It has been a while since my last post and I gotta tell ya, it's not been the best week. But, now that the painkillers are wearing off, let me tell you a little story with several morals.
We, as horse lovers, care for our horses unconditionally. They are our loves, our lives, and often our confidants. We grow so close to them that sometimes it's hard for us to remember that they are still animals, and it only takes a second for us to be quickly reminded how strong they truly are.
While in the pasture putting on fly masks last Saturday, one of my horses spooked on God only knows what (we ALL know how that goes) and planted his big forehead on my nose with great force. A great white light flashed and I knew that I was down for the count. Thankfully, my brother was there to witness the whole ordeal and was able to usher me out of the pasture before I went down. I knew what was coming. It was like someone had opened the floodgates. I decided that I didn't need to rush to the ER to have them tell me what I already knew. My nose was surely broken. I could tell that immediately by the amount of blood that was rushing out of it.. An hour later, I had swelled to such a point that you might have thought that I had gone toe to toe with Rocky Balboa. And lost. Badly. By morning, with my nose still bleeding, I decided that it was time to get a professional's opinion. I drove myself to the ER and, two CT scans later, got the bad news. It wasn't just my nose that was broken. I had four fractures in the bones surrounding my nose, a severed septum, and "subcutaneous air" leaking from a fracture to the soft tissue under my eye. The doc then informed me that the swelling was actually holding my nose in place. "Great", I thought, "I'm going to look like a monster." He set me up with a consultation with an ENT surgeon and sent me on my way with scripts for pain killers and some heavy duty antibiotics to treat this rampant air.
When my husband broke his pelvis falling from my horse last summer, his immediate response was that he was never going to sit on a horse again. MY immediate concern was that it is going to be several weeks before I can ride again. The passion of a true horse lover to return to your animals following a traumatic event, be it a fall or just a freak accident as I suffered, is undeniable. We horse people are some of the toughest and most determined (and often hard headed) of humans who walk this planet, not to mention our ability to be so forgiving. We know of the inherent risks, yet we still insist that this is where we want to be. The rewards far outweigh the risks.
So, here I sit. In my bed. Feeling pathetic. Waiting for the pills to kick back in. And before they do, I will get to these aforementioned morals. Never take for granted the strength and unpredictability of even the most gentle horse, and always have someone around when you enter your beloved creatures territory, for it is THEIR domain.
I can't wait to return to work next week and get back to sewing tack and continuing to pursue my passion. And even more so, I can't wait to get the green light to get back on. Because that is what it is all about. Getting back on. Life's curve balls can knock you down, but it is up to you to decide to get back up.
-Erin
P.S. I give great thanks to Kristen (our fearless leader) for delivering my laptop to me yesterday so that I may continue my online work! And Happy Birthday wishes to her as well!!
Riding a horse is not a gentle hobby, to be picked up and laid down like a game of Solitaire. It is a grand passion.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
