[RC] why I don't love trail riding ...wrong! - sherman
Accidents happen everywhere. It is certainly better to know
the area, or have someone with you who does when you are riding trails.
Teenagers often think they are invincible though (just ask me, I have a 17 yr
old son) and it doesn’t make sense to make decisions about what is safe
or not based on what teenagers do.
Now, why am I on the injured list? It was a beautiful smokefree
day yesterday, so after riding 21 miles in the canyon (with sheer drop offs) I
went home and decided to ride again with my husband and a friend, just a little
hack on our very tame trails. I rode my future endurance pony, 13.2 1/2H Paloma,
who at age 5 can go for 3 months without riding, then I can get on and have a
nice ride…that is unless she is attacked by yellowjackets! She started a
little hopping as we were trotting up a hill, and I thought it was because the
other 2 horses had trotted a bit faster than her up the hill, then she started
going beserk, no bucking, but striking out violent head shaking, spinning, and
I began feeling pain on my hands, back, arms. I quickly realized we were under
attack and I yelled to my partners. I couldn’t get Paloma’s attention
to move her out. She backed into a fence, twisted, jumped forward, I thought
she fell with me, but I’m not sure. I fell downhill off her, I think my
head hit the ground first, then her twisting and writhing made her end up over
me, kicking and stomping at the bees still. I felt my leg get stepped on as I
was curling up to protect myself. With all the kicking and stomping going on,
it is a miracle I only got one major bump on my leg. When Paloma got her
balance, she ran downhill. Meantime, I couldn’t get up fast enough, didn’t
even know if I could walk, but my husband and friend ran down and picked me up,
dragging me as we fought off the bees. The other two horses ran off in the
other direction when they saw Paloma run off. Paloma was found nearby and is
fine, was just a little shaken up. I spotted a few bumps on her today, most
likely bee stings. The other two horses ran a bit, then slowed to a walk and
went visiting at a neighbor’s place until they were rounded up.
I went to the doc this am to make sure there were no signs
of internal injuries or fractures, one leg did swell to about twice it’s
size (okay, just a little exaggeration there), but responded quickly to ice so
doc says no fracture there. I also have bruised ribs, but again, so lucky to
have had nothing broken. And I got away with only 8 stings…but boy did
they ever hurt last night! Anyway, I hope to be back in the saddle as soon as
the leg can handle it.
