now, instead of riding and roping, I'm going to be spending my summer sitting around for the next 9-12 weeks with my foot up, or hobbling on crutches and no riding! Luckily, my friend Catherine was planning on coming up from Texas for a few weeks and has been here ever since, driving " Miss Daisy" around town. I have great friends......
If anyone has any great ideas to keep myself occupied while I rehab, please let me know. I am bored out of my mind! Give me a call or even an email.
I had met with my friend Heidi, her sister and a mutual friend to go on a real slow trail ride to talk a bit of business one lovely Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago. Heidi was riding her 3 yr old filly, I was on Handsome Hank and the less experienced riders were riding Heidi's two seasoned horses. We get everyone saddled, stirrups adjusted and were just waiting for Heidi to close the gate. Heidi steps into the saddle and her filly decides to rear. Not a problem for Heidi! She had ridden tougher. When the filly landed, I saw her hump up and she took off bucking. Heidi stuck with her for a couple of good jumps, then landed hard in the grass. The filly continues down the trail, squealing and bucking, like a little idiot. Heidi was on the ground, not moving much, so I got off of Hank to make sure she was alright. All this time, the other two riders were behind me, sort of wondering what to do next. As I walked towards Heidi, the filly noticed that she was all alone about 150 feet down the trail. She stopped, turned and started running back to the group. I didn't want her to run into the horses behind me, spook them, and have all of the riders get hurt. So I tried to block her and slow her down, and wanted to grab her reins when she came by. Hank didn't like that idea. He turned in front of me but when he did, I couldn't see where that filly was at. Hank being 16.2h and the filly was 13.2h, she just disappeared behind him.
After Hank turned in front of me, he knocked me over and I fell to the ground. I really thought I had just twisted my ankle, but when I noticed that my boot was pointing off in the wrong direction, I knew it was broken. I told Heidi, who was still on the ground trying to get some air in her lungs, that I thought my foot was broken. She struggled to her feet. She had horses to tie up, unsaddle, and put away with cracked ribs! After the horses got tended to, I was helped to the awaiting car for the ride to the hospital emergency room. That's when I started getting really sick to my stomach and the whirlies hit me.
Once at the hospital, I had to get my boot off. The first words out of my mouth was "SAVE THE BOOT!" I really didn't want them to cut my boot off so I talked the staff nurses into giving me some morphin before they tried pulling the boot off. Now at this point my foot was pointing off at about 10 o'clock. One nurse held my leg up, one nurse pulled on my boot and spur, while I held my sock with two hands. After some not so gentle maneuvering, the boot came off, and I went to get xrays.
Within a few hours, I was admitted, the Orthopedic Sports Medicine Surgeon was called and I was prepped for surgery. WHAT? I thought I could get the foot taped up with duct tape and I was going to come back the next day, when the swelling was gone to get the broken bone set. But that was not going to happen. Apparently, the dislocated ankle along with the broken bone, that was suppose to be holding my foot to my leg, was very unusual and bad enough to warrant immediate surgery ~!YIKES!~
Now, instead of riding and roping, I'm going to be spending my summer sitting around for the next 9-12 weeks with my foot up, or hobbling on crutches and no riding! Luckily, my friend Catherine was planning on coming up from Texas for a few weeks and has been here ever since, driving " Miss Daisy" around town. I have great friends......
If anyone has any great ideas to keep myself occupied while I rehab, please let me know. I am bored out of my mind! Give me a call or even an email.
posted by the Pretty Pony | 5:53 PM
