Drama

Wow...April 27th was a long time ago. Not exactly posting every day, am I?

Well, the new school year has started, and I always love the chance to start again.

We've had some interesting moments on the farm this summer. One of them occurred when Suzette turned up lame on an August Saturday afternoon. The injury turned out to be yet another dreaded term for horse people: a bowed tendon. Dreadful because the horse requires stall rest and limited activity for months, and won't be fully back to work at the same level for at least a year.

So Princess Suzette has been confined to a 12 by 14 foot stall for almost six weeks now. The time has come to start walking her around, under control so she doesn't reinjure the leg. With a high energy horse like the Princess, control is never guaranteed.

But we'd been doing okay, she and I, walking around the paddock. Until last Sunday, when an open gate and an approaching tractor gave her too much to think about. She simply couldn't process all the options.

I don't recall exactly what happened. My neighbor says I went up into the air as I was falling backwards. I seem to remember being socked in the face with the nose of a horse. I know I have a sore shoulder and a big bruise on my foot.

Obviously, Suzette freaked out and decided to vacate the premises. I'm told she trotted across the paddock to stand with TBone. Her leg seems to be fine.

I don't remember standing up, or anything much at all for about 5 minutes. My husband says I didn't lose consciousness. But when he asked me the year...you know, I really couldn't say.

Is there a moral to this story?

Never take any moment of your life for granted, with or without a horse.