This is how you know...
Interesting, crazy, could-have-been-terrible-but-it-wasn't experience that I had 2 weeks ago. I already wrote about it briefly, but here's the extended version.
It's been horribly windy here, especially over my spring break two weeks ago. But I was determined to ride, even though it was borderline, even by my standards. I started out by lunging Surprise with the intention of riding him. It wasn't too windy when I started, but by the time we were half-way through a short lunging session, the wind had built up considerably. So I decided to lunge him over trot poles instead of deal with his "Oh-my-goodness-it's-windy-so-I-need-to-take-off-with-you" drama.
Next up on my agenda was Winnie. Even though the wind was still building, I figured she'd be okay, and I needed to ride her since her owner put her in full training w/ me until she gets done w/ college in May. When it's this windy, and the wind is from the west, it's impossible to deal w/ the door on the west end of the barn, so I led Winnie around the east side of the barn. She had been being stupid when I caught her from her pen, so I put the rope over her nose.
When we rounded the end of the barn, we came into Mac's view. Mac had an extreme response, snorting, bucking, and racing to the end of his pen. Winnie responded by freaking out and running backwards. I think this must have scared the cats, who were hanging out in the lilac bushes (no wind right there), and I'm sure they probably made a dash for safety (with the exception of Hercule, perhaps, since he's as dumb as a post when it comes to personal safety). So the next thing Winnie did was leap forward. This whole time I was yanking on the rope and yelling at her, but it had no effect, and when she leaped forward, I couldn't get out of the way, since there was a closed gate in front of me and a fence to the side of me (and a barn to the other side, but I would have had to cross Winnie's path to go that way anyway). So, I had time to do something, but besides yelling and yanking there was really nothing I could do.
Winnie plowed right. over. the. top. of. me. She crushed me right into the gate, specifically my head ended up between the gate and her chest. But. I had my hard hat on. A lot of people I know either don't wear a hard hat or at least take it off in between rides. Not me. Once I put it on, it's too much trouble to take it off, and it takes too much time to always be taking it off and putting it on. So once it's on, it stays on until I'm done riding. I'd put it on because my plan was to ride Surprise, so it was already on. So, while I felt my hard hat squeeze in on my head on both sides, I didn't get hurt. The only thing I got was a bruise on my knee that connected with the gate as well.
The first thing I did was to say a lot of bad words and to rip Winnie's face off. The first coherent thought I had after that was, "Wow, God loves me." I thought that because that could have gone so very badly. I could have easily had a crushed skull and a head injury, but all I had was a bruised knee, and a hard hat that I needed to replace.
I ended up walking Winnie back and forth (after I opened the gate so it wouldn't be an obstacle had I the need to get out of the way) a few times until she behaved, and then I lunged her instead of riding her because she continued to act like a nitwit. And, with the wind continuing to build, I didn't try to ride anyone else that day.
But I did think a lot about the accident that could have been but wasn't. And I thought a lot about the love that was and is and will continue to be mine.
It's been horribly windy here, especially over my spring break two weeks ago. But I was determined to ride, even though it was borderline, even by my standards. I started out by lunging Surprise with the intention of riding him. It wasn't too windy when I started, but by the time we were half-way through a short lunging session, the wind had built up considerably. So I decided to lunge him over trot poles instead of deal with his "Oh-my-goodness-it's-windy-so-I-need-to-take-off-with-you" drama.
Next up on my agenda was Winnie. Even though the wind was still building, I figured she'd be okay, and I needed to ride her since her owner put her in full training w/ me until she gets done w/ college in May. When it's this windy, and the wind is from the west, it's impossible to deal w/ the door on the west end of the barn, so I led Winnie around the east side of the barn. She had been being stupid when I caught her from her pen, so I put the rope over her nose.
When we rounded the end of the barn, we came into Mac's view. Mac had an extreme response, snorting, bucking, and racing to the end of his pen. Winnie responded by freaking out and running backwards. I think this must have scared the cats, who were hanging out in the lilac bushes (no wind right there), and I'm sure they probably made a dash for safety (with the exception of Hercule, perhaps, since he's as dumb as a post when it comes to personal safety). So the next thing Winnie did was leap forward. This whole time I was yanking on the rope and yelling at her, but it had no effect, and when she leaped forward, I couldn't get out of the way, since there was a closed gate in front of me and a fence to the side of me (and a barn to the other side, but I would have had to cross Winnie's path to go that way anyway). So, I had time to do something, but besides yelling and yanking there was really nothing I could do.
Winnie plowed right. over. the. top. of. me. She crushed me right into the gate, specifically my head ended up between the gate and her chest. But. I had my hard hat on. A lot of people I know either don't wear a hard hat or at least take it off in between rides. Not me. Once I put it on, it's too much trouble to take it off, and it takes too much time to always be taking it off and putting it on. So once it's on, it stays on until I'm done riding. I'd put it on because my plan was to ride Surprise, so it was already on. So, while I felt my hard hat squeeze in on my head on both sides, I didn't get hurt. The only thing I got was a bruise on my knee that connected with the gate as well.
The first thing I did was to say a lot of bad words and to rip Winnie's face off. The first coherent thought I had after that was, "Wow, God loves me." I thought that because that could have gone so very badly. I could have easily had a crushed skull and a head injury, but all I had was a bruised knee, and a hard hat that I needed to replace.
I ended up walking Winnie back and forth (after I opened the gate so it wouldn't be an obstacle had I the need to get out of the way) a few times until she behaved, and then I lunged her instead of riding her because she continued to act like a nitwit. And, with the wind continuing to build, I didn't try to ride anyone else that day.
But I did think a lot about the accident that could have been but wasn't. And I thought a lot about the love that was and is and will continue to be mine.