Back in the Saddle

Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!! I can not believe I'm saying this, but I just got on my horse this morning and rode him for the first time since my awful fall in August. I was not planning to do this, or indeed to ever get on any horse ever again after what happened, but my friend rode him a few yards today and I just went for it, in the wind and the rain and totally unprepared. I was wearing jeans and wellies, but did have the hat and body protector on. It was amazing, and way better than chocolate! Needless to say, my camera was sitting on a shelf at home, so there are no photos for you to see.

Let me fill you in on some of the details. On August 5th, a beautiful sunny day, my friend and I decided to canter our horses across an open field, except something spooked Sid the Sod (my horse) and he bolted, my feet came out of the stirrups, I lost my grip on the reins and was bouncing about for a quarter of a mile as he accelerated into a fast gallop. Eventually I landed, taking all the impact in one spot, a lumber vertebra, which of course fractured. I spent a week in the hospital from hell, the first 4 days of which I was not allowed to move a muscle, and eventually discharged myself from that horrible place, wearing a back brace with metal rod up the front. This back brace was worn for 4 months. I'm told that it will take another few months for me to be as healed as I'm going to be. I remember crying my eyes out as I lay unattended for the first 2 hours after arriving in hospital, not because of the pain which was unbelievable, but because I knew I would never get on a horse again. And even this morning, I told myself that even if I was tempted, I was not going to even sit on him.

I feel as though I have achieved so much by doing this small thing, and I expect that tomorrow morning I will have a struggle to get out of bed, but it was soooo worth it!

Critters And Their Daily Demands

As predicted, the demise of the poor moggy yesterday (see previous blog) kept me awake most of last night, and so I have lost the will to do any crafting this afternoon, despite the extensive 'to do' list that I eagerly drew up during breakfastthis morning. I'm feeling guilty about this but as Scarlet O'Hara was fond of saying, "Tomorrow is another day".

As I can safely say that hens are the thickest pets I've ever had, cats are the most sensible. My two cats, Zebra and her one remaining son, Dolphin, have not left the house today, even for a pee. I on the other hand, being a human, have had the responsibility of tending to all my animals' needs. Sid the Sod, my lovely 15 year old bay Welsh cob, resides in sheer idleness in a huge field, 7 miles from here towards the Pennines, and remains outdoors with his home boys all year round. I usually put an all-weather coat on him by mid-December but decided not to bother this winter, as I'd heard many reports that his type are better off unrugged. He has amazingly thick fur at this time of year and only suffers the cold when it has rained and he is too wet to dry out over night. Today, however, I gave in as the forecast here is for more snow overnight, and he is now cozy-bozy in his glam pink duvet, with all the other horses pointing and laughing at his lack of dress sense. Needless to say, I left the camera in the car, which I had to park one mile away as the lumpy country lane is now impassable, so cannot show you how fab he looks, but you can see from this photo, taken a couple of days ago, the thickness of his natural coat and how well equipped he is for this cold weather.

I've been replacing the hens' water bottles several times throughout the day as they are freezing up within half an hour. I fill one up with hot water for them to use and keep another in the house to thaw out, this little routine occuring 8 or 9 times in all. The wild birds positively leapt on the fat balls and trashy white bread that I left for them this morning. They must be having a ball at the moment with everyone sticking food out for them. I spotted a very fat robin, 2 thrushes, a blackbird, blue tits, longtailed tits and many dunnocks and sparrows around the bird feeder within half an hour of their food delivery. I also saw an amazing V formation of about 60 geese flying over the house, all screeching joyfully in the glorious sun. Ain't nature wonderful!