The first time I was bucked off a horse

So it's kind of a sour note to be starting a blog off on but I've put off starting this long enough.

Nearly a week ago I took a friend out horseback riding with me to my trainers place and it ended badly. I was bucked off my horse and I broke a vertebrae in my back. My spine is fine just the bone. But here I'll tell you the story of the first time I was ever really bucked off a horse

I had been pretty excited all day, it was the first time I had ever brought someone out to ride with me at my trainers. And I was feeling pretty confident in my riding skill to now help someone else who was equally as new as me. My friends name is Jason, he and I have been friends for almost 3 years now. I do believe that is my longest standing friend here in Cow Town. While we were driving out there we were talking excitedly of the trail ride I was about to lead him on and also making fun of his nice clean cowboy boots.

We arrived a bit late, as seems the norm when making plans with Jay. He's not one to be rushed. We greeted my trainer, we shall call him Norm as I'm not sure that he would want his name all over the internet,  and we grabbed some oats and the halters with shanks and headed out to the back field to catch us some horses.

Sigh is the first horse of the day. I believe she is about 8 years old, but don't quote me on that, and she's a red paint mare. I've ridden her a few times and most of her quirks are easy to manage and she's got some pep to her step so I thought she would be a good match to Jay. Over all she was easy to catch and the rest of the herd didn't give us much trouble at all. it was looking like it was going to be a great day.  As we were headed back to the stable with her we had to go through the 2 pens where the horse I was to ride was and the new red one and Bones. 

Let me tell you about Bones

Throwing the Bones, or just Bones for short, is a red roan mare that I have somehow fallen madly in love with. On the day I meet here it was my first time meeting Norm. He had me come out to see if I would have what it takes to ride his horses the way that he would want. I was both terrified and excited that he even wanted to see me. At this point in time I was still so new to being on a horse that I still sat on it like it was a motorcycle with my toes tucked in. I arrived to meet Norm right after I had had an interview in town. I was wearing high heels and dress pants. He gave me a look over that told me "Do you have any idea what you're going to have to do here?"  Over the course of an hour, where I promptly changed into jeans and proper riding attire, I convinced him that what I didn't have in riding knowledge I did have in heart and eagerness to learn. But I was talking about Bones. Bones was there while I rode that first day, Pawing and digging nervously at the ground. She had never been ridden yet. As I proceeded to work for Norm, and Norm proceeded to work with Bones it became clear that she had a lot more problems than just been green under the saddle. She was rather nasty to other horses, bucked Norm off in the arena, bucked every time we put a load on here on the trail ( we were having her haul rocks for make a fire pit), that same trip she cow kicked Norm and nearly broke his leg. You couldn't touch her mouth and she would try to bite you every chance she got. And she would always dig with her front hooves. I can't tell you why I always fall in love with the most stubborn hard headed and nasty types. But still this horse makes me smile.

We lead Sigh through without incident more a less, and got her hitched up to the post.  and I went back into the pen with Bones, Little Red to catch the Brown One that I was going to ride. This should have been the easiest horse to catch because they are right next to the barn, and everything I need is right there. But no. With Bones running at Little Red, Little Red trying to hide behind me and Brown One trying to eat the grain in my bucket without letting me put the halter on him it was a real pain in the ass. But I eventually got my horse with Jay's help the other two stayed on the far side while I tide him up to start brushing the horses down.

As I was talking Jay through how Norm likes to have the horses brushed  the Bones was bullying the crap out of LR. She had actually cornered Little Red by the gate and I watched as Bones turned around and started to kick the snot out of Little Red. She quickly turned and took most of the blows to her hind end but myself and another lady that boards with Norm went yelling and waving our arms trying to save this poor horse from Bones, I was actually up and against the fence before Bones clued in that  we were screaming at her and she backed off. Little Red was scared, terrified really, she had just been backed into a corner and kicked mercilessly. but I was able to get a halter on her and lead her out while Jason kept Bones away from us. Once tied up and out of danger she calmed down quite a bit but she was still very shaken. I tried to calm her down and rub her to show her that it was okay and try and se all the damage that was done. She had some pretty wicked cuts on her hind end but she wasn't limping, only bleeding a bit. She would be just fine.

With the crazy time kids separated I continued to help Jay brush and saddle his horse. Sigh has been a bit skittish with having the saddle put on lately so I had to do it slow, explaining what I was doing to both Jason and the horse. The Brown One wasn't any better, on top of being wound up from watching what happened to Little Red, he was also taller than me so that made putting the saddle on even more difficult. I should note here that I don't have any saddle bags so I have been riding with a backpack of sorts to carry my water and jacket. Today I decided that I would try tying my backpack to the saddle so that I didn't have to carry it on my back. I probably should have known better.

