![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Not quite what we planned
May. 17th, 2017 03:10 pmPrime and I have been doing really well this year, largely because we haven't been doing it all on our own. He's got a second rider, who is a much better rider than I am. She does things I'm not comfortable with or not capable of, and I can focus on building up my courage and skills.
On this past Saturday, we were going to show off our progress. Our riding club has a series of dressage and jump shows, starting with a practice session without any judge, then a training show, a show for club members and ending with a dressage show open for non-members. A couple of weeks ago, we did the practice session which went well once I stopped being tense and started riding properly, and now it was time for the first show. I was entering "LD1", a very simple dressage program with only walk and trot in straight lines, not even a circle. It felt like a reasonable first effort.
My husband and S came along to cheer and be helpful. We got the horse ready, though I need a lot more practice braiding his mane, but he looked nice and clean. I had polished my riding boots and his tack and felt that we were well turned out for a fairly low-key event. We got out to the warmup ring, which is our large arena (about 30x60 metres) and started riding. Prime was very attentive, and wasn't at all bothered by there being strange horses around. For once, neither was I; I managed to keep focused on what we were doing and Prime was willing to work with me. I felt that we would probably get at least above 50 % of the score, unless something unexpected happened.
That's when the unexpected happened. A black horse came into the ring, cantering and bucking at each step, quite close to us. Prime shied away to the other part of the arena; a reasonable reaction for a horse. He stopped when we were close to the fence, and I got the reins back and started finding the stirrup I'd dropped. Prime looked over his shoulder and saw that the black horse had now divested itself of its rider and was running straight for us. Prime totally freaked out; he was close to the fence so he couldn't run straight away, there were other horses blocking his escape and I was holding the reins fairly short... so there was no direction he could go, except up. Which he did, impressively. He may have kicked at the other horse too, I'm not sure, but I wouldn't blame him in that situation!
I was catapulted out of the saddle and and landed on my back in the sand/gravel. At first I felt paralyzed from the impact which had driven all the air out of my lungs, but as soon as I could draw breath I told people that I was alive but not completely OK. By then there were two or three people at my side, and my friend T had placed herself and her horse between the two riderless horses and me so I wouldn't get run down by the scared horses. The people helped me up and I limped out of the arena, where I was met by husband (who went to fetch my cane from the car) and S. My co-owner caught Prime. I said that I would definitely not be entering the show and she put him out in the pasture. The other rider was apparently OK, I heard later that she'd done her show.
The judge we had contracted for the show happened to be a registered nurse. She came and looked me over, saw that I could use all my limbs and there was no danger to spine, neck or head. She recommended that I rest and eat a little and then I should go to the hospital to get checked out. So I had some food and drink, and then we drove home. When we got home I wasn't even able to take my own shoes off, my right leg hurt so much when I tried to move it or bend over. Laying down to rest for half an hour only made it worse, so I followed the advice and went to the hospital. Unfortunately there had been a bicycle competition the same day so the orthopaedic emergency room was quite crowded and there was a long wait. I didn't mind; I knew my leg wasn't broken but figured it might be a torn muscle or something.
The doctor came and agreed that since I could walk on the leg and there was no visible swelling, a break was very unlikely. Still, he wanted X-rays to make sure. That happened; the doctors didn't see any fractures so I was sent home with a recipe for morphine and told to come back if it got worse or if it didn't get better within 3-4 days.
Sunday was really bad, it was hard for me to walk as far as the bathroom. As long as I was lying or sitting, or even standing still, it was OK - but the slightest attempt to move the right leg in any direction at all was really painful. S offered to come look after me the next day since my husband wasn't able to work from home.
Monday was better. I managed to get up and make breakfast for myself, and then spent much of the day resting. In the afternoon, the hospital called. Apparently they do a Monday review of the weekend emergency cases, and the review had noticed some small cracks in my hip bone. This also explained some of the back ache, because a crack on one side of the pelvic "circle" almost always is accompanied by one at the opposite side. What I thought was just severe bruising touching on a nerve is most likely a crack in the sacrum as well. I should expect at least one, maybe two weeks of severe pain. This was obviously less good than just a pulled muscle, but at the same time it was nice to know for sure what causes the pain. There's still no difference in treatment, the cracks are stable and will heal on their own, they will simply hurt for a while.
Tuesday was better still; I managed to walk all four steps down from the porch to go all the way to the mailbox. Then I sat in a chair outside and enjoyed the sun for a few minutes. I also managed to fix my own lunch (with S standing by to help if I needed it).
Today I'm home alone, I woke up at 4 am in a lot of pain after sleeping badly but went back for a couple of hours of more sleep and now I'm feel a lot better. Today’s exciting excursion is to the computer room so I can post this; I’m a bit too tired to try to go outside.
