The big fall

By now, many of you have read about my mishap at Laughing Orca Ranch's blog. Thanks Lisa, for being such a  good friend and coming for me. Ortherwise, I might still be walking home. lol.

So, to recap, I took Scout out for an afternoon ride. I let him much hay while I groomed him. He's shedding really bad so I decided to just put on a bareback pad and go for a quick trip or two around the 'back forty'.
I put on a curb bit instead of his usual snaffle-side pull bridle and threw a halter and lead rope on top because I knew he wouldn't be comfortable with the new bit. I grabbed my helmet because I had this little niggling feeling that something bad was going to happen. I kind of worried about using the bareback pad because I thought that I could easily fall off. But then I rationalized that I haven't fallen off in years and he's going to be good anyway, so why worry?

Scout did really well. Of course, he wanted to go back to the barn but he didn't fight me much when we'd turn the corner and the barn was in sight, and he NEVER neighed at the girls even though Yalla! was hollering and running, I imagine. Scout calmly walked around and trotted whenever I asked. If I gave any pressure to the bit he threw his head up so I kept that loose and used the halter rope instead. He is so light on the bit, I hardly even used the halter rope at all. About the third time around, I decided to go just one more time around, we saw the neighbor ladies in the distance with their pack of big dogs. I could feel Scout tensing and as the four or five BIG dogs circled around us, he freaked. We were on the gravel road and he reared slightly. Then he reared again, stepping back, I believe, which sent him off the road, onto the incline. He lost his balance and fell over backwards. The ladies thought he fell on me. I really don't know.

It was a terrible feeling when I realized we were going over and there was nothing I could do except hang on. He quickly got up and wandered about 60 feet away- out of range of the dogs. I just lay flat on my back assessing the damage. That's not like me. I'm usually so embarrased with something like this that I would get up, shake off, and go after Scout. Not this time. I also thought it was the ladies' fault for letting the dogs run loose and maybe they should worry a little about whether I was still alive.

Finally, I sat up a little and said loudly, "so much for keeping dogs on leashes!" The one lady responded with, "well, this is my land!". Well, maybe it was, however, I was on the roadway when it happened. She had given me permission to ride back there too. If only she could have collected the dogs up before they came running up to us.

 Two of the three ladies came over to see how I was. Yes, I was still alive. By this time I was sitting up and looking at my swelling ankle. The dogs were worrying all over me which made me even more resentful of them. The owners couldn't even them off. My glasses were bent terribly and I had a cut on my head where they hit, but thankfully, the glass wasn't broken. I bent them back as best as I could and felt lucky that I hadn't gone to the eye doctor for a new pair yet, as I have been intending to do. My ring finger hurt terribly, but I couldn't see any swelling or bruising, and I thought- "good thing I don't wear a wedding ring anymore".

The one lady offered to drive me back to my house but, toughie that I am, I refused. "I can walk", I said. I was two fields away from my barn and by now, Scout had wandered back to the barn. I wanted to go check on him on my way back to the house. She asked me if it was a new horse and I said "no, he's just afraid of dogs".

Soooo, I began my trek back. I couldn't put any pressure on my ankle so I was taking little baby steps. The ground was uneven and every step made me wince. I felt popping in the left side of my ankle and the right side was swollen too, weird. I finally got to some trees and found a couple of walking sticks to help me. It didn't work very well. Then I saw Lisa calling to my son and they both came out to meet me.

I had made it one short field and was at another roadway so my son brought the car. He also brought an ankle brace and a pair of crutches. When I got in the car, we took off my shoe and sock and put on the brace. He also made me take two extra strength tylenol right away. I agreed that I should go to the emergency room, which is very unusual for me, and we picked up my mom and went. Unfortunately, it was 7:30 by the time we got to the hospital, so urgent care was already closed and I had to go full emergency. Fortunately, there was a lull in the emergencies, so I got seen within an hour, which is great time for ER.

The doctor checked my spine up and down and said that there wasn't much that could be done for the seatbones. They hurt really bad whenever I try to sit down. The X ray on my ankle came back with a fracture on the talus bone. Interesting thing about Talus bone injuries- they are often caused in falls, especially snowboarding, car accidents, and lower back injuries. They put me in a huge temporary cast up over the knee, called a bulky Jones (there's a Bowie reference there- Jones is his real name) and said I need to call the orthopedics on Monday for an appointment. I am not allowed to put any weight on my foot at all. I'm wearing my coat because I couldn't quit shaking.

They never X rayed my finger and it still hurts terribly but I have figured out that it's actually my hand that got injured. The last two knuckle joints are now slightly swollen and I have a cute little triangle bruise on my palm spanning out towards my finger. Strange! I'll have to ask the Ortho doctor about it today.

Anyway, I need to go to work and the doctor's (fingers crossed that I get an appointment) so more to follow.