Yay! One step closer to resuming normal life.
Bill was out of town and Cash turned up lame (more on that later) so I had to do some horse stuff, and I didn’t want to do it in my tennies. So I thought I’d give the boots a try, and I got them on! More importantly, I got them off again later, with no pain. I wouldn’t call them “comfortable” quite yet, but I’m not going to complain.
…and it did. One of us got kicked by a horse. Yep, it would be me who had the trail-riding mishap again. There have been numerous close calls with horse hooves, but until now we’ve escaped harm. I wasn’t so lucky on our otherwise-idyllic trail ride on Saturday. (More on that, with pictures, later.)
First, I have to say that it was pretty much my fault. There were seven of us on the trail ride, with seven very different horses: two Tennessee Walkers (our Cash and Shari’s still-unnamed horse); our Appaloosa, Romeo; and four Quarter Horses (Katy, Cluless [not a typo], Rabbit and Pistol). I was riding Cash and we stopped for a break. My saddle had shifted back (forgot the darn breast collars) so I got off and started adjusting it. Dummy me, we were standing next to Shari’s very young mare, Pistol, and I was in between. I don’t know what happened – I assume Cash sniffed her nose or some other grievous offense – and Pistol let a hoof fly. I was obviously in the line of fire. I thank the good Lord that I was facing away from Pistol, so her hoof caught the back of my calf, not the bony front – otherwise, I’d have a cast on my leg now, and possibly pins in it too, instead of a very large, colorful and painful bruise.
Purty, huh. It knocked me down too. I tell you, I’m spending much too much time picking myself up off the ground on trail rides these days. Hey, at least I didn’t fall off this time! And again, Cash avoided stepping on me. He could easily have backed up, away from Pistol and over me, but instead chose to walk in front of the scary mare. I love that horse.
Once again, I remind you – having horses around is dangerous. Y’all be careful out there.
It was a beautiful spring day in east Tennessee so Mikki and I decided to do our chores early while the sun was up and the air was warm. Our horses heard us up at the barn and decided to see if we were offering treats. After forking manure, I headed outside the gate to great our horses and offer up a small treat. Moonshine is a sweety and enjoys a good rub and hug. She’s also bossy. Valentine was standing nearby as I was rubbing Moonshine’s back. And in the blink of an eye, Valentine bolted as Moonshine nipped at him, turned her back and went to kick him. Where was I, you ask? At this point RIGHT BEHIND HER! Fortunately, I had quickly jumped back and was only hit on my hand. I had a leather glove on and it startled me more than it hurt but the thought of what could have happened made me thankful I received only a tap on the hand. I’ve seen what a horse kick can do and know how powerful these beasts can be. When Moonshine’s hoof hit my hand, it was in the air right in front of my heart. I’m not trying to be overly dramatic but I could have easily broken a few ribs.
Moral of the story? Well, I’m not sure. I guess it’s to always pay attention, especially when there are two horses near each other. At the time my position didn’t seem particularly vulnerable but with an almost 10:1 weight ratio, standing anywhere near a horse can be dangerous.