Cougar Prowl- The Fall

***Warning- Parents, grandparents, and faint of heart: read no further, come back and read tomorrow's post!***

I will preface this story by saying that Boomer and I finished the Okmulgee Cougar Prowl and we are both doing great!

However, we did have a fall. It was by far the worst wreck I have ever been involved in and the second worst I have witnessed (I can tell that story too, another time).

It rained a few inches in the week preceding the ride. It was pretty muddy and slick, but not too boggy. It wasn't raining during the ride, but the ground didn't have much time to dry out.

We were trotting along and had to make a sudden right turn off of a jeep road into the woods. Then two strides later we had to make another hard right into the woods on a slight downhill slope.

I didn't expect the second part of the turn and we just didn't make it.

Boomer started to go down and I could see the ground coming closer. We both fell towards the left.

You know how after an accident, you can only remember things in clips, like they were photographs? Thats how it was for me.

I see the ground coming closer. I am looking up and his shoulder is inches above my chest. Then I have a sensation about my legs being under him, I can feel part of the saddle but I'm not stuck.

I don't remember how we were positioned on the trail after that. I don't remember getting up or where I was compared to him when I got up.

I do know that I ended up on his left side, he was facing straight like he hadn't made the final part of the turn. His right side was facing down the trail.

He flailed and tried rear up twice, trying to run. He kept jerking towards the right, but wasn't going anywhere. I reached out to grab the reins but only got his breast collar. I was repeating "woah, woah, woah" and hoping he wouldn't run. After struggling and trying to rear up twice, with his head facing towards the right, he collapsed.

He was struggling and on his right side. His jaw was jerked open and I realized his reins were stuck. Thats why he couldn't rear up all the way or run. I dropped down so I was below his neck, between his front legs and head, and put my hand on his shoulder to calm him so he would stop jerking his bit. The reins were under him and around his back leg. They had come over his head, were along the right side of his body and wrapped around his left back leg.

He stopped thrashing. I unclipped the reins from his bit, slowly unhooked his leg and straightened the bit in his mouth.

He relaxed his back leg and laid there, still. I just sat by his head and stroked his cheek, talking to him. I looked him over and didn't see any damage.

In the moment I asked him to get up I had the realization that as calm as I had felt thought all of that, if he couldn't get up, I would just breakdown and lose it. Luckily he just continued laying still until I quietly asked him to 'get up'. He just stood up like he understood me and stood there. I checked him over and everything seemed fine except for a small nick on his right front cannon bone. Looked like he got himself with his shoe. It was bleeding but didn't seem serious. I checked our tack and decided we would keep on moving since we were about halfway through our first loop. If he felt off at all, I was going to pull.

I did a quick mental check on myself while all of this was going on. It went something like "I'm standing- legs are fine. Arms seem fine. I can breathe. Wearing contacts- no lost glasses. Helmet is still on."

I got on and we walked down the trail. He felt fine. He wasn't panting or breathing hard. He wasn't shaking or scared. Neither was I. It was so strange. In every other fall I've had, I always get a huge adrenaline rush. My arms and legs get tingly, I shake, and I feel nauseated. I never felt that when this happened. I never panicked or got scared. It was a strange thing to have happen. The whole thing probably happened in 2 minutes or less.

After a while walking down the trail Boomer offered to trot and I sat it instead of posting so I could feel his foot fall pattern and check for lameness. He seemed fine.

He sure was much more cautious about the mud though. When I asked him to walk, he instantly slowed down. When it felt slick, he slowed on his own. He was much more careful and so was I.

At the first vet check I told the vet what had happened and she looked at his leg extra closely. The nick had been rinsed clean in a stream. It wasn't bleeding and looked clean- no clots. She said that he looked fine and passed him with all A's.

Needless to say, John was freaked. He was so worried about us all day. I knew I couldn't make him feel better about what had happened but I did try to emphasize that it was an accident, It wasn't Boomer's fault, and we were both fine.

***

Looking back, it almost doesn't seem real. It was a very, very scary thing. We were so very lucky that we were in such a muddy area because I could have been crushed had we fallen like that on hard rocks or a packed surface.

The day after the ride kind of felt like the day after Christmas. Sort of a deflated feeling. Almost a regretful feeling, like I had done something bad. Something bad did happen. Boomer and I were both very close to having been hurt badly. But we are fine. It took a lot out of me on Sunday to think about that and wrap my mind around it. I mean, my horse rolled over me and I am no worse for the wear. I have a bit of a muscle spasm in my lower left back area, but I'm fine.

I just keep saying that to myself. My horse rolled over on me and I am fine.

Puts things into perspective. Strange as it was, it was bonding experience for Boomer and I. We both felt the gravity of the situation and we both got through it. Every ride we finish brings us closer.

My horse rolled over on me and I am fine.