After nearly 2 hours our horses were saddled and ready to go. But instead of heading south towards the river Norm asked us to go east through the field to meet his girlfriend, we shall call her Valerie, so that she didn't have to walk her horse who was also acting up the 5kms to the barn. So off we went.

We barely made it out of the yard when Sigh started to act up, she kept going in circles and wanting to head back to the barn. I suspect that some of this was jay not communicating to her, part of it was probably because the horse was jacked up from watching what Bones had done and partly because she knew she had an inexperienced rider on her back. After a few minutes of her circling I took her lead shank and pony'd her to my horse and we were walking down the road.

even while we were walking Sigh would try and cut me and Brown One off and we would have to circle left  but after I noticed that Jay was pushing his heals in and making her go faster I corrected him and it was smooth(er) sailing until we made it to the first field.

Neither of the horses wanted to cross the field. It was full of long grass that had been laid down from the snow that had since melted and there was a fair bit of wind coming across. Not good for already antsy horses. I could see Val in the distance and with Sigh and jay to my left we made our way across.

We were about 1/3 of the way across when jay disappeared from my side, they had started to bank to the left. Sigh wanted to go home. I turned in my saddle to tell him to coax her to follow me and suddenly my horse went into a trot, I was okay with this as we were still headed towards the next field. That's when I think really shit hit the fan. I think that the back pack that I had tied to the back of the saddle must have bounced and startled him because he took off into a gallop, ears pinned and bag still bouncing on his back. I felt him kick with his back legs and I knew I was in trouble. I tried to rein him to the left but he kicked again and I felt myself coming off the saddle. I reined hard to the left once more and decided it was time I get off this because I was losing my balance and I didn't want him to kick me off on his own accord. I fell to the right as he traveled kicking to the left. I remember looking up and seeing the sky and the clouds and thinking that this was the wrong way to fall and that this was going to be bad. I remember the sensation of hitting the ground, I had my eyes squeezed shut, partly due to the pain and partly due to the fact that if he was going to come around and trample me I didn't want to see him coming.

I have a fairly vivid imagination. Sometimes it makes me feel like I'm still a small child, making up fantastic stories in my head to keep me entertained. In the moment I hit the ground, with my eyes squeezed shut I seen my spine, much like you would in an X-ray, I seen all of my vertebrae slamming together as I hit the ground, much like a skyscraper would fall from a demolition blast. each floor coming down hard on the next, with the blast wave moving up my spine, taking every inch of air in my lungs with it. I watched my back break in my mind I laid there on the ground screaming in pain.

I don't think I became aware of the noises coming out of my face for a good 5 seconds after I hit the ground. There was actually a ringing in my ears that stopped me from perceiving anything other than white hot pain steaming through my body. when I became aware of myself again I realized that if I kept screaming I would pass out. And with more will then I have ever know I forced myself to stop making noise. it didn't work right away. And it didn't last very long. But it gave me time to inhale so I didn't pass out.

I knew I had fallen on my back so while trying to make word rather than just blind noise I tried to wiggle my toes, I could feel them moving in my boots. Feel them. I'm not a religious soul but I certainly thanked god, any god, that I could feel them moving in my boots. Then I finally opened my eyes. Jay was still fighting with his horse, she wanted to go nowhere near the screaming crumpled heap on the ground that he needed to go help.

I still couldn't catch my breath, tiny wheezing gasps I told him that I was alive and that I had fallen on my back. I couldn't have told you then if it was injury or pain but I really wanted to throw up at this point. In hind sight that was probably a good sign.

I laid there until he came to help me up. I was, and still am, to stubborn to remain laying in any one place for too long.  The horse had bucked me off, the least I can do is stand up. Even with much discouragement Jay helped me to my feet and I discovered how much more pain I could endure, as I tried to stand strait and I couldn't. I remained bent in the middle and waited for some more oxygen to come into my lungs.

 I seen Brown One in the field, he had the reins wrapped around his legs and he had more a less parked himself where he stood. I decided, with the shock still in my system, that I should probably go get him. Despite Jason telling me that I should probably not move I went to my horse and untangled the reins from his feet. I'm sure that Jason and I talked while this all went on but for the life of me I can't remember what about. It wasn't until he said, and maybe not for the first time, that he was going to ride and meet Val that I realized what had just happened to me. The shock was wearing off. I couldn't breath again and I could speak beyond a whisper. As he was about to go I squeaked out "please don't go". I was having a hard time breathing again and I was starting to faint. Jason caught me and we waited for Val to come to us.

