Re: [RC] Helmet ? - New Florida law - Barbara McCrary
When I was a young girl, my mare seemed lame
frequently. She was a Morgan who could single-foot. I also remember
that she was lame when asked to go away from home, but when turned around about
1/4 mile from the house, she miraculously became sound. :-))
Yes, we are doing something different than 40 years
ago...we are riding 50 miles at speed instead of 10 for pleasure. We are
racing rather than riding for pleasure. I remember riding about 12-15
miles and it was an all-day adventure...into the woods, exploring remote
areas.
I seem to remember my mare was stubborn (in my
estimation) about going places that I would now consider hazardous, but I don't
remember her spooking. She was used to going downtown, being parked in
front of a grocery store, tied up while her former owner went in to make his
purchases. This was in a small town, but the main street was also a state
highway (1940s). I remember riding past a noisy sawmill in the woods, with
the thing whining and screaming as sawmills do, but I don't remember her
objecting to that.
The closest thing to a serious accident, which didn't
materialize, occurred when a man in a pickup swerved close enough to me, riding
on the right-hand side of the highway, to bump the stirrup off my foot.
That really scared and angered me, but the mare didn't react, and I wasn't
hurt. I didn't really appreciate what a rock-solid horse she was until I
started riding hotter horses, especially Arabs.
I don't remember ever worming her, nor having
vaccinations. I don't think I even knew about those. I had her shod
routinely, and she ate the same alfalfa hay that our milk cow
did.
I think because she single-footed and because I rode a
lot on pavement to get into the forests, she developed ringbone at a fairly
young age. She also had several bouts of periodic opthalmia, or
moonblindness, which eventually caused blindness in her right eye. I
considered her unsafe to ride and got rid of her. She was only about 17
years old.
Anyone who
rode as a kid, do you ever remember anyone getting head injuries from
riding? I don't. We galloped everywhere, no helmet, no gloves, in
sneakers, jeans and t-shirts. I also never remember ever seeing a lame
horse.
Are we doing something differently now than 40 years ago,
not only with care and training of our horses, but with how we ride that are
making ourselves more injury prone for ourselves and our
horses?
