Not Again!

 

'Calm Before The Storm'   (Taken from the ferry while crossing L.I. Sound last week)

I’m sure the entire country has heard by now that the East Coast is in for a major hurricane.  Seems to me its  `deja vu all over again!  Just last year at the same exact time we were in for some odd weather that was dubbed “Snowtober” and we had a massive snowstorm.  A snowstorm at this time of year was very unusual for us but that didn’t stop it from blasting us with winds, ice and lots of snow.

This week of Halloween Mother Nature is treating us to a “Frankenstorm”.  I feel sorry for all the little Trick or Treater’s who are so excited with their costumes and the idea of getting free candy door to door.  School has been cancelled and we are under a state of emergency. 

Last year at this time I’m also reminded that the day of the snowstorm I decided to take a quick ride on Blue before it hit and wound up in the hospital.  Nothing major but a huge pain in the butt (literally)!  The worst part was the ride home in the snowstorm and checking all the cars in the ditches for stranded people.  Anyway, I opted not to ride this weekend because, yes, I’m that superstitious. 

We’ve battened down the hatches, filled gas cans for the generators, stored any objects that might become flying torpedoes, filled the troughs and generally should be prepared.  As my daughter was sliding the windows on the indoor shut a nest of wolf spiders fell into her hair.  She’s terrified of spiders so to say it was an unwelcome experience would be an understatement.  To illustrate my point: she once jumped out of her car on Main Street because there was a man-eating spider baring its fangs at her from the dashboard!  Another incident occurred while shutting the windows when a bat fell onto the windowsill slightly dazed and looking at her as if to say, “ I was just taking a nap, what the hell happened here!”  “Give me a minute to compose myself and I’ll be out of your way.” 

It’s not our first time at the Hurricane Dance and from experience we know how to deal with nature’s fury.  I wish all my blogger friends in the path of Hurricane Sandy safety during the next few days.

Until next time

Quote for Today

Spooky wild and gusty; swirling dervishes of rattling leaves race by, fleeing the wind flung deadwood that cracks and thumps behind.  ~Dave Beard

Unceremoniously Dumped!

"Thanks Blue", because of you I've been sitting on ice packs all week!

This past Saturday I was unceremoniously dumped by Blue, the “safest” horse in the barn.  He’s just lost that distinguished title, by the way.  Since a storm was moving in, I decided to ride early and my daughter was then going to lunge Grady and Nate.  I opted to ride outside in the ring by the barn; we were soon going to be under snow so I thought it would be nice to ride outdoors.

My daughter gave Blue and myself a lovely lesson.  Walk, trot, canter all went seamlessly and felt great.  During my last canter in a two-point I came around the bottom left corner and was just about to transition to walk and end our lesson. Out of nowhere Blue spooked/jumped to the right as a black van came up the road behind him, the saddle slipped and I became unbalanced, which in turn led Blue to gallop full speed away from the offending unbalanced rider.  Needless to say, I gracefully sailed through the air like an acrobatic butterfly caught in an updraft of wind and landed like a sack of potatoes on my back.

Apparently, I gave my daughter a little bit of a scare because I was knocked unconscious.  Now this is her description of me as I lay there: “I thought you were dead; your eyes were rolled back in your head, you had blood coming out of your mouth [bit my tongue] and you were making the most god awful noises from your throat--I thought you were choking.”  Didn’t sound too good.  She then cut my sweatshirt and turtleneck, which had bunched up tight, away from my neck thinking I needed air.  She’s good in an emergency.  Personally, I don’t remember anything except waking up with a bunch of people (neighbor, ambulance people and Jacquie) standing looking down at me like I was a specimen pinned to a board.  I never even heard the ambulance pull in.  How embarrassing.  I don’t like being stared at, especially in that condition.

Anyway, they loaded me onto a backboard and secured my head.  I’d never been in an ambulance before, so this was a new experience.  You know you’re getting old when you think the two EMT’s look like they just graduated high school.  The girl kept trying to insert an IV needle into the vein on the top of my hand, but on bouncy roads this wasn’t working out.  So I asked her to stop.  The hospital was about 45 minutes away.  We have a closer one but it’s not so good so my daughter wouldn’t let them take me there.  During the ride the ambulance stopped so I asked if we were pulling into the hospital and was told no we were in a traffic jam.  So I then inquired, “Excuse me, but isn’t this ambulance with lights and sirens?”  Teenage EMT  “Uh, yeah, Joe put the lights on and let’s go.”   Even in that state I could still be impatient in traffic….

We finally made it.  When they took off my boots and half chaps the nurse remarked “that’s a lot of dirt on the sheet now.”  “Do ya think so?”  I got some x-rays.  Nothing broken, just contusions in my butt and probably a bruised tailbone.  Nice.  Hurts like hell too.  Guess it pays to have a little extra padding once in a while to save you from broken bones though.  Asked them if I needed a CAT scan for my head to make sure my brain wasn’t Swiss cheese.  Not required the doctor said; my daughter confirmed that I wasn’t acting more addled than usual.

