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FW: [RC] why I don't love trail riding - Mike Sherrell

Arena riding -- didn't we have a Secretery of the Interior who got killed being bucked into an arena fence a few years back? My point is, arenas may be more hazardous than the great outdoors because those unyelding metal posts and rails are close all around.
 
Regards,
 
Mike Sherrell
Grizzly Analytical (USA)
707 887 2919; fax = 707 887 9834
 


From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Maryanne Gabbani
Sent: Sunday, July 20, 2008 10:46 PM
To: Gina Kazimir; Ridecamp
Subject: Re: [RC] why I don't love trail riding

Jeez, Gina. You could never get me on a horse as tall as Ash in the first place and I think that throwing you and your horses over jumps the way you do is the ultimate in lunatic risk taking. I'm in utter awe of people crazy enough to do that.  LOL  People get hurt far worse and far more often jumping than just falling off a horse on a trail...or do they? I don't really know. I DO know that as riders we take a chance every time we get on a horse and that this is the life that we've chosen for ourselves.

Rather than looking at it as a "where" you ride issue, it's more productive to look at it as a "how" you ride issue. As Raven noted, for trail riding a mobile phone is a must and one with a gps in it is wonderful (not that most people even know how to use this feature...but it is really helpful). Knowing your horses and your terrain is also a must. But it sounds like this was just one of those freak things.

And even preparation s&*%t happens. Last year I got a call from a neighbour who had been out riding with friends in the desert (think the world's biggest arena...nothing in it but some fairly small rocks and fairly large pyramids) on her horse that she'd raised from birth. While cantering across some sand, the horse stepped onto a fox den that collapsed under him causing him to fall with Janie. He was fine. She broke her collarbone. I came out to them in the jeep (forget emergency services in Egypt) and we took her to the hospital for an xray. She ended up with a nice little plate in her collarbone and still rides in the desert.  On the other hand, she is terrified to ride in the countryside and transmits  that fear to her horses who then balk at the smallest thing, while I'd rather take people riding there than in the desert...I think that it's safer. Unless Figgy decides to go swimming again.

 When I was that age I was riding out with friends and wandering around the hills of the Ojai Valley...no cell phones, no 911, no helmets, nothing. One one of those rides I came off a horse hard enough to break the spinal processes of three lumbar vertebrae and hit my head with enough of a whack that I still don't remember how the accident happened. In fact the only reason that I know that it did is because A) I now have the 3 fused vertebrae showing up on xrays without processes, and B) some old friends can remember me being out of school for a couple of weeks while I read all of Kristin Lavransdatter (check it out...a 2 thou page trilogy LOL) and C) I do recall my poor mother and I fighting over whether or not I would wear a back brace...I didn't, took up Greek folkdancing instead. Accidents do happen and people do get hurt. This is how the world works. Looking at something like this as just too dangerous locks away part of the world. But then I guess that I've done that with jumping, haven't I?

Maryanne


On Mon, Jul 21, 2008 at 5:23 AM, Gina Kazimir <gkazimir@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
This brief was in The Baltimore Sun. What it doesn't say is the girls
involved are from "my" barn, as I just learned today. Chrissy (18 or
so?) on Cisco was the one injured -- something spooked him, he bucked,
she fell off onto a rock. Bethany (15? 16?) on Surprise jumped off to
help, and had the maturity and presence of mind to call 911. Good thing
she did...Chrissy had fractured her chin and severed a small artery, and
quick pressure as instructed was critical. As it was I'm told both girls
were soaked with blood.

Because the girls did not know the area well and didn't have trail maps,
Bethany was not able to directly pinpoint where Chrissy was, resulting
in closing Rt. 1 near the access point and a two-hour hike back through
the woods with the stretcher for the paramedics. Everyone is a bit
surprised it was Cisco who bolted - he's a reasonably sensible Paint
horse - but as Jodi (not I, notice!) said, neither horse - indeed NONE
of our horses at the farm, including the lesson horses - are truly trail
horses, trained to handle woodland creatures, dicey footing, etc. And
when they needed that training, it wasn't there.

Both horses were found by hikers who knew nothing about handling them,
but returned them to Bethany asking "uh, are these yours?" Chrissy is
expected to recover just fine, and the horses were unhurt.

BUT...because they really weren't prepared, they were lucky. And that's
what scares me about trail riding. Hacking out of the ring in one thing;
a bridle path is just dandy; but if you're not knowledgable about WHERE
you'll be going I just feel it can be too risky. -- Gina
--------------------

Girl, 17, who fell from horse rescued /
</news/local/bal-md.briefs176jul17,0,3972432.story>July 17, 2008

A 17-year-old girl who was injured when she fell off her horse while
trail riding along the Little Gunpowder Falls near the Baltimore-Harford
county line was rescued by firefighters and emergency personnel
yesterday, authorities said.

More than 40 personnel from both counties and several state agencies
searched for about two hours before finding and rescuing the teenager,
who was riding with a friend about two miles off Bel Air Road when the
accident occurred about 10:40 a.m., said Dave Williams
</topic/sports/dave-williams-PESPT007931.topic>, public information
officer for Harford County Volunteer Fire & EMS Association.

The teenager's friend used a cell phone to call Harford County 911 but
was not certain of their location because they had been weaving through
the trails and had crossed the stream a couple of times, Williams said.

Rescuers used a GPS navigation system to locate the teenager.

<>The girl, who was not identified, was taken to Johns Hopkins Bayview
Trauma Center with injuries that were not life-threatening, authorities
said.

Ellie Baublitz



--
Maryanne Stroud Gabbani
msgabbani@xxxxxxxxx

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