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The
Fall Guy By Jef Meulemans |
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For some reason, I decided I could just flip them over his head and he would miraculously not freak out. So I reached around his neck and flipped them up...RIGHT INTO HIS EYES! Well, of course he freaked. He got up on his back legs and stood up. I remember thinking, 'Wow, I can see a lot better way up here'. I didn't have time to grab anything and instinctively pulled on the reins to keep my balance; you know, the reins that are currently covering both of his eyes. He came down and started bucking and I came off. I rolled around for a few moments trying to get my breath back but I didn't think I really hurt anything. It felt like I jammed my thumb and my neck and side was sore, but otherwise, I felt okay. I could tell how upset Boomer was by the way he immediately started eating out of the garden he accidentally ran into. I adjusted his reins and climbed back up. Holy cow! Searing pain shot through my wrist as I pulled myself up. Within a few minutes, it got worse and I conceded a trip to the emergency room. This was our first trip to the Canton hospital. It was a nice modern facility, but there were chickens running around out front. Charlene figured that was how people paid for services here. I explained to the doctor that I had been thrown 30 feet into the air by an unbroken Percheron Draft Horse, but Charlene had to rain on my parade with the stupid whole truth thing. They told me in the emergency room that the wrist was broken and set it in a splint. A week later when I went in to have a cast put on, the new x-rays showed no break. Thank God for that. I was beginning to tire of Charlene telling everyone, “Him’s cripple ya know”.
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My
wife and I decided to take a ride around our new property for
the first time since moving to Canton a few weeks ago. Charlene
tacked up her horse and I got my trusty friend Boomer ready. When
I climbed up in the saddle though, I noticed I had the reins on
one side of his neck instead of over his head. Boomer is VERY
touchy about his head and ears and always has been. The OBVIOUS
thing to do was get off and slowly put the reins over his head
like I normally do.
As
for all workdays, wear sturdy shoes or boots; bring work
gloves, lunch or energy snacks, and plenty
of drinking water. The Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association
(SORBA) workdays have not been included in this list. Please
remember SAFETY as you work on any of the trails.
