Near Face Plant
I went to get Rusty out of the pen for a ride. He and Harvey came galloping to the gate. Racing for first place in hopes of going out to graze. I braced both hands on the gate in case of a crash. They didn’t.
They were both being pushier than I thought acceptable though so I waited for them to sort themselves out and settle down. I opened the gate a little to see if I could let Harvey out or catch Rusty without being smashed. Not seeing an opportunity I pushed it back shut, holding it closed behind me.
Both horses, Harvey mostly driven by Rusty, spun about to take off, not over their galloping excess of energy yet. As Rusty took off he kicked up with both heels. Higher and harder than I was expecting. Coyote likes to do that, directed at me but low and carefully, to show his endless disdain. Rusty went full out though. I heard the solid thunk of his hoof hitting the railroad tie the gate closes on. An arms length in front of me right at head level.
Just that morning I had read a post about a trainer I follow getting kicked in the face by a horse. I admit it, I thought, that would never happen to me! My horses are far to well trained. He must have done something wrong. Such a silly thing to think. People always seem to think they are immune to injury. It’s a good thing sometimes. If we spent all of our time thinking about all the ways we could get hurt we’d never get anything done. We think that “we” do things better. That a horse who has been well trained will never hurt us. I know I got few comments along those lines when Rusty and I crashed into each other a few days ago. If I had done a good job training him that wouldn’t have happened.
It’s important for us to remember that they are live animals who think and react to things in the way that they want or feel appropriate. Sometimes they flail about like a three year old at the dinner table, taking out everything in sight. Sometimes they want to play and forget we are smaller. Sometimes they spook and smash us before they have time to think. Even the best horsemen get hurt, Shawna Karrasch broke her nose, Andrea of Mills Horsemanship and Hoofcare is currently sporting a black eye. Accidents happen. The best we can do is be prepared and train the best we can to avoid injury to horse or human.
I did go back through that gate. It was scary. Nobody did anything untoward. They remembered the manners that are expected when a person is present. I think I didn’t count earlier because I was outside the gate. Rusty and I continued on, going for a… very enthusiastic ride. But that’s a story for another time.
.
.