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[RC] What do you think when coming off a horse,,, - SpottedracerWhen I was young and a rein broke when I was breezing a racehorse... Coming up on the backturn, you feel that hindend drop into 'high gear', you know you've got about 2-3 strides before that horse doesn't turn and hits the rail (many racehorses will just go straight if you don't pull them into the turn, hard to do that with only an outside rein..)I had those 2-3 strides to try and bail, thinking to myself 'this is going to F*&$%$&^ Hu.... ... Didn't even finish the sentence as we smashed into the side rail - him going through it - me slumping to the base of it (I had managed to swing half-way off in my attempt to bail)..... I finished my sentence after putting my lower leg back where it should be (you don't feel the pain of a shattered lower leg for a few seconds - I just looked down, realized my leg looked kind've crooked - decided to make it look straight... then the pain hit!! Thankgod it was a closed injury!!)..... The outriders, trainer and owner could hear me cussing on the other side of the track....... Ended up with a titanium rod in one leg, slight concussion, sprained back, and tons of 'road burn' on one side... Worse 'horse injury' I've ever had!! Since then, I've done a impressive 'grand prix' flip over the top of my galloping Endurance horse (she stumbled and went down on her front knees).... I've done an impressive 12' high full back flip (the green horse I was on, caught 8' of air without warning)... Came off and bit dirt countless times - flat on the face or on the back is easy - it HURTS for 6 months when you land on a knee!!!! The 'easiest' ones are when you end up in at least 3-4' of water w/loose gravel undrneith. Softens the impact **grin**..... With my 1/2 mile stretch of wide creek trailhead - I end up in it - at least 2-3X per year.. Whether it be a green mount - or a horse slip... Nowadays - I ALWAYS where my helmet and my 'protective vest'... Started wearing the protective vest after my teammate and I had a 'synchronized bite the dust' over on Natchez Trace. SHE was wearing a vest - I wasn't (just a helment).. She didn't have any torso/back pain - I hurt for WEEKS... Bought a vest the next week,,,, - LP
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