road rash sucks

And so does watching your horse gallop away from you, riderless, down the middle of a road.

On Saturday I had a bad fall off of Lucy. My friend and I had planned a trail ride. She is new to the area and wanted to know where all the trails were, so I was going to take her to my favourite place, which we have to walk 7/10ths of a mile on the road to get to.

I warmed Lucy up on the lunge line and then got on. She was going REALLY well under saddle, just so beautiful and forward and light. It was a nice sunny day, and I was looking forward to a nice hack. She was great on the road, not bothered by cars or anything. We got to the entrance of the trail and she perked up but I wasn't worried. Then she randomly spooked at a wrought iron gate we have passed at least twenty times before. I was so unprepared for it and when she spun to run away, I went right off over her shoulder. Like an idiot I held onto the reins and got dragged down the gravel driveway a bit. I finally let go of her, and looked up just in time to see her galloping back through the trail entrance toward the road. She turned up the road toward the barn and took off. She galloped the .7 miles back to the barn, down the middle of the road, past cars and people working in their yard. I almost had a meltdown, seriously...it was so scary to see her running down a road that I know people drive too fast on. Luckily there are very few curves in the road and I just prayed that she wouldn't be hit or slip and fall on the pavement. I was petrified.

I ran out to the road and flagged a car down. I was hysterical. "Can you take me to my horse?", I sobbed. The people were so kind and made sure I was ok and then off we went after my mare. En route to the barn I noticed all of the people coming out of their yards and lining the side of the street, looking concerned. They had probably seen or heard her thundering down the road. I was just relieved that we didn't come across an accident scene.

Finally we got back to the barn and there she was, standing right by the door, her reins looped through her right front leg. She looked so upset...stupid horse! If she hadn't run, she would have been happily plodding along her favourite trail! ARGH! I wanted to smack her in frustration and hug in relief her at the same time. I unbuckled the reins so that they weren't caught on her, and I checked her over quickly. I was so relieved that she seemed to be fine. I took her into the barn and untacked her and hosed her legs off briefly. I was most worried about her tendons and feet from running on the road. I took her outside and walked her up and down the driveway to cool her out (she was very hot) and waited for my friend to get back (she was hand-walking her horse back from the trail). When she got back she put her horse away and trotted Lucy out for me. Luckily she was sound.

I decided to poultice and wrap her legs and give her some bute with her dinner. I checked on her again later that night to make sure there wasn't any heat in her feet. She seemed fine and only wanted more to eat :)

Her leaser was supposed to ride her Sunday morning, but I wanted to go to the barn and check her legs and make sure she was sound before her leaser drove all the way to the barn to ride. I dragged myself out of bed and checked her over from nose to tail and she was alright, so her leaser came down to ride. They had a good ride and I was able to take some photos and video for her.

The good news is that Lucy has a new boyfriend, Boe:

And here are some photos of Cairo from walks we went on this weekend:

Cairo will be 1 year old on Wednesday!! Aww :)

I still haven't gotten back in the saddle since my fall but I have a lesson tomorrow so that will be the end of my hiatus. I am still very sore but I think I will be able to ride alright.