Damage Report

If you get dragged to the ground by a run-away horse you were leading, its your own fault. You should have let go sooner.

Today, I didn't let go in time. I didn't even try to let go in time. I tried to hang on. I had a sudden, painful meeting with the gravel. My fault. Both of my elbows and knees attest to the fact the falling hard and getting dragged by a horse across gravel sucks. I also managed to tear the left knee of my jeans straight across from seam to seam. I mean, those jeans were feeling a bit big and I was coming to terms with having to get rid of them, but I didn't need Stella's help with the decision.

(I will not be posting pictures of my injuries, because gross. Instead, you get more pictures of my cute filly.)

In my own opinion, gravel around horses sucks and is not a great idea. It gets stuck in their hooves, they don't really like working on it, and it tears the heck out of human clothing and flesh when we are inevitably brought into sharp, sudden contact with it. I can speak from experience, getting dragged by a horse across dirt and grass is far more comfortable than gravel. It causes much less scarring and requires few bandages afterwards.

Why did I get dragged across gravel, you may ask. Well, there were a ton of people at the stable when Mom and I showed up, but they were all down in the outdoor arena with their horses. So we decided to take Stella out and just walk around the drive surrounding the barn. While we were doing this, all the people and their horses came up to our side of the barn to a big trailer that was parked there. 

So Stella and I went around to the other side of the barn. We didn't go into the indoor arena because it was still set up with a bunch of stuff from whatever the group had been doing. We didn't go into the outdoor arena because a man brought two horses down and was working one in the round pen and had tied the other up to the hitching post right beside the outdoor arena. I didn't want Stella to spook his horses if she ran around in the arena. So we walked around a bit. I figured that folks would have to unsaddle and load their horses into that big trailer before they came to our side of the barn.

I was wrong. They just left their horses tied up around the trailer, came to our side of the barn, jumped in their cars, and several of them started up at once before I had time to walk Stella out of the way. A bit of frustration here, since we were between them and the way out. Were they planning on driving through us? Anyway, Stella spooked at the multiple cars revving up around her, bolted, and I - like a dummy - held on. I was afraid that she would head for the gate to the stable, which was open, and then who knew where she would go. There's a big road out there, with fast cars.

 I need not have worried. Stella just ran as far as the barn door (which were were beside, so maybe 40 feet) and began nibbling nervously on a bush. She was spooked and she was jittery, but she knew she wasn't supposed to run away. One of the women in the cars turned her car off and got out, asking if I needed help. Lying in the gravel, I replied "I need my horse!" as I picked myself up to go to Stella. My good little filly was nervous and probably afraid she would be in trouble, but fortunately she seems to want to eat when she gets nervous (we have that in common). Stella let the nice woman she had never seen before get her lead rope, which I took (I don't think I thanked her, but in my defense I was in a good amount of pain and still evaluating to see if anything was broken). Stella and I waited in the barn while people drove away, then we walked (she walked, I hobbled) back to her stall. Stubborn as I am, I held Stella while Mom picked her hooves, and I groomed her mane while Mom brushed her. Only then did I submit to the pain in my knees and elbows and go to the car to clean myself up and assess the damage.

It was not pretty. I took a few painkillers on the way home. We came home and I went straight into the shower to scrub at my road rash and cut away a few hanging bits of flesh. Then we put on antibiotics and bandaged everything up. I'm pretty sure nothing is broken, although my left knee is a bit swollen. I will definitely be sore in the morning.