Weeeellll, since it's been SO long since I posted anything - & I discovered about 2-3 ppl actually look at this thing - I'll try to write something... Ummm - nothing much going on in my life right now...hmmm...feeling kinda stupid writing about me - like I'm so interesting and all (not). Oh I know - let me tell you about something that happend to me about 2weeks ago - maybe you'll be interested (this might be long...).
I have a friend who owns and boards horses about 1/2 hr from my house. So, for the past couple months, I’ve been spending the majority of my weekends at her farm helping out around the farm, learning to ride, and working with the horses. It has been SO much fun & I’ve been learning alot! About 2 weeks ago, Alice (my friend) was dog sitting for her son’s German Shepherd – so she’d brought him (Miles) out to the farm for the day thinking he would enjoy himself. Apparently, though Miles had visited the farm on several occasions, he hadn’t been allowed around the horses – now we know why – nor will he be in the future.
See, Alice was doing a bunch of transplanting and landscaping around the barns and house – so she was having me work with Max (her horse) – lunging, walking, excercising, riding, etc. She was on the farthest side of the of the riding arena (3 barns over) with Miles (the dog), and I had Max in said arena…
Well, suddenly – Miles (who must have heard us) came charging around the barns & into the riding arena in complete attack mode. Poor Max was scared & didn’t know what to do…he shied then started kicking at Miles. It was kinda scary – I would have gotten down, but to be honest I felt safer on the kicking Max. That’s when it got interesting (sorta in a sarcastic way)… Well, the dog kept snapping, growling, barking and biting, so Max kept kicking & bucking which dislodged my feet from the stirrups (which turned into a real blessing). Suddenly Max reared up and the next 10-15 seconds became a blur.
I realized that “I don’t think this is typical, because after rearing up, don’t they usually go back down – on their front feet…?” I was questioning this because although we were “going back down for a landing” it was in the opposite direction – Max was in the process of flipping over backwards – with me on him… As soon as I realized this – I instantly let go of the reins and tried to shove off from the saddle in the opposite direction of Max’s twisting fall. We both landed on our backs beside each other and I promptly kept rolling in what I was praying was the opposite direction of his hooves – thankfully it was. Miles by this times was quite incensed as he’d received at least one (if not more) kicks to his head (he was dripping a steady stream of blood out of his nose & mouth – giving him quite the vicious air). So, of course as soon as Max regained his feet – Miles was back on the chase with teeth bared in full persuit. Alice was finally able to corral Max and grabbed his bridal to try to lead him out. However the dumb dog was stubborn & was trying to get one last bite. Well, Max had the last laugh (okay maybe neigh) – he got in one more well placed kick right on Miles head. It dazed him enough that Bill (Alice’s husband) was able to grab his collar and lead him away.
So – needless to say I was quite shaken up and all I can say now is – OUCH. I did get back up on Max right away and rode him bareback for a few minutes. As I mentioned before – I was more afraid of Miles than Max. Plus, I didn’t want Max to associate me w/ that crazy dog. By that time my entire body (specifically back, hips, and ribs) were screaming at me loud enough that I couldn’t stay on him too long – hurt too much.
Thankfully no bones were broken - just badly bruised, & several severely rolled/twisted ribs. I’m just thankful to be alive – it could have ended so much worse. Yes, I relay this story w/ a bit of humor, but it was frightening, and could have had a much more sober ending - with either Max, Miles or myself seriously injured – or worse…
Anyway – that’s my story & therefore my post – hope you enjoyed – I’m still here...
