"So there I was"........we always tease Jim when he starts his stories out like that because we know the ending isn't going to be good. Ranks right up there with "Hold my beer and watch this..."
Anyway, this is a "so there I was" story, only Jim isn't the one telling it...
Jim knows this guy who has horses. He's been asking me if I wanted to come out and ride his horses for a while now, so finally Sunday I did. He puts me on Red - a retired barrel racer. We worked in the pen for about an hour or so and did great. The woman who was supposed to come out and ride with me didn't show up, so D asked if I wanted to ride down the road, so I did. Off I go, la te da da da, about a mile or so, no problems. Turn around to go back to D's, la te da da da, no problems, then wha la - all of a sudden - next thing I know, we're running. I don't know if something spooked her or if she just wanted to be home. The stirrups were a little to long, so right off the bat I lost the stirrups. Somehow I got thrown forward and was able to hang on to her mane. I just about had things under control when the road curved just enough to throw everything off kilter and off I went. We were on a gravel road (of course!) and luckily, I seemed to have lost consciousness before I hit the ground (or else simply can't remember). I think I must have landed on my head, shoulder, and elbow- all on my left side, of course, because I am left handed. I managed to get up onto my hands and knees and looked up and there was a pickup there - not sure how long it took me to get up. Not to long, I don't think, because I remember seeing the horse running down the road. Anyway, the guy asks if I need a ride. Duh!! I have blood dripping off the ends of my fingers and running down my face. I try to get up, but absolutely can't, so he gets out of his pickup to help me up. I really can't remember to much until we're driving down the road and he introduces himself to me. And, of course, he knows Jim. By this time, Red had made it home and D and Jim were flying up the road in D's car. I waved at them so they'd see me so they turn around and meet back up with us at D's house. The guy who picked me up told Jim, "she just about had her, I don't know what happened."
Now - that's NOT the worse of it! Here comes the "hold my beer and watch this" part. The woman I was supposed to ride with shows up, and they saddle up another horse. I didn't even think about not getting on because my Dad always made us get back on. So, up I go. This horse is smaller, thank goodness. This time we ride out around the field. Except for some reason, this "much tamer" horse is acting all freaky. Keeps wanting to back up instead of go forward. I've always been told that when a horse acts up to make them go around in a circle and they'll forget what their problem is, so we start going around in a circle. Oops! Horse falls down, on top of my already hurt ankle. D comes running and helps me up. I can't put any weight on my ankle at all. We're a ways from the house and I can't walk, so I have to get back up on the horse. Only thing is, it's my left foot that's hurt, so I have to get up on the right side of the horse. That's awkward! So, D leads us (me and the horse) back to his house.
At the hospital (for x-rays) a couple of days later, one of the nurses that we know stopped by to ask what we were doing there. He said "keep riding those horses, they keep us in business." We asked him what the number one reason was for emergency room visits and he said number 1 is horses. Motorcycles are number 3. Basketball is number 2. I don't know if that's just local or all over. Since this is cattle country, I would suspect it's for this area, but I don't know for sure.
My ankle is sprained, which the doc was kind enough to tell me is actually worse than a break! Great. It's a week later and I can walk on it fairly normal. I still can't get a shoe on. My road rash (head, elbow, and shoulder) is much improved. I think the next time I go horseback riding I'll wear all my motorcycle gear.