Prime will be taken good care of by his second rider, by my friend T and by his coowner. I mustn't ride for at least four weeks.
They are going to be long four weeks.
On this past Saturday, we were going to show off our progress. Our riding club has a series of dressage and jump shows, starting with a practice session without any judge, then a training show, a show for club members and ending with a dressage show open for non-members. A couple of weeks ago, we did the practice session which went well once I stopped being tense and started riding properly, and now it was time for the first show. I was entering "LD1", a very simple dressage program with only walk and trot in straight lines, not even a circle. It felt like a reasonable first effort.
My husband and S came along to cheer and be helpful. We got the horse ready, though I need a lot more practice braiding his mane, but he looked nice and clean. I had polished my riding boots and his tack and felt that we were well turned out for a fairly low-key event. We got out to the warmup ring, which is our large arena (about 30x60 metres) and started riding. Prime was very attentive, and wasn't at all bothered by there being strange horses around. For once, neither was I; I managed to keep focused on what we were doing and Prime was willing to work with me. I felt that we would probably get at least above 50 % of the score, unless something unexpected happened.
That's when the unexpected happened. A black horse came into the ring, cantering and bucking at each step, quite close to us. Prime shied away to the other part of the arena; a reasonable reaction for a horse. He stopped when we were close to the fence, and I got the reins back and started finding the stirrup I'd dropped. Prime looked over his shoulder and saw that the black horse had now divested itself of its rider and was running straight for us. Prime totally freaked out; he was close to the fence so he couldn't run straight away, there were other horses blocking his escape and I was holding the reins fairly short... so there was no direction he could go, except up. Which he did, impressively. He may have kicked at the other horse too, I'm not sure, but I wouldn't blame him in that situation!
I was catapulted out of the saddle and and landed on my back in the sand/gravel. At first I felt paralyzed from the impact which had driven all the air out of my lungs, but as soon as I could draw breath I told people that I was alive but not completely OK. By then there were two or three people at my side, and my friend T had placed herself and her horse between the two riderless horses and me so I wouldn't get run down by the scared horses. The people helped me up and I limped out of the arena, where I was met by husband (who went to fetch my cane from the car) and S. My co-owner caught Prime. I said that I would definitely not be entering the show and she put him out in the pasture. The other rider was apparently OK, I heard later that she'd done her show.
The judge we had contracted for the show happened to be a registered nurse. She came and looked me over, saw that I could use all my limbs and there was no danger to spine, neck or head. She recommended that I rest and eat a little and then I should go to the hospital to get checked out. So I had some food and drink, and then we drove home. When we got home I wasn't even able to take my own shoes off, my right leg hurt so much when I tried to move it or bend over. Laying down to rest for half an hour only made it worse, so I followed the advice and went to the hospital. Unfortunately there had been a bicycle competition the same day so the orthopaedic emergency room was quite crowded and there was a long wait. I didn't mind; I knew my leg wasn't broken but figured it might be a torn muscle or something.
The doctor came and agreed that since I could walk on the leg and there was no visible swelling, a break was very unlikely. Still, he wanted X-rays to make sure. That happened; the doctors didn't see any fractures so I was sent home with a recipe for morphine and told to come back if it got worse or if it didn't get better within 3-4 days.
Sunday was really bad, it was hard for me to walk as far as the bathroom. As long as I was lying or sitting, or even standing still, it was OK - but the slightest attempt to move the right leg in any direction at all was really painful. S offered to come look after me the next day since my husband wasn't able to work from home.
Monday was better. I managed to get up and make breakfast for myself, and then spent much of the day resting. In the afternoon, the hospital called. Apparently they do a Monday review of the weekend emergency cases, and the review had noticed some small cracks in my hip bone. This also explained some of the back ache, because a crack on one side of the pelvic "circle" almost always is accompanied by one at the opposite side. What I thought was just severe bruising touching on a nerve is most likely a crack in the sacrum as well. I should expect at least one, maybe two weeks of severe pain. This was obviously less good than just a pulled muscle, but at the same time it was nice to know for sure what causes the pain. There's still no difference in treatment, the cracks are stable and will heal on their own, they will simply hurt for a while.
Tuesday was better still; I managed to walk all four steps down from the porch to go all the way to the mailbox. Then I sat in a chair outside and enjoyed the sun for a few minutes. I also managed to fix my own lunch (with S standing by to help if I needed it).
Today I'm home alone, I woke up at 4 am in a lot of pain after sleeping badly but went back for a couple of hours of more sleep and now I'm feel a lot better. Today’s exciting excursion is to the computer room so I can post this; I’m a bit too tired to try to go outside.
Prime will be taken good care of by his second rider, by my friend T and by his coowner. I mustn't ride for at least four weeks.
They are going to be long four weeks.
