When ever I turn Trax out of his pen, he comes out bucking and playing.
Always.
Well no, not always. If he is haltered he is the perfect gentleman, but if he is left to his own demise he is coming out guns blazing.
I know my horse, he isn't being mean when he does this, he isn't trying to hurt anyone, he usually is plenty far away so that he isn't going to connect with anyone. Even still I know to stand clear, just in case.
On this day I was late getting out this morning to feed and turn out. Some days, it is just easier to dump food in the pasture (which looks more like a dirt lot right now) and then open the gates and point and tell my horses where to go. Melly never gives me a lick of trouble, Trax doesn't either, Sassy only rarely. The boarder horses, haven't quite gotten how it works yet so they still get haltered.
I put Franny out, then turned Melly out, and then went to open Trax'x gate. His new pen has a narrower gate and for some reason instead of staying behind the gate when I opened it, I ducked to the other side.
Yes not the smartest move I ever made.
He came out, and the gate swung back towards him pushing him in my direction...he was bucking and cow kicking and one of those hoofs caught me square on the butt cheek.
Took me a few seconds to recover from the shock, but then I went after him. He saw me coming too and knew that he was in trouble. Of course he took off.
He ended up going back into Melody's pen, where I shut the gate and reached up and kicked him back! I wasn't nice about it either.
Then I made him let me catch him.
Once he knew I wasn't going to kick him anymore, he leaned his head against my chest. (not something he does normally) I do believe he was trying to say he was sorry. Or maybe he was just trying to get where I couldn't get a square shot in again.
It hurts. Burns pretty bad right now, but I can still walk, and the more I keep moving the less it hurts. I'm pretty darn lucky. If I had not been turned the way I was he'd have got me right in the gut, or on the hip bone.
Lesson learned. Stay behind the gate, or halter the damn horse.
Oh no! I bet that hurts! I should post the picture of the bruise I got on my butt after landing square on a fence....I bet it's pretty similar to what yours looks like!
ReplyDeleteI definitely think he was saying sorry :)
It happens. It's happened to me more times than it should have, I could be the "what not to do" example in every horsemanship manual! I think sometimes when we live with horses we get too relaxed with them, and then we get a wake up call!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're not too badly hurt, and I like your plan. I've always found that a beer or two helps (or wine, or margaritas, or all of them together!).
Ouch!!!! I'm glad you had your back turned and his kick wasn't any higher!! Very lucky! Thank you for sharing to help remind us not to get complacent! I hope you feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteI read that title and thought "Oh-oh!" Handling horses daily can lull us into bad habits sometimes, it isn't always easy to think of safety first. And every time we get lax, s##t happens it seems. Glad it wasn't any worse; good thing us wimmens have padded cheeks! Try arnica gel on the bruise, it will speed up the healing.
ReplyDeleteA shot on the hip bone doesn't really hurt much. Ask me how I know... First kick I ever took. Surprisingly enough, it never left a mark. Not a bruise to be found, but yes, I did retaliate as soon as the shock wore off. Son-of-a-BAM!!!!
ReplyDeleteOh yea, those wake-up calls are painful (Shooter biting me in the head - LOL). Very glad it was just a 'cheek' though. Painful...but not deadly.
ReplyDeleteOuch, ouch, ouch! You are indeed lucky that wasn't worse.
ReplyDeleteI was kicked in the stomach once when turning out a TB that had been kept in a stall w/o turnout due to bad weather. Of course they kept him on full grain *eyeroll* I was very lucky I didn't have internal injuries. (just ended up leaning over the fence rail and vomiting)
That sounds painful! Lots of rest, ice and anti-inflammatories!
ReplyDelete