July 5, 2014

Last weekend we had a team practice.  I had been overly excited about it all week.  Team practice Saturday afternoon, and a trail ride Sunday, woo whoo!

I worked that morning at the farmers market, and then rushed home, hooked up the trailer, changed into my riding clothes, grabbed the dog and ponies and headed over to Carol Ann’s house.  We spent some time chatting and when Linda and Kim arrived (Averi was too far away to take part) we tacked up.

Linda was trying Carol Ann’s pony Ginny out, since her normal pony, Blue, is out of commission.  We spent some time warming up and Linda seemed comfortable on Ginny.  She is a well trained little pony, all of Carol Ann’s doing, and Linda is a skilled rider, who is used to riding different ponies, and they seemed to be getting on well.  I give Linda props for being willing to jump on a new pony and make it work for the team.

During warm up I grabbed a mug off a pole I was cantering past, and attempted to place it onto another pole a few down the line.  When I leaned out, Poe moved under me, putting himself into a bend.  I pulled him back over, but it was too late and the pole was smack in front of us, so he stopped.  And I did not.  I summersaulted over his head, pulling off his bridle, and landed on my head, on a metal bending poles base, then bounced onto my shoulders and upper back, before rolling to a sitting position.  That is at least how I remember it.  Linda said I hit harder on my left side, which I can attest is much stiffer.

I was still on my butt, with my legs splayed out in front of me, and my chin to my chest, and I did a body check.  I immediately realized my teeth were compromised.  There was blood on my face, but my head felt fine.  and my shoulders and neck felt jarred.  Linda was there in an instant, and Daisy was all over me.  Linda asked if my head was ok, and I slowly looked up to tell her yes, and realized I was totally and completely seeing cross eyed.  I have had concussions in the past and I was not been cross eyed.  It was a weird experience and I realized I could not get up for a few minutes while my brain sorted itself out.  I told her my teeth were broken and she pointed out the blood was from biting through my lip and not from out of mouth.

I eventually did get up, and moved around some.  Linda gave me water and napkins to wipe my face, and I went to my truck mirror to see the damage.  My two front teeth did get chipped, and a bottom tooth had broken.  Yikes.  I had dental bill images going through my head.  oh no.  I also did bite through my upper lip, although not badly.  And my upper back and shoulders started to hurt from the impact.  I did climb back on Poe for a few minutes and walked around.  I was feeling dizzy and it hurt in my upper back and I had to admit I could not practice.  Which is when I cried.  So I got back off and untacked, feeling horribly sorry for myself.

Mean while Carol Ann had packaged up some ice and Kim vet wrapped it to my back.  Total team work on all this too.  I stuck around for a few hours, while everyone else practiced, and enjoyed the social time while my head got straight.  I do think the walking around really helped loosen me up.

One extra exciting part of practice was Carol Ann getting a running vault on Ginny! This is an amazing feat for an adult games ride to learn and accomplish. And carol ann is a tad vertically challenged. It was very impressive. I even got a few photos as proof.

After practice I was able to drive home and put my ponies up.  I decided not to trail ride on Sunday, and pretty much spent the day doing nothing.  Such a waste.

Monday I got an early dentist appointment to assess the damage and I went back Wednesday to have them fixed.   I have to say, it was hands down, the best dental experience of my life.  Rocktown Dentristry, Dr. Joan, she is flippin fabulous.  I also got on Simon Monday and Tuesday, and rode at a walk.  I did a lot of equestrian yoga, and stretches and my back felt much much better afterwards.

Thursday, my back still feeling ouchy, and still being short of breath, I headed to chiropractor. He crack my neck and back and instructed me to not lift anything or exert myself. That I bruised my lungs and ribs.

I am feeling much better now although my back is still very sore but I am no longer short of breath. I have been riding at the walk and lunging my ponies and tomorrow I’ll try putting on a little more speed in the saddle and see how I feel.

Fun fun.