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[RC] Dr Strangles Or: - Lynn White

Dr Strangles Or:  How I Learned to Stop Worrying and
Love Riding  Alone

Merri Melde?s story about taking care of horses with
Strangles got me thinking about my own experience with
this nasty affliction.  Like most every thing with
horses (and life in general), destiny comes via the
most unlikely circumstances.

For those of you who grew up in the saddle and have no
fear of riding, you probably can?t relate to this
story.  But for those of you who took up riding as an
adult, read away.  There is something about taking up
a sport as an adult. It?s like your brain is not wired
for it and you have to think about everything that you
do.  Though I?d never want to be anywhere other than
on the back of a horse, I took up riding as an adult
and my brain is just not wired for it.  I have to
think about everything I do and I think about all the
bad things that can happen on a horse.  I worry too
much sometimes.

Part of the reason I like this sport is because I like
to yak with my horsey friends.  I have to make it a
point to shut up sometimes because I just know I must
annoy the crap out of people.  I can almost hear
people thinking:  ?OMG here comes that lady who will
not shut the hell up!  Ride faster/slower!?

In July of 2006 I was alone on a conditioning ride and
had a pretty serious fall.  It was one of those
I-could-have-been-killed falls.  Nothing really
serious happened besides landing on my face and people
giving my husband dirty looks at the grocery store. 
But landing on my face really rattled me. I could have
easily snapped my neck.  I vowed never to ride alone
again (like having someone around would magically keep
gravity from being so unkind).  I am lucky because I
am blessed with living around other riders so riding
with someone is about as difficult as picking up the
phone.   

The season of 2007, PJ  Blondshine and I religiously
conditioned together and things were proceeding as
planned.  Then I noticed that green goopy discharge on
my year-old colt.  If it wasn?t for the fact that I
handled him daily I would have never even known he had
strangles.  About the only other symptom that he had
was a minor malaise.  Instead of charging around the
pasture at a full gallop for four laps, he?d gallop
just two laps.  My mare Agnes had a runny nose and was
now considered a ?shedder.?  I had become public enemy
number one and would remain that way for the next six
weeks.

With several rides left to go late in the season I
decided that I was just going to have to ride alone
again.  So I started giving my husband detailed maps
where I was going and with fear and trepidation,
headed up to the hills armed with a cell phone and a
hunter orange vest.  I stayed on the roads and kept to
the route I had told my husband (this was the hardest
part).  

Because there was nobody to talk to I really started
to see things and think about my horse in a whole new
light.  I started seeing all sorts of birds and
wildlife.  I started to think about stories to write
and new places to explore.   Because there was nobody
to talk to we were a lot stealthier.  I found that I
liked just being out alone on my mare.  The fear of
riding alone was gone.  If it hadn?t been for
Strangles I?d still be dependent on riding with other
riders.  Now at least, I know I can do it alone.

I know that something could always go wrong.  I could
come face to face with a cougar or Agnes could stumble
at a walk and I could end up with a broken femur.  I
could also end up with cancer in a year or have to
spend a couple years taking care of a sick relative
and not ride at all.  Horses teach us to live in the
moment because that is where they always are.  Horses
force us to relax because they don?t do well with
uptight people.    They teach us how enjoy a sunny day
and appreciate all the things and people in our lives,
and they teach us how to overcome worrying.  Kind of
surreal, really. 


Lynn

"Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people"

-W.C. Fields


     
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