By the time we got out of there the snowstorm had kicked in to an almost white-out condition; after a few wrong turns, a stop at the drugstore for pain medication prescriptions, and a few stops along the way to check for people in cars off the side of the road, we made it home in about two hours.  Lots of trees and wires down because the leaves couldn’t take the heaviness.  Not a fun Saturday by any means between the accident and the snow.  Good thing it was close to Halloween because my new Frankenstein shuffle fit right in.

So the moral of this story - even the safest horse in the barn can have a bad day, which in turn rewards you with a painful week.  And everybody comes off once in a while no matter how good a rider you might think you are.  Even if, like me, you’ve had a good run and haven’t hit the ground in 10-11 years.  It should also go without saying, ALWAYS, ALWAYS wear a helmet.  This is the first time in all my many years of falls that I have been knocked out; if I wasn’t wearing a helmet my brain would be scrambled eggs.  

  

Also, beware of scary black vans!  (Good advice for several reasons ;-)

Until next time

Quote for Today

When you're young and you fall off a horse, you may break something. When you're my age and you fall off, you splatter. 
    - Roy Rogers

Regaining Confidence

Regaining Your Confidence

Most of us have fallen off our horses at one time or another. The question is how to regain your confidence after a wreck. It does not matter whether the accident was major or minor, a fall from a horse can be devastating, depending on the injuries incurred or the mental spotlight we assign to the fall; we can subconsciously find excuses not to ride again. There is a certain amount of fear in all of us, which is a good thing, for if we had no fear we would not understand the dangerous circumstances that can arise riding our horses. Fear is nature’s way of making sure we never forget that we are riding huge powerful animals that have their own will and can be unpredictable in certain situations.

The range of emotions you may be experiencing after an accident can vary. An example may be that you don’t feel comfortable going into that dreaded corner where you got thrown, or jumping a particular type of jump where your horse once refused and you kept going. It doesn’t matter what the scenario was; right now, it’s making you feel tense and overly anxious. The question is, how do you overcome this paralyzing fear, and get back to enjoying the time spent riding your horse?

Sometimes it’s a good idea to turn to professionals in this area for help I think all horse people should have a psychologist on speed dial for several reasons, (not all of which have to do with confidence issues...). I am not a psychologist, but over the years I have read some great advice and suggestions on how to deal with this problem:

First – You need to replay and examine what happened and why it happened. Ask yourself questions, the most important one being: what was I doing/thinking at the time? Was I paying attention to my surroundings; was I riding in the moment or was I thinking about the grocery list? Did I put the horse wrong at the jump; did I over-face the horse with something he could not do? Sometimes, I am sorry to say, people just lack common sense. If you have not ridden for a month, how about longeing the horse first; if you have never taken that risky jump because you thought it was too dangerous, why take it today? Etc… Once you have your answer, you can begin to think of ways to correct it next time. Avoiding putting yourself in the same situation that caused the wreck in the first place is a great place to start.

Second - Simply analyzing what happened might have a calming effect. Once you can think about the accident logically instead of emotionally, you are on your way to regaining the confidence you need to get back on the horse. This brings me to another aspect of the confidence issue. I have read that one of the worst things you can do is to deny your fears and get right back on in order to prove to everyone (or to yourself) how “brave” you are before you deal with the psychological situation. This may set you up for another injury and you could lose even more confidence. Remember, you don’t have to be superman; let common sense guide you.

Third – Before getting back in the saddle, make sure your injuries will allow you to control the horse. There is no sense riding if your balance is off or your injury is causing you pain.

Fourth – It is always a good idea to take it slow when you decide to ride again. If need be, go on the longe line for a few lessons. Jump some smaller jumps to get your confidence back. Retrace your riding steps to what they were before the accident - to where you were confident and having fun.

Fifth- If you know what caused the accident, then visualize yourself correcting your mistake. Run the correction through your mind repeatedly until you feel confident you won’t make the same mistakes again.

Sixth – There is such a thing as relaxation training; it’s a wonderful tool to get rid of the excess tension in your body. Simply by tensing each muscle group and then relaxing them you can be on your way to a state of relaxation. Remember, if you are tense, your horse can feel the tension. This may lead to both of you having less confidence in each other.

Finally, you must try to talk to yourself in a positive way and get into a good frame of mind. Negative thoughts, such as I can’t do this, I know I’m going to fall again etc… will only make you more tense and afraid of doing what you enjoy.

Regaining your confidence after an accident will depend on your situation. Your age, injuries, state of mind and even your experience level all combine to determine your individual goals for getting your confidence back. In addition, don’t forget your personality plays a part in the healing process too.

If all this seems too overwhelming for you and you know you really want to ride but just cannot seem to overcome your fears, perhaps you should seek a professional’s help. Many sports psychologists in the field will be able to help you get back to being your confident self again.

Until next time

Quote for Today

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
- Confucious