Monday, March 21, 2011

Today in the ER...

Um, mom? I'm over here... Mom? Mom!


First of all, while I was in the ER, I wasn't the injured party.

But I was there for Stephanie.

We had planned to go to lunch, I wanted to thank her for coming over and feeding our motley crew while we were out on a little spring break trip.

We im'd back and forth for a while, trying to figure out if we could go riding instead of lunch. But our big girl was sick, and I had to wait for my DH to come home and take care of her before I could leave. So we settled for lunch.

Then my phone rang.

"I can't reach anyone, can you come now? I think I broke my arm."

"WHAT?" I jumped up and started for the stairs.

"I fell off Cibolo and I think my arm is broken."

"I'm on my way."

I know, from experience, that the longest time in the world is the moment you hang up with someone and the moment they get there. I loaded my sickly child into the truck (she was on the mend, so I wasn't too worried) and rushed over to the barn. When I ran in, I knew things were bad. Cibolo was hanging his head, still saddled with his reins on the ground. Stephanie would never leave her horse saddled with his reins on if there was anyway she could help it.

This was bad. Cibolo looked... okay, I'm going to anthropomorphize here, so if you have a problem with that, skip to the next paragraph. He looked completely bummed out. Stephanie said when they made it back to the barn he put his head on her chest, nuzzling her, and she could tell he felt awful about what happened.

Which was: they were cantering in the driveway when a cat (and this place doesn't even have a cat) dashed out from the bushes and startled Cibolo. He didn't buck or anything, but must have done one of those horse teleporting moves.

Unfortunately Stephanie's teleportation device failed. Mostly because she's in a saddle right now that isn't quite a right fit for her or Cibolo. And the best seat in the world won't keep you on the sunny side.

The verdict: Broken Humerus. Which I found ironic, given the first thing she started talking about after we left the ER was when she could get back in the saddle. Clearly her sense of humor is completely intact.

As one who has a history of completely ignoring doctor's orders when it comes to getting back on my horse, I sympathized and frankly, I'm likely to be an enabler. We talked about all the cool things you could work on from the ground and the stuff you could do at a walk.

Then we had lunch and celebrated her first broken bone. Tomorrow I'll head to the barn to feed for her. Between us all we'll pick up the slack.

Stoopid cat.

14 comments:

Dan and Betty said...

Well, stuff happens. I'm glad it wasn't any worse.

Dan

Fragrant Liar said...

Hey, hey! We don't have any idea what motivated that cat. A serious predator may have been lurking in the brush and terrified her so much that she ran out in front of an ENORMOUS four-legged animal called a Cibolo. So I'm sorry about your friend, but now I feel like I need to run out and make sure the kitty is recovering nicely from her near-death experience.

;-)

Rising Rainbow said...

Oh, poor Steph, poor Cibolo.... I'm glad you could be there for them.

That really sucks. I was not good about staying off my horse either when I broke my arm. Well, that was once I got past the pain part.

I've always thought the humerous should have something to do with humor as well. LOL

Mikey said...

Oh my... I hate when horses do that move. I often wonder how I ended up on the ground, I was just on the horse!
Hope Steph feels better soon, and I'm super glad you were there for her. Hugs to her and her horse, I'm sure he really does feel bad.

Allenspark Lodge said...

Yep, Steph, I have one of those great teleportation devices living with me. Like Mikey, sometimes I'm on the ground and sometimes I somehow manage to stay aboard, and I have ridden with a broken arm so why should we expect any less of you? They don't call us horse-crazy for no reason. Mend soon, Stephanie.
Juanita

Shirley said...

Sorry to hear about the broken arm. I have fallen off a lot of horses, but never got hurt that bad. Hope she heals quickly. That teleport move is a tough one to stick.

Paint Girl said...

Poor Steph!! That is so hard to have that happen, and I hope she is feeling better soon!

cheyenne jones said...

Its always a shocker! Broken bones heal ok, Steph`ll soon be back on board!
I hate that dumping sensation, from the saddle to the floor? takes too long!

Anonymous said...

I expect he was embarrassed! Hope she heals up quickly - anyone can come off when that happens - it's certainly happened to me before.

Nuzzling Muzzles said...

Wow! You must have great medical care to be in an out in enough time to still eat lunch. I usually get shuffled around among hospitals, waiting hours for some doctor to show up for work, and then if surgery is involved, I'm left alone in a hospital bed for several days wondering if the rest of the world spontaneously combusted since no one's been coming in to check on me. I hope Stephanie heals quickly.

Wolfie said...

Gosh, the title of your post scared me! :-) Poor Stephanie. Not Cibolo's fault. I wonder what made the cat jump out like that.....

Funder said...

Oh, poor Stephanie!

Stephanie said...

Aww, thank you guys so much for all the warm wishes. I think Cibolo needs more hugs than me right now, it sounds like he's pretty mopy!

It's funny, but I think he and I will come out closer for it in the end, given all the time we'll be spending on the ground and at slower paces in saddle.

It really tells you a lot about a horse when you see their reaction after a fall, and also the importance of getting right back on. I think Cibolo really knows it was a bad fall because I wasn't right back up afterwards. And I don't think I've ever seen him acting more concerned and upset (even regarding late meals).

Morning Bray Farm said...

Poor Stephanie! She's very fortunate that you were there for her.

You're just the person I'd want there if something ever happened. :) xoxo