Our dear young farrier went out several years ago and
bought himself a Kawasaki racing cycle. He told me "they just beg to be
ridden at 100 mph or more." He was riding on a lesser-used country road,
rounded a turn, slid on gravel and smashed into a tree. He was in a coma
for 5 days and took a year to recover. He is still shoeing horses,
still doing a great job, but he will never look quite the same as before.
Fortunately, people who would meet him for the first time would probably not
notice the difference. I'm just glad he didn't destroy his brain. I
took the motherly stance and asked him please never do that again, no more
motorcycles, we all needed him too badly. Great farriers are not in
abundance around here.
I think that if you participate in sports it is not a if you
get hurt, but a when you get hurt thing. That's what I tell my kids. I have
been hurt horseback riding, playing volleyball, basketball, etc.
Working in an emergency room is pretty hairy. Lots of motorcycle wrecks,
including a guy who slid on his face about 50 yards and had nothing left but
four holes. I got to do his brain death study. Lots of moto brain death
studies when you turn thier head to do a lateral view it feels like you are
picking up a sack of marbles. As someone who has been airlifted from a ride
(40 or so stitches), and worked ER, I'll take a horseback fall anyday over a
motorcycle. Trust me. 50 yards of road rash is not a pretty thing. Yes, you
can get hurt on a horse, but you are not going to hit asphalt at 80 miles an
hour. That whole law of inertia thing is a bitch.
Working at one hospital we were next to the racetrack and got some
jockeys...they all looked better than the motorcycle victims.
