Pommelled by a Horse

This is Stella- She is the tallest mare/horse we have in the barn.  She is part Thoroughbred, thus she is really fast.  It also akins her to a kid with severe ADD.  She has big doe eyes, and is a sweet horse.  However she is the reason for this post.  She is also a bit unpredictable and we are always wondering what kind of a mood she will be in for the day.  She isn't mean, just likes to kick her feet up and needs to get the wiggles out.

Today Morgan and I wanted to go for a horse ride.  We loaded up Annie and Stella and drove out to Yellow Fork for a pleasant 3 hour ride.

We unloaded and tied the horses to the horse trailer with Annie closest to the tack door.  A normal standard operating procedure.  Morgan brought along the lunge line to run Stella in circles for a bit in case Stella had a case of the nervous jitters, but Stella was being an angel.  A model horse.  She came out of the horse trailer calmly, stood at the horse trailer nicely and let Morgan put the bridal on without lifting her head to the sky.

I had Annie all saddled and just needed to put on Annie's bridal.  Then off to spend some time in the hills, all covered in autumn leaves, enjoying the beautiful fall weather.  I got the bridal and ducked under Annies head to get on her left side to put on her bridal.

Stella had moved her rear end around and had it almost touching Annie's rear end.  She is standing more parallel to the trailer instead of 90 degrees.  She was standing on one back leg with the other stretched out to the side closest to me.  A wierd stance.  I didn't feel comfortable with her rear end so close to Annie, so I put my hand on her rump and pushed, to get her to stand up and move over, so that she would be standing at the horse trailer at a 90 degree angle.  Safely and normally.

Stella moved all right!  First she sat back on her heels.  She was pulling on the rope tied to the horse trailer.  Then she started shaking her head as if to say, "let me go",  then the halter broke.  She was pulling so hard on the rope that the release flipped her over onto her back, with her saddle on and there she landed.

Now, I am standing at the horse trailer, next to Annie's head and Stella's stomach.  Stella is on her back and I am staring at Stella's front hoofs on my left side, and her back hoofs against the horse trailer on my right side.  Not a good place to be!
Morgan said "There was a moment of calm, when all three of you looked at each other, and then all heck broke loose."

A moment of calm; I felt it, I saw it, we were all assessing the situation and it only lasted a moment.  I was thinking.  "This is not good,  when she starts pawing to get up, I am going to get hammered by her front hoofs", that were right in front of my stomach, "I have got to get out of here!"  Annie seemed to be thinking, "what the heck are you doing down there?"  Stella seemed to be thinking, "now that wasn't what I thought would happen, what did you do that for?"  She was looking at me with her big doe eyes, so innocent, such a victim.

I put my right arm under Stella's hoofs to roll her away from me and duck back under Annie to safety, when all heck did break loose.  It seemed like the best escape plan.
What I remember after that was, chaos,  hoofs flying, me falling down chaos, then me on the ground and the sound of hoofs hitting the ground around me.  That is when I started to scream.  I thought, "if I scream, they won't step on me".   When the chaos stopped, I got to my feet to get away and the pain in my legs began.

I stood there, hunched over, my hands on my knees, deciding if any thing was broken.  Was I bleeding?  No!  Thank goodness, all the pain was in my legs and my one arm.  No head injuries or body injuries.  No blood.  I was upright!  Morgan is asking, "Are you ok?  I shake my head yes, cause I am trying to catch my breath.  "Just let me sit down for a minute", I managed to say.

I sat down and felt nauseous, so I shuffled to the truck to get my water bottle.  I told Morgan that I still wanted to ride, just give me a few minutes.  After 10 minutes, I decided that I had better not ride, so Morgan unsaddled and drove us home.

What a way to start the morning!

After examing my legs, as the bruises started to form, I am guessing I got kicked or stepped on, 6 times.  Behind both knees on the tops of my calfs are bruises the size and shape of Stella's hoof.  My left ankle is very tender, swollen and the I have a bruise all the way around my ankle.  My right thigh has a bruise the size of a grapefruit.  My right hip and left buttocks are also bruised.

But with all the bruising and pain, I feel lucky!  This could have been so much worse!  If she had hit me in the stomach, the chest or the head, I would have needed an ambulance.  No wimps allowed if you want to be a cowgirl!  I never cried.  I couldn't.  It hurt too bad.  Just in case you were wondering if I could cowgirl up!

We decided we would try again next Monday, cause Morgan doesn't work on Monday's. And I went home to elevate my legs and ice them. Some ibuprofen was on the menu. And Stella, oblivious to my pain, went out in the pasture to eat more grass.
10/4/11
It has been 1 week and I progressed from a waddle, to a shuffle, to a slow walk. Today, I walk pretty good and the bruises are turning yellow, but the pain in my legs is non stop.  I manage to get 2 -3 hours of sleep at a time, then I pace the floor.

Best I can tell is that I have a calf contusion. Ice and elevation are my friends.

This is annoying, but again, I feel blessed to only have leg injuries.

10/6/11 Thurs. OK, I packed my butt up and went to the Insta Care and had my shins xrayed. If my kids were the ones injured, I would have had them into the doctor the day it happened. But I am the Mom and I am supposed to be tough. Enough of tough. Let's be smart. I didn't want to leave on our hike to Havasu Canyon next week and injure myself more if I had fractures. The diagnosis-- No fractures and yes calf contusions.

I started applying heat on tues and it is making a world of difference. I will just take my Ibuprofen and the pain pills the doctor gave me. In case the hike with a 35 lb'ish pack is torturous.