Ugh.. bored and in pain.. what a week.

[locolala]

So, Sunday afternoon I came off my horse pretty hard, and ended up taking an ambulance ride to the ER. 4 hours later, I leave on crutches with a hairline fracture in my femur and bruises all over my whole left side. We live in a 2 floor house, and so I'm stuck upstairs where the bathroom is. My wonderful husband has brought up the xbox, and a ton of movies, not to mention food and drinks. But I'm going out of my mind! I can't clean, I can't cook.. all I can do is lay around and I'm losing it!

In case you're interested.. here's how I came off. Went to jump a "scary" looking jump made of blue plastic barrels and white pvc poles. Cougar refused the first time, so I got after him with my crop and tried again. This time the not only refused but ducked out to the right. I was jumping without stirrups for the balance practice. I went off his left side and landed on my hip. Instant severe pain. I couldn't get up, and the unspoken rule at our barn is that if you can't get up within 5 minutes of the fall, they call the EMS guys to take a looksee. EMS highly recommended I go to the ER, since I couldn't move my leg without intense pain. So now I'm in pain, bored, AND I can't ride for a month!! Lame... very lame!

 

[sbell111]

At least the horse is OK.

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

Oh man, I've been there. Many years ago was jumping a fence that we had PVC poles on. There were several poles on it and when the top one came down it landed right behind the fence. I figured no big deal as it was inches from the back of the jump. Well my horse decided to be lazy and landed on the pole. He went down and so did I - he was fine but I had some really fun bruises for a while.

From a safety stand point, PVC poles and barrels are not good. Too much bounce and not heavy enough to teach the horse to respect the obstacle and pick up their feet. I'd have also suggested picking up your stirrups as soon as he started giving you trouble. But hey, easy to say after the fact. Hope you get to feeling better!

 

[bballmom56]

From a safety stand point, PVC poles and barrels are not good. Too much bounce and not heavy enough to teach the horse to respect the obstacle and pick up their feet

Also, if the horse steps on them just right, the PVC poles can break into sharp slivers that could seriously injure the horse. If he puts his foot through it, he could sever arteries and/or muscles and tendons in the fetlock area. Granted it doesn't happen often, but we try to avoid all the difficult situations horses seem to find themselves in . Trying to stay one step ahead of them is tough!

Glad you weren't injured any worse and hope your month goes by in a hurry!

 

[locolala]

I hate pvc poles too, they were the only ones available at the park we were at. Back home we only use wood ones. We thought it would be fun to trailer over to the equestrian park the county has, it's 15 minutes from the farm. Bad idea! I keep playing it over and over in my head and know more and more that the fall was my fault.

 

[C.Ann]

Ouch! My cousin's wife took a nasty, nasty fall a number of years ago.. Something spooked her horse and she ended up with a broken collar bone and numerous broken ribs on the same side.. She called me from the hospital - on a morphine drip - 2 days later and was still in excruciating pain..

I hope you heal quickly and find something to pass the time so that you won't be so bored.. Being bored is horrible..

 

[minkydog]

And to the horse's credit, he *did* try to tell you. I know you must be in a lot of pain. The femur is one of the strongest bones in the body. It takes a lot of force to break the femur of a young, physically fit person. So that must have been some fall. Glad they took you right to the ER. How long will the cast be on? Any way you could get downstairs and roll around on your computer chair? or is your house like mine, with the bathroom on the second floor? When I broke my ankle I had a really hard time getting up and down--I learned to go before I really had to "go."

 

[locolala]

Unfortunatly where the break is, they can't cast it. It's right at the very top, I forget the scientific term. If they were to cast it it would be a full leg and pelvis cast. Not comfy at all! As for the house layout, we only have one bathroom and it's upstairs. I'm pretty much just staying in my bed and only getting up to go to the bathroom, at least when my husband is at work. Once he's home he'll help me get downstairs to the couch while he makes dinner and then we watch a movie, then it's back upstairs where he helps me into and out of the shower. I hate feeling like this.. I am a reasonably healthy person, I have MS but it's now very well controlled and my symptoms have all but faded.

You're very right that he did try to tell me. I should have listened to him. My poor guy is now not eating well.. apparently he does this after every time someone has a bad fall of of him, he doesn't want to eat until he knows that they're ok. He's a big sweetheart, a 27 year old Arab who thinks he's 5!

 

[dismom2]

Ouch! Hope you're feeling better soon.

 

[Disneylover79]

I feel your pain......I have been thrown off my horse many times...but I was lucky and didn't break anything..but I know who you feel other than the break...I hope you recover soon...

 

[Dee & Greg]

Ouch! I got thrown at a show last summer (in front of 200 people)... I had
NEVER come off in 15 years of competing. Broke my pelvis. Also can't be cast... had to wear a thick velcro "belt" around my hips to keep everything in place.
I wasn't bedridden, but walked like an old cowboy. It took about 8 weeks to heal, and I was about bonkers cuz I couldn't do much! I did go to work cause I could sit in a chair... but that was the extend of my social life.
Read a good book, watch an old movie, write letters to long distance friends.. use this time to reflect on life and catch up with old pals.