Horses are Healing

Sudden Change

My life changed in an instant. I clung to the mare as she galloped across the field and away from something unknown. When I found myself on the ground as she ran away, it was only then that I realized I had fallen and her will to escape an imagined danger had unseated me. I was wearing my helmet and fell squarely on my side on the soft grassy field.

I was in new uncharted territory. As I slowly sat up, I knew my ankle was broken because it was dislocated and I could see that it was bleeding inside my boot. I felt a nerve twinging and with my hands, I gently straightened my ankle a little bit to take the pressure off the nerve and loosened the laces, but held onto the boot to support my ankle. Because my body was in shock, I didn't have extreme pain yet. The other horses also spooked because when one goes, they all go. One of the other girls had also fallen, but was unhurt. They collected the loose horses and a friend came to assist me on the ground and let me lean on her. I couldn't do anything except hold onto my foot because if it dangled there was more pain.

The Rescue

It took a long time for the county ambulance to find me and they succeeded with directions from a local sheriff. The paramedic looked like a guy who would have been out fishing and enjoying the outdoors accompanied by a woman who drove the ambulance. Out of precaution, I was placed on a back board with my neck immobilized, my boot was removed and he placed a temporary splint to secure my leg. I was carried through a creek to a waiting ambulance on the other side under a canopy of green. Inside, I was strapped to a board under 6 round lights on the ceiling and away we went down the highway.

Busy Doctors

An hour later, I saw the large red letters that spelled EMERGENCY as I was carried under them into the busyness of the emergency room where I told my story. They began a series of images and placed IV lines and swabbed my sinuses for COVID - 19. The surgery department was calling for me, and I met the surgeon and asked some questions. All I could see were his eyes behind glasses with the rest of his face obscured by protective covering. His nurse talked to me about her horses and she was so nice. I enjoyed that and it was a welcome distraction. With results that my COVID test was negative, I was cleared for surgery and wheeled into the operating room.

Living with a Disability

For the next few days, I learned to live with a cage fixed to my ankle, and how to navigate what seemed like an impossible effort. There was a lot of pain, and pain pills that nauseated me. Then anti nausea pills and learning how to walk with a walker and how to navigate stairs. I had to be able to do that before I would be released and every time my leg hung in a downward position the pain and pressure increased.

Where Do I Go from Here?

Back at home, I began a search for the surgeon who would reconstruct my fractured bones. I worried about the COVID infection rates in Chicago and wanted to avoid the risky Chicago traffic. I contacted the neurosurgeon at Mayo who had operated on my spine a few years earlier because of an old injury and asked for a recommendation. A phone call followed and I had my appointments and surgery scheduled as simple as that. I knew that I could trust the recommendation of a surgeon I greatly admired and respected and who had given back to me the gift of my artistic ability after a spine problem. He had also given me his blessing to ride my horse, and now here I was coming back with a horse related injury. My horse was not sound enough to go on this trail riding trip, and I was on a borrowed horse that was green and inexperienced, but had the ability to become a good trail horse and we had all worked with her before this trip out trail riding together as a group. If my horse had been able to go, this injury would not have happened because he is one of those dead broke horses that isn't phased by anything. It was just a freak accident, and the horse wasn't at fault. She was just doing what she thought she needed to do for survival.

My Plans for the Painting to Help me Heal

In healing from this injury, I should paint some scenes from this trip from the beautiful forests where we wandered, and the creeks and streams we crossed. Perhaps I will paint my horse into the scene as if he had been there to protect me. He is like a large loyal puppy dog who follows me around and I am his person. A year earlier, my horse and I took a similar trip with these friends. I miss him and await the day when my ankle will be well enough to visit him. He misses me too and the carrots I bring. My horse has taken care of me and kept me safe on our long rides together.

Trust

Some people think that horses are dangerous, and yes they can be, but a person needs to understand them. Because of their size, strength and weight, a person can easily be injured if the horse doesn't respect your space or accidentally steps on you. With training, you build trust and respect and obedience from the horse, and the rider makes choices for safety such as correctly steering the horse around trees and obstacles because the horse isn't going to calculate for the height of the rider or how far out the stirrups are. The rider and horse develop a trust between them, and the person teaches the horse to overcome its fears. The horse learns to trust the person as a herd leader and follows.

An Honest Trusted Friend

Horses are also very healing and honest. You have to treat them well so they will want to please you, and you have to correct any behavior that could lead to trouble, and always praise the good behavior. I spent some enjoyable days riding alone through the woods building my core strength while rehabbing from my spine surgery on my horse, Chester. I would carry some carrots in a saddle bag so I could ask him to stop and hand him a carrot. This trained him to want to stop when I asked instead of trying to rush back home to the place where he eats and socializes with other horses. He would also look back at me on his back just checking in case I was about to reach for a carrot. The carrot reward also worked in asking him to cross a flowing stream. I asked for a stop, gave him a carrot, then asked him to go, and as he happily munched, he walked through the water with no other horses around to show him what to do. So that is trust and respect.

It feels good to have that kind of relationship with a horse where you can think together and read each others mind and body language and both enjoy your shared journey. He thanks me with his attention and enthusiasm even opening his mouth for me to place the bit in his mouth and put on his bridle. I thank him with good care and grooming and by meeting his needs. He's waiting for me now and I wish I could hug him, but that will wait for another day when I can walk again in some fashion. For now, my friend is hugging him for me. He's an old horse now, and I will do my best to care for him and thank him for what he has given to me and I need him now more than ever. We have a lot of catching up to do. © 2020 Jennifer Hunter