From: mlr21@cas.org (Mary Lee Raines)
Newsgroups: rec.equestrian
Subject: Re: STOP IT!!!  (& When it Rains it Pours)
Date: 15 Oct 92 20:18:49 GMT
Article-I.D.: cas.1992Oct15.201849.10748
Organization: Chemical Abstracts Service

In article <1992Oct15.001748.2964@sequent.com>, karlm@sequent.com (Karl Maerz) writes:

(lotsa stuff deleted for various reasons)
|> Givens:
 ...
|> 		My horse is hands-down, *way* more better than
|> 		your horse could ever hope to be.
|> 
|> 		(Hah!  Gotcha, didn't I?)
|> 

(Nah!  Mine's gotta be better!)
|> 
|> 
|> Now, let's talk about some really fun stuff.  For instance, after
|> several years of injury-free (for me) horse ownership, I was kicked
|> in the shin by my riding buddy's horse while we were riding.  It hurt 
|> like hell!  I'm lucky my leg didn't break, though I'll have a pretty
|> good scar.  One week later I was lovin' up my mare when she spooked
|> and jumped forward right square onto my big toe (we're talking full
|> weight with shoes on, here, ~1200lb mare).  To make matters worse, she 
|> pushed off hard with her front legs to get off my foot in a hurry.  I was 
|> wearing boots, but the toe is broke big time, its a really awesome sort
|> of plum/twilight color, and I'll be able to use the nail for a guitar pick 
|> when it falls off in a few days.
|> 
|> Two sorta bad ones in one week.  hmmmmm...  I didn't think I had
|> become too complacent (I'm generally very safety conscious) but
|> the evidence would seem to suggest otherwise.  If these things run
|> in three's I'm not looking forward to the next one...  Anyone else
|> have any runs of fortune like this?
|> 
|> Karl Maerz
|> karlm@sequent.com

Look out Karl, they do come in threes! Last year due to a broken toe (and a
cast up to my knee) and then two surgeries,  I hardly rode at all.  
(Gee, I hadn't thought about using my oft-blackened toenails as guitar
picks.)  While these injuries kept me out of the saddle, they were not
horse-related injuries.

This year, I'm being extremely cautious, I keep my feet out from under hooves 
and large pieces of firewood, and I'm staying away from doctors.

Actually, most of my horse-related injuries have been spaced fairly widely
apart and run the usual gamut from being stepped on, kicked, through 
falling off, being thrown, etc.

Most of these injuries came from other people's horses:
I've been thrown from school horses, and a couple times while riding my
own I was kicked by someone else's horse.  (I spose it's cause my Apps
are just so well-behaved. ) :^)

While some of the injuries were rather unavoidable, others have been
learning experiences.  Several years ago, when I was learning to jump, this 
old school horse babysat me over the low poles.  When it was time to start 
jumping 2 1/2 feet, she quickly let me know that it was time to progress
from being a passenger to being a rider:  that old mare taught me to use 
my legs, my balance, my hands, my eyes, etc., or she was going to leave
me in the dust.  And she was tricky.  The first time, she just stopped
and let me go over the fence by myself.  The next time, she ran out to 
the left (and left me sitting in the dust).  I think by the third or fourth 
time, I began riding her forward, riding her between my hands and my legs 
(and looking PAST that damn jump instead of at it).

As for being kicked by other horses while I'm riding, I learned to keep
me (and my horse) more than a kick's length away on trail rides.  And
when I'm riding among loose horses (especially if they're not my own), 
I usually carry a dressage whip to move them away from me if they're
being fractious.  

I guess the most important thing to keeping injuries to a minimum 
is to always be alert, aware, and as knowledgeable as you can make yourself.   
When I was boarding a yearling gelding for my neighbors, they wanted to come
over and  mess with him one night after they'd been drinking.  Talk about insane!  
How could they possibly work with a horse when they couldn't
walk a straight line?  It was an accident waiting to happen.  
After much fumbling around, she got a halter on the horse and started
to lead him around inside the barn, then she walked him over a coiled
water hose, which she couldn't see because she was so drunk.  At that point,
I took the horse away from her, put him away, and made them go home.
The next day I told them the newest rule in my barn:  Absolutely no
drinking and no drunks allowed here!

Mary Lee Raines
Ravenswood Appaloosas