Friday, January 13, 2012

painfully numb. . .

. . .is my butt. And lower back. So I am sitting on a bag of frozen peas (don't worry, I won't serve them for dinner) as I type in severe rear end distress. 

Yes, I fell of of Shyloh today. Yes, it hurt, a lot. Yes, I may have thought I broke my pelvis at one point. Yes, I may or may not have shed a tear from the agony. But it was a strange hurt. It seems like my skin is numb, but under the skin was racked with pain. Weird. 

Here is what happened. We were working on whoa. Shy has a pretty good whoa, but I wanted to practice to make it solid. She was doing great and stopping when asked. But she was making it well known that she wanted to go back to her stall. She kept turning in the direction of the arena doors and fighting me. This is not new. . .I think she is stall sour! And all she wants is hay. It is the top priority in her mind and that needs to be changed when we are working.

Because she was so distracted, I was getting ready to get off of her. But I wanted to do it on my terms. All I wanted was for her to turn away from the doors, walk a few steps, and whoa. I wanted to dismount while she was facing away from the doors. As we were walking and getting ready to make the turn away from the arena doors, as Shy was fighting me to continue facing the arena doors, something happened and off she went. I am still not clear what that something was. . .

Now, I know where we were in the arena, and I know where I landed. It seriously was not that far. But while I was hanging on to Shy for dear life, then fell, and skidded, it seemed like a mile! I am pretty sure I let out some resemblance of a scream. I landed squarely on my left butt cheek. It was a good thing I didn't have far to fall!

Shy turned back around and stopped. She stood frozen. As I was writhing in pain, she stood still. A few boarders that were there came into the arena to see what was going on and saw me down. One of them got Shy, who stood for her to approach, and took her to her stall. I remained on the ground. This was probably the most pain I have ever felt. 

I was probably on the ground for 15 minutes before I was able to get up. When I did, I went to Shy's stall. She seemed afraid and worried. She knew she made a mistake, but the best thing I could do to correct it was physically impossible. I wanted to hop back on, just for a moment.  But I could barely even lift my leg so forget mounting a horse. And I just knew that sitting on my left side was not going to be pleasant at all.

That car ride home was THE most painful drive I have ever made. By the time I got to the end of the barn driveway, I wanted to turn around and ask someone to drive me home. When I got home, it took about 10 minutes to get out of the car!

For the remainder of the weekend, I am going to sit half crooked on my bag of frozen peas that are soothing my swollen butt. 

Enjoy some photos of my awesome dogs that I can't fall off of, since I did not get any photos today at the barn.
Sweet Maggie Pie and her pig
Playing their favorite game, Tug o War
Cooper on a rock

19 comments:

  1. Sounds painful, ice it down and take a day to recoup! Feel better soon.

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  2. I am so sorry. I've been there, on the ground, grimacing in pain. It's not fun, and the aftermath is worse. You probably will be hurting for a while - but if the pain is really bad, make sure you go see a Doctor.
    It's easy to say this from my side of the screen, but don't take it out on Shy. Riding again may be scary, but you have to swallow the fear and climb on again. (You were right in saying if you weren't hurting so much you would have done so... it's important for both of you.)

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    1. I'm not taking it out on Shy. She may have spooked, things are scary for a horse! Unless, she actually took of on purpose towards those arena doors. . .but I will never know what happened. I have to believe she spooked.

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  3. I am sorry to hear about your fall. It not only hurts physically, but it always hurts my feelings when I fall or get kicked or bit, like they meant it personally to hurt us. That just isn't the case. Shy was just shying at something and didn't mean to unseat you. Scary but simple.

    When you are better, start from the ground up again, slowly working until you are confident. And, the goal isn't to make her work through your confidence in any way that makes her bored and dreading her work. If she dumped you because she was annoyed then you still need to find a lesson that can keep you both happy. You have to find something to do with her that boosts your confidence and keeps her engaged so that the hay in her stall is dumb compared to the fun thing her person (you) is doing with her.

    About injuries, my husband and I fall all the time when running out on the frozen trail (on foot - not horse) and as long as something isn't broken we have found that movement is the best thing as soon as possible. Blood to the injured tissue helps it heal faster. So, as soon as you can even hobble, start walking around your house and then jogging in place - get moving - it will heal that much faster.

    Be sure to separate the physical pain from the emotional pain with Shy. She is still your baby - she is just a bigger dog/cat with heavier equipment (hooves, big teeth) and still needs all your love!

    Hugs to you both - what a scary day, but now you have that experience with which to move forward toward great days together!

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    1. Thanks! It is all part of the adventure of owning a horse, right?

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  4. Hey, you poor thing! We've all been there, unfortunately. Juliette is absolutely right, there is a lot of emotion involved when our beloved horses do something that makes us hit the deck, and there's a part of us that feels hurt because "they don't love us" or something along those line. You've got to remember Shy is just being a horse, something happened to make her react the way she did, and don't take it personally.
    As for getting back up there again, take your time and try to set yourself up to have a happy experience the first couple of times.

    Hugs from the Wagons team!

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  5. OUCH, I know how much it hurts for sure. Kind of goes with the saying "the hardest thing about riding is...THE GROUND" You'll probably find your self hurting in several differant areas in the morning. Mmmmm, could your Hubs kiss it make it better ;) Sorry, couldn't help myself considering the location of your Owie!

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    1. LOL! I'll ask him. . .but I am doubtful. I already an hurting in other places and a massive bruise is forming. I can't even compare this fall to yours!

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  6. I'm glad you were not injured worse than you were.

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  7. I'm so sorry! I hope you're healing up well and quickly. (Trust me, I have sat on my fair share of frozen veggies.)

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  8. =O

    I hope you will be alright! Falling off sucks, usually I close my eyes and tense up - I nearly always land on my head (one of the reasons I wear a helmet haha).

    It's good Shy waited. There is nothing like getting up to see your horse running away bucking like a bee is attacking it!

    I once got on a horse after being thrown off twice, landing on my head both times and being thrown into a fence. My vision was blurry and I thought I was about to vomit. Not the smartest thing I have done, but I get very afraid if I don't get back on immediately. It was smart of you not to get back on in this case, you could have hurt yourself worse.

    Once when I came off, I injured my tail bone. I couldn't even get into a car properly lol, I had to almost lay down and wiggle my way in. I hope your injury doesn't last long!

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    1. Megan, although I didn't hit my tailbone, I can barely get in and out of my car, still!

      And wow, you are brave to get back on!

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  9. Sheesh! Sounds painful! I'm glad you weren't hurt worse and I hope it heals up quickly. It sounds like Shy is definitely stall sour. I posted a comment on your previous post on suggestions for that. I would definitely recommend tying her up before she goes back to her stall. I don't know if you have the time to just wait around, but I promise it does help. Feel better soon!

    Also wanted to ask, how do you make it so people can reply to individual comments?

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    1. The funny thing is, she ties fine. I can have her int he cross toes and she is as patient as can be. As I work with her on more challenging things after the fall, I am coming to realize that she was bored.

      I have no idea how this new comment format took place! One day, it was just there, I thought it was a Blogger thing.

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    2. Hmm! Maybe it's the template you're using. I'll have to figure it out because I would really like the reply option. Thanks!

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