This is Sabari. He is a 10 year old Arabian gelding that was
given to us because his previous owner could no longer ride him. He has been
the source of much joy and frustration in our house and this past Friday was no
different. I must explain that Sabari has been professionally trained and is a
very well-behaved horse, or he was about three years ago. Since then, no one
has really ridden him at all, but since we have got him in April, Brian and I
have been working with him. He can be very moody and stubborn, but he is
recalling his training very quickly.
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| He does great if you are in front of him, but if you stand behind his head, look to do a lot of walking...backwards, sideways, any way so that he can see you! |
On Friday, I put his saddle on him for the first time (well
the first time with us)! He did great. He hates his bridle, but we got that on
as well. Up onto his back I went without even a side-step from him! He did
amazing. Around our back yard we walked and it was turning out to be such a
nice break from laying tile in the bathroom…or so I thought!
Brian calls to me to make two more passes and then put him
up to get back to work. L
Ok, I knew that we had to, but I didn’t want too! Sabari had been doing so
well! I finish my first turn without a problem and decide that Sabari needs a
little exercise, so I encourage him to pick up the pace. Well, pick up the pace
he does! You would have thought we had heard the gun shot for the Belmont
because he took off…straight for a T-post! I pulled on his reigns to turn him
(oh, did I mention he doesn’t really like his bridle…at all!!!!!). He starts
side-stepping, as we are running, and I pull back to reign him in to a stop. He
is having none of it and starts to buck, still heading toward the T-post. I
decide (because of course there was plenty of time to reason out all of the
options on the back of this bucking horse) to dismount before I end up impaled
onto the T-post. I slip my right foot out of the stirrup just as Sabari is
coming down from bucking and I feel the impact all the way through my
spine...talk about pain! Phew…I throw my right leg the rest of the way over and
dive off, knocking the wind out of myself.
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| This was before the "oh, so graceful" 10 out of 10 dive! Doesn't he look good?! |
I laid there for no more than a milasecond before I begin to
processes the panic in Brian’s voice. I am gasping for my air, but managed to
squeak out, “air…knocked…out” and wave my hand to him so that he would know why
I wasn’t going to carry on a lengthy conversation with him at the moment. I
laid my arm down to my side to rest and touched the cold metal of the T-post.
With my arm at my side, elbow bent, I could grasp the T-post that had spooked
the horse and propelled me off of the horse. It’s about this time that I feel
the need (after having my own little praise service to the Almighty) to get up
because of course, someone has to get back on that horse. I pull up on the
T-post and my right side feels like I am in prison and someone is grinding a
shank into my hip and spine. The pain was intense.
Long story short, here I am on Sunday night in bed blogging
when I should be cleaning and finishing the bathrooms floor. Brian took me to
the VA Emergency Room that night and, after x-rays, the doctor says that he
doesn’t see anything (which worried me because he was supposed to see a hip in
those shadows! Come on…a little humor to lighten up the mood here). He told me
to rest in bed for the next few days and only do what feels comfortable. The nurse
comes in and tells me not to be laying around in bed for the next few days, to
go about my routine as normal.
J Truly, one must love
the VA! J
So Brian and I have combined the two directions and are
trying to listen to my body, which is saying that it needs chocolate and a
massage in Hawaii! Seriously, my back and hip hurt extremely badly. However,
progress is being made and Brian and I are hopeful that Wednesday will find me
up and able to do things on my own. Until then, we are going to be patient and
content with the blessings that Christ gave us in such minor injuries!
