The Shows That Never Will Be

This weekend and on Oct 6th my Mom was registered to participate in some PVDA horse shows with Smash. Unfortunately there was a little bit of chaos this past weekend that have changed our plans.

Saturday my Mom went to Waredaca for her regular lesson while Nick took me for a trailer driving lesson.  It took me 5min to get the truck to stop pulling 2 millimeters forward every time I got the hitch lined up and let my foot off the brake! That was the beginning of the frustration! We drove the trailer to a nearby school parking lot and I practiced driving forward, backward, backing from the left, and backing from the right. I didn't think I was going to get it. I felt like I kept getting stuck with the trailer turning too far almost jack-knifing and not being able to straighten out and line the trailer into the parking spot I'd picked. Finally I was getting it. I felt great that I could finally back the trailer up on my own no matter how long it took!

I drove the trailer home and didn't kill any one (I did have a long parade of cars behind me since I refused to go anywhere above 45mph). I even backed the trailer back into our parking spot at Waredaca and as I was taking the last wire off the battery as part of my unhitching procedure I hear Nick say "Ummm is that Smash?"

I looked up thinking I'd see my Mom riding or walking her back to the field but instead I saw her still fully tacked and riderless running for the field she lives in. I was wearing shorts and sneakers, clearly not riding clothes, when I exclaimed to a woman who was there just for some cross country schooling "That's my horse!" (why I exclaimed this I have NO idea. I blame the adrenaline and pure shock of seeing Smash running around. Normally I would never shout at strangers random exclamations but there's a first for everything I guess)

She looked at me with the most confused expression imaginable and said "It is?!" Here I am in street clothes, fiddling with my empty trailer, and then claiming that the fully tacked horse running amok is mine. I guess that would confuse me, too. Instantly I take off after her. (Side note: I do know I won't ever catch up to her but I wanted to explain that when I run after Smash it's because I feel if I can keep her within my eye sight I at least know where she is! And yes, there have been times when I have not known where she was which scared the crap out of me! Not to mention if she gets hurt somehow *knock on wood it doesn't happen* I can maybe see what happened) Thankfully there were some girls ahead of me on the road and one had a bike and they were able to catch Smash before I could.

As I'm walking Smash back up to the ring I still notice there is no sight of my Mom. I finally encountered her riding instructor who said she had just come off and she had stayed to make sure she was ok before coming to find Smash. I finally see my Mom and get ready to help her finish her lesson when she says her wrist hurts and cannot get back on. She said she thinks she sprained it and should go to the hospital. She went off to the hospital to get checked out and I told her I'd meet her there since I decided to ride Smash for about 10 min just so she knew running to her field after her rider fell off didn't mean she got to be done.

After I untacked her and Nick helped me put her tack back into the trailer we headed to find my Mom in the hospital. I found out what happened was just Smash spooked at something (probably invisible horse eating monsters), stepped on and broke a dressage ring fence which spooked her again, my Mom fell off since she wasn't expecting it, and Smash decided to run home. I was glad it wasn't Smash being "up" or not focusing because she was bored and wanted an excuse to be silly and that her actions were just Smash being a normal unpredictable horse.

After the trip to the hospital and a few x-rays it turns out my Mom has 2 fractures in her wrist and will require at least a month of rest if not more. So unfortunately she had to scratch from both shows. :( And because I'm not a PVDA member I can't take her place in the show. There will be plenty more shows in the future for my Mom to ride in but it definitely stinks that she can't do these shows this year.

Heal up, Mom! Then you can sign up for more shows!!

Have you ever had to scratch from a show because of a horse related injury?