October 10, 2011 - At least it wasn't Rory

I got kicked by a horse, but it wasn't Rory.  The horse is usually pretty good about moving when I send him off, but he was a little hyped up from running around, and was focused on the new round bale in the paddock.  He can be a bit rude and pushy, and when I want the horse that he pushes around it's safer to move him away so I have a chance to see him coming if he decides to go for her.  Unfortunately he was a bit slower to respond to me, which let me get closer, which put me in range when he flipped a kick at me.

Many years ago, before I had horses I spent a few summers working as a trail guide at one of those places that do one hour trail rides for Joe Everyman.  One of the things that stuck with me was the demonstration the owner did for us to explain the safe distance to move around behind a horse.  He showed us how if you are right up beside the horse their leg can't move very far before it connects which turns the kick into a simple (but strong) shove.  If you are further away, the hoof can build up the power and transmit the full force to you when it connects.  Obviously, the third option is to be well out of range - usually my choice with loose horses.

This lesson has stuck with me and made me very aware that I was lucky to have gotten far enough within the horse's range to have received less than the full force of the kick.  Just a bit further away, and not only would he have hit me with greater force, but also high enough to have applied all that force to the point of my hip.  As it was his hoof hit the thickest part of the big muscle masses near the top of my thigh.  It hurt like nothing I've ever experienced.  I managed to control the pain enough to limp back to the gate and get within sight of the barn owner to get help.  A trip to the hospital Emergency for x-rays proved that nothing was broken, it was just badly bruised.  A funny note - upon inspection we discovered that the impact actually broke the skin.  The nurse told me it would need stitches - which puzzled me.  I was thinking "If that was on my horse I'd just clean it and wrap it up."  They didn't push stitches on me, but did give me a tetanus shot.  And a prescription for heavy duty painkillers.

It was a couple of weeks before I tried riding again (not Rory), and much longer before I stopped limping.  The injury made it very painful to bend that leg and crouch down, so I had to reduce the number of times a day I redid the wrap on Rory's leg.  His injury looked like it was okay, and still wasn't bothering him.