"I'm envious of your day off right now," texted a coworker this morning. "Thought u should know."Tee hee.
It was a gorgeous day. The first full-on fabulous day in months. The trail show we were scheduled compete in this weekend was cancelled, leaving me with two days off from work. Two days to spend however I please.
Needless to say, I headed down to the barn for some riding with friends.
The crew tacked up, grabbed a few babies (including Madge) to tow along, and headed down the road. We walked, we trotted, we loped, we laughed, we took photos, we soaked up the sun... It couldn't have been a nicer day.
As we were on our way home, I suddenly found myself lying on the ground. Maxine had slipped on a spot of smooth tar and fell to the asphalt. As she was down, I quickly rolled off to the side so she could clamor to her feet. I sat up, unhurt, still holding a mule in each hand.
Madge, who had been a pill during our warm up, stood quietly as I got to my feet. I walked Maxine for a bit, checking for signs of lameness, but she was fine. Other than a sore elbow, I'm none the worse for wear.
A few minutes up the road, we came to a retaining wall--a perfect mounting block--and I was back in the saddle and headed home.
Back at the barn, I checked Maxine's legs again. Other than a few tar stains that I'll have to shave off before the next show, she's fine. After a dose of Bute to ward off any lingering soreness and a long graze in the sun, I took her back to her stall for dinner.
"I hope that never happens to me," said a barn friend, after we returned. While I never wish to fall, I do find that these experiences often have a silver lining. In fact, I learned two lessons today:
- Maxine needs to be shod with borium shoes for safety on the road, where we do a lot of riding.
- Even after a fall, a sunny day at the barn is better than a day at the office. I like my job, but I love my girls!
What's life without a few falls. Nobody was hurt, you both got up & brushed it off & finished. Sounds like a good ride to me!
ReplyDeleteGoodness! Try cowboy magic green stain remover. I've had it remove tar stains before from a white horse that got into some roofing stuff and got tar all over her nose.
ReplyDeletethat's no fun about the fall, but i'm jealous about the days off work!
ReplyDeletea few years ago, i went riding with my uncle to a forest preserve with a deep river. i was on his mule, Kate. we rode about 15 mins to the river,swam and messed around for awhile, and then decided to go back. since it was only a few minutes and the ride was easy, we stayed in our swimsuits (minus the jeans we rode down in) and pulled on our boots and left- bad, bad idea. my uncle's mule got lame on the gravel road, so he switched with my cousin and started to gallop back to the trailer. Kate decided she wanted to go, too, and whirled and ran. Needless to say, i ended up landing on my bare leg, in the gravel. talk about road rash! i still have the scars today.
Missed hearing about you and your girls adventures.
ReplyDelete