Hurt happypete
It is terrifying seeing your loved one injured and not in his right mind.
My mistake. I knew the young horse wasn't in a good headspace for a new experience, but I thought it would be ok for a minute, and if he didn't go for it happypete could hop off again. He's only 12.2. Sure enough, horse scooted, then started hopping. I told happypete to hop off. He hung on. Poor horse hopped bigger and headed for companion behind gate. happypete was pitched half upside down headfirst into the gate. He was unresponsive, then started this awful hyperventilating gasping. When he started talking, he didn't know where he was or what had happened. I stood over him and fended off the horse on the other side of the gate and tried to keep him still and kept an eye on the other horse and tried to get all the info to dispatch over bad cell connection. happypete didn't know who I was, how he ended up on the ground, or what day it was.
"Why am I on the ground?"
"You fell off the horse."
"That was dumb."
"It was my fault."
"Why am I on the ground?"
Did this at least 10 times.
"Did I fall off the horse?"
"Yes"
"That was dumb. My back is really starting to hurt."
"Did I fall off the horse?"
At least 10 times...
He seemed to absorb about one fact every five or ten minutes. So next we advanced to:
"Did I fall off the horse?"
"Yes"
"That was dumb. My back is really starting to hurt. Did I tell you that already?"
He couldn't answer what day it was. Asked him what day of the week it was, and he couldn't answer that either. At some point I think he finally realized it was me standing over him, and asked me why I was standing over him. Then we started on "Is this a bad dream?" and repeated that a whole bunch of times.
It really didn't help that Grimmy stood right in front of me over his head which was against the gate, and kept nudging the gate or nosing and nibbling at me.
As his brain functioned better, it also sensed pain better. By the time EMS got there he was in agony. Much moaning, hollering, and swearing later he was collared, transferred to a backboard and then carried to the ambulance, where they started an IV and carted him off.
According to the ER's reading of the CT scan and X-Ray, nothing is badly broken and the head injury is relatively minor. He is ordered to stay out of work for 3 days, and is currently home, medicated to the gills.
My mind is going around and around. This was terrifying. Do I really want to keep horses? Maybe it's better I try to minimize this part of my life and keep it away from my family. I very nearly called a friend and asked her to come get two of them. My brain just can't stop circling endlessly around the pros and cons, and keeps coming back to the terror.
My mistake. I knew the young horse wasn't in a good headspace for a new experience, but I thought it would be ok for a minute, and if he didn't go for it happypete could hop off again. He's only 12.2. Sure enough, horse scooted, then started hopping. I told happypete to hop off. He hung on. Poor horse hopped bigger and headed for companion behind gate. happypete was pitched half upside down headfirst into the gate. He was unresponsive, then started this awful hyperventilating gasping. When he started talking, he didn't know where he was or what had happened. I stood over him and fended off the horse on the other side of the gate and tried to keep him still and kept an eye on the other horse and tried to get all the info to dispatch over bad cell connection. happypete didn't know who I was, how he ended up on the ground, or what day it was.
"Why am I on the ground?"
"You fell off the horse."
"That was dumb."
"It was my fault."
"Why am I on the ground?"
Did this at least 10 times.
"Did I fall off the horse?"
"Yes"
"That was dumb. My back is really starting to hurt."
"Did I fall off the horse?"
At least 10 times...
He seemed to absorb about one fact every five or ten minutes. So next we advanced to:
"Did I fall off the horse?"
"Yes"
"That was dumb. My back is really starting to hurt. Did I tell you that already?"
He couldn't answer what day it was. Asked him what day of the week it was, and he couldn't answer that either. At some point I think he finally realized it was me standing over him, and asked me why I was standing over him. Then we started on "Is this a bad dream?" and repeated that a whole bunch of times.
It really didn't help that Grimmy stood right in front of me over his head which was against the gate, and kept nudging the gate or nosing and nibbling at me.
As his brain functioned better, it also sensed pain better. By the time EMS got there he was in agony. Much moaning, hollering, and swearing later he was collared, transferred to a backboard and then carried to the ambulance, where they started an IV and carted him off.
According to the ER's reading of the CT scan and X-Ray, nothing is badly broken and the head injury is relatively minor. He is ordered to stay out of work for 3 days, and is currently home, medicated to the gills.
My mind is going around and around. This was terrifying. Do I really want to keep horses? Maybe it's better I try to minimize this part of my life and keep it away from my family. I very nearly called a friend and asked her to come get two of them. My brain just can't stop circling endlessly around the pros and cons, and keeps coming back to the terror.