A Tale of Two Riders
November, 2010
As you might have noticed, I have not posted for quite some time. Unfortunately this is not without reason, as I have had quite an adventure over the past several months. I’d like to share that story with you.
After having relocated (and returned) to California at the beginning of the year I spent what seemed to be forever locating a facility that would be a good fit. In the late spring, I thought I had met my match at an absolutely lovely facility whose owners specialized in driving and breeding sport horses. It seemed as if it would be a wonderful place to build a new clientele.
I received my first horse in training from out of state in early July. My new student was a large grey warm blood gelding, which I was not unfamiliar with, as I had started him as a 2 year old. He is now 6 years old, and as he could not stop growing, he was still relatively green.
He arrived in good condition, and as could be expected he was a bit nervous but not uncontrollable. On the contrary, he was very much looking for guidance from me. My plan for him was the standard; give him a few days to get acclimated before we started our 2 weeks of lunge work. If all went well, I would back him at that point.
He settled in quite nicely for the most part. If he was startled or frightened by something it did not take much to reassure him that all was ok. Our biggest hurdle was overcoming the fear of the horses that were being driven….this was something he had never seen the like of. I can only imagine, to a horse that is unfamiliar to this sight it might appear that the horse that is being driven is actually being pursued by the cart. Instinct would tell him to flee.
Never the less, as long as there was reasonable distance he seemed to come to accept that this was somewhat normal after about 5 days on the property. Driven by my own confidence and the fact that the owner felt that he might be best ridden sooner than later, I chose to get on only one week after he had arrived.
Our session started in a large covered arena, where I lunged him for 15 minutes or so. During our lunging, a driver entered with a mare that had previously been fractious in harness, but was currently doing quite well. My big grey did not seem to be disturbed in the least. I decided to go ahead and mount. Uneventfully, we proceeded at the walk around the rail. I made sure to keep a good distance, so that the other pair stayed on the opposite side and my big grey could keep a good eye on them. After about 15 minutes of this, no drama or trauma, I decided to end a successful first ride and planned to dismount a few yards ahead.
Fate had other plans. It seemed that upon my decision to dismount, the driving pair was coming directly at us. The big grey tensed, and I quickly calculated the direction in which we should continue that most likely diffuse the situation. I made an assumption that by me making an immediate reverse in direction would indicate that we were in a reasonable amount of distress and the driver would at the very least stop, if not turn away entirely. I was wrong. Apparently the driver was not aware of our situation.
Big grey did a 180, levade style, and then attempted to gallop away. I sat deep, attempting to pull him up and the rodeo began. He started with little crow hops. At least twice, I thought that we might have the situation under control, only to have the bucking begin again with even more fervor. Finally, I came up over the front of the saddle and onto his neck. Clearing my feet from the stirrups, I let go, put my hands out in front of me and exclaimed” s**t!”
Later, I was told that I was launched 20 feet into the air. I doubt that, but then again, who knows for sure.
The next thing that I recall is lying flat on my back, screaming at the top of my lungs and trying to breathe at the same time. I could not say that I was in pain, as I didn’t really feel anything aside from trying to get air. I didn’t understand why I was screaming. However I knew better than to move, at least just yet.
Shortly thereafter, one of the owners arrived on the scene. She inquired as to whether an ambulance was necessary. I said “No, I just need a few minutes”. A few minutes passed and I was able to sit up on my side and converse. The owner suggested that another younger rider get on big grey, as I had indicated that I should but didn’t think I could. I distinctly said “No, that’s really not a good idea.”
After several more minutes, attempting to get up, failing, getting up and nearly passing out and finally stabilized to the point that I could stand, the owner took me back to her home and offered me an ice pack and some wine……I accepted gratefully. We chatted as I paced, my chest heavy. It felt as if my torso had shrunken into my pelvis, but oddly enough, it was not painful. We had been talking for maybe 15 minutes before she received the call. She literally ran out the door.
Being in no condition to follow, or even to ask, I continued to pace. Until I heard the sirens. I watched the fire truck and the paramedics pull out to the covered arena. I moved as quickly as I could towards the arena, and upon my arrival, found that the young rider was in an ambulance, IV, oxygen and the paramedics calling her name, trying to bring her back to consciousness. There was not more time to be had. A helicopter was on its way to take her to the closest university hospital. I was told at that time that she was tossed from big grey once, and decided to remount out of anger. The second time he flipped himself, pinning her head against the wall of the arena. Her helmet was crushed, completely.
As she was loaded onto the helicopter, I decided that I needed to get everything together and get myself and my son home. My son helped my gather my things. I was pretty weak and needed to take it slowly. There was another woman there who helped get big grey cleaned up and put away (he escaped the ordeal with only a scrape on his hock) and stayed with me to make sure I was ok. I will be eternally grateful to her for that.
Then the adrenaline began to wear off…….the pain was unbearable. It was all I could do to move. I asked my son to get my phone so that I could call my husband….He arrived in about a half an hour.
We discussed it, if I needed to be hospitalized; I wanted to be close to home. We arrived at our local community hospital. I was nearly unconscious and somewhere between moaning and screaming. They admitted me more than immediately, gave me an IV and I slept. I have vague recollections of my stay there, one of them being the ER physician explaining that there was nothing they could do for me there. I would need to be transferred to a major medical center for surgery. I was transported in the middle of the night, semi-conscious.
The fact of the matter was that I had shattered a vertebra at L1. There were several little shards cutting into my spinal cord and the more I moved the more damage caused. Gone too long, I would be paralyzed from the waist down. My operation took several hours and involved removal of the shattered vertebrae and the two discs above and below. As well, I have lost a piece of one of my ribs to the cause. My vertebrae and the discs have been replaced with a titanium cage in which my rib was inserted to assist with the growth of bone, in hopes that all will fuse.
The last time I spoke with the young rider, she had made considerable progress, although it was quite sad. She had gone from a vibrant, witty young lady with a spark in her eye, to when I saw her last, a vibrant, witty young lady who had difficulty with her speech and wasn’t able to look you in the eye. This was a number of months ago and I pray that if she has not already recovered fully, that she will.
As for me, aside from having immense amounts of downtime and not quite yet knowing if I will ever be able to ride again, I am fine, but determined. I have no feeling in my lower back and torso due to the damage done, but this Thanksgiving I still have a load to be thankful for.
Big Grey was returned home, and is doing fine.
I guess my reason for sharing is as a cautionary tale. Was this something that needed to happen? Could it have been prevented? Could the damages have been limited? I certainly is something to think about............
May you all still have reason to be thankful this holiday season.
JW.