She was walking her horse when Norms dog, Grizz ran to her and her already spooky horse freaked out and turned to bolt. I watched as Bella, her horse turned to run, nearly yanking the shank from her hand. Grizz running merrily not realizing that he may be making the situation worse. The horse tried to book it a second time before calming down, Val then coming to join us.

Jason filled her in on what had happened, I was still having trouble breathing. She called Norm to have them bring the truck out so I didn't have to walk all the way home. I thought about getting back on Brown One but no one brought up the idea and while I fancy myself tough, I thought that it probably wasn't a viable option.

Ash meet us at the gate to the field and I handed my horse off to him and drove the truck back to the barn. I sat there in the truck for a moment, wishing I could catch my breath. Wondering what to do next. I decided it would be a good idea if I got my stuff together. I was probably done riding for the day.

Maybe 10 minutes later everyone else arrived and we again went over what happened. It had been nearly half an hour since I fell and I still couldn't catch my breath. I was then told to go to the hospital. That's when I called Keelah. That was a hard phone call. I was more scared to call her and tell her I was hurt then I was of the idea of getting back on that horse. Did you ever hear of the statistic  where children are more apt to tell their parents something that will make them angry then something that will make them sad. Not to say that I think of her as my mother, I just didn't want her to be too worried. I didn't want to scare her. But I called her and told her to meet me at the emergency room. but I was going to be just fine.

During the drive my body started to settle down, I felt every bump in the road, groaning ridicules little groans with each one but over all I felt okay for what had happened.

Up until I had to get out of the truck. Like I said, my body had settled down, the shock had gone and when I went to stand up it was like I hit the ground again. My body screamed at me and I lost my strength. I cried right there in the parking lot as Jason held me up again. mortified, angry and terrifically stubborn I made myself walk into the emergency waiting room, wheezing for breath.

I was standing there slumped against Jason, focusing on trying to take a full breath in when Keelah came in. I seen terror in her eyes. she looked like she wanted to cry. I probably shouldn't have told her I was okay. I certainly didn't look okay. I remember smiling at her and saying hi. My efforts to try and mend a shitty situation.

My ability to remember the rest of the night is not quite as clear as it was for the earlier part of the day. But they got me into a room right away, and stripped me down and put a gown on my and the nurse gave me a quick once over to see if anything else was wrong. Then I waited with Kee for the doctor to come in. After another once over with Doctor Doug, he asked me if I would like some painkillers. Um yes please? Now, while I have the utmost respect for all health care professionals and their affiliated careers, my nurse was probably the worst nurse I had ever had. My IV drip painkillers were supposed to go in slowly over the course of 10 minutes. How do I know this, because she told me. But once she set up my IV and left the drugs were railed into my system in less than 2 minutes because she didn't turn the drip function on. Also, having been a medic myself for 3 years, typically you put a patient with a back injury on a hard plastic spine board so that they spine remains still. Not a soft cushy bed with a pillow. Granted, I didn't mind having the painkillers rammed into my body at warp speed and also didn't mind having a pillow. I did however mind every time she would bump and jar my bed as she looked for the stethoscope that was politely hanging from her neck. I believe we likened her to the pink fairy from sleeping beauty, flitting about my hospital room waving a wand.

At some point they took me for X-rays. Lots of X-rays.  I do believe that my butt was the most photographed butt in all of Airdrie that day. If I hadn't felt so crippled I would have flexed a bit more for the angled shots. Hopefully they won't tell my agent.

Finally after what seems like forever, and probably seemed longer still for Keelah, because I'm not exactly what you would call delightful company when I'm trapped in a small room for extended periods of time. Dr. Doug finally returned with a quasi prognosis.

"Everything seems fine," He says. Thank Jesus Fucking Christ. I was really worried that I had done something serious to myself. But I'll be okay, will be sore but ill get back on and go riding later this week. It's all okay!

"...except that," Fuck You.

"you have a compound compression of your T10, blah be blah." He kept talking but I pretty much stopped listening because all I could think about is how awful of a way that is to break bad news to your patient. I know that his whole statement there was only about 5 second long but holy crap, don't start with 'everything is fine' cause that just makes the 'but' even worse!

Anyways he went on to explain that one of my vertebrae, my T10. was fractured and that I would need bed rest and painkillers to heal. That it may be 3-6 weeks before it was fixed and that there was probably a fair bit of recovery time between now and riding again. Yaa me.

So now here I am, almost a week later. Going stir crazy in the house and blogging about it. You can look forward to more of me and my life's adventures posted soon, but rather periodically. I'm making no time commitments or restraints with this one like I have with Between Bottles. I hope those of you who read  this enjoy it. I will certainly enjoy writing about it.

Cheers!