Busy, busy, busy...

[calic0cat]

Took the horse to a parade this morning. It was overcast, but there was no rain in the forecast till tonight.

It started to rain about two minutes before step-off.

It rained for an hour.

The parade ran 4 km and lasted just over an hour.

:P

At least the horse didn't step on my foot today.

Nope, this time, Ms. Klutz managed to get hurt all on her own. We were running a little late when we arrived at the parade assembly point, so we rushed to unload the wagon from the trailer. I stepped over the trailer tongue, caught my toe on it, and went ker-splat on the asphalt.

I haven't had road rash since I was a kid learning to ride a bike, but I have it now, from mid-forearm to the bottom of my T-shirt sleeve - the elbow is the worst. Took a good fifteen minutes to get it to stop bleeding. I'm just glad I was wearing jeans, not shorts, or I'd be raw from shin to mid-thigh as well.

Ah well, at least I didn't mess up my hands or hit my head on the bumper on the way down.

Anyway, I will be posting something tomorrow. Since I'm feeling ever-so-slightly cursed today, I'm going to let you all decide what that "something" will be:

Guess that answered that question... *sweatdrops* LWH #102 coming right up...

Comments

[sunhawk16.livejournal.com]

*grin* Looks like people might be waiting on a certain something. ^^;
Isn't it amazing to take a fall like that now? I can remember falling like that when I was a kid and practically being back on my feet before I was done bouncing. Now... it's like this incredible shock to the system. O.o Take care of the abrasions though... don't want it to get infected.

[calic0cat.livejournal.com]

Looks like people might be waiting on a certain something. ^^;

Uh, yeah, looks like that, doesn't it? *sweatdrops*

I can remember falling like that when I was a kid and practically being back on my feet before I was done bouncing. Now... it's like this incredible shock to the system.

I just laid there for a few moments, trying to figure out exactly what had happened and whether or not moving was a good idea. Somehow, once you hit the high side of 30, the ol' bounce factor doesn't quite work as well... No bruising showing yet, but my leg will probably be quite colourful in a week or so, since it feels badly bruised to the touch (as in *don't touch!!*), which means it's deep bruising and that takes forever to show on the surface and even longer to heal up. :P On the bright side, the skinned-up arm looks a lot better today and feels a little better too.

[sunhawk16.livejournal.com]

once you hit the high side of 30, the ol' bounce factor doesn't quite work as well

Which is really weird, when you stop to think about it, I know I personally have a lot more padding than I did when I was twelve! ^o^

[silverkiiri.livejournal.com]

Methinks we may have a winner on what the fans are holding their breath for. I know I am. ^_^

[calic0cat.livejournal.com]

Yep, looks like LWH #102 wins the "post it" vote by a landslide (29 votes compared to 1 each for the other two options).

[dragynville.livejournal.com]

Keeping my fingers crossed for Life with Heero 102! :D

[calic0cat.livejournal.com]

It wasn't even close; LWH won out by a landslide. I'll post in a few minutes; I just want to give it one more read-through to check for typos.

I hope you're feeling better now

[kaelta.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry to hear 'bout your fall, I hope you are feeling well now. Sunhawk is right. Take care of those injuries, if they can get really nasty when infected.
The concensus is almost unanimous: We want "Life with Heero #102"!!!

Re: I hope you're feeling better now

[calic0cat.livejournal.com]

It's definitely going to be LWH, so I'll be posting as soon as I give it one more check for typos. As for the fall - the scraped-up arm looks much better this morning and feels a little better. The leg is really sore to the touch, meaning I've got some deep bruising, but it doesn't bother me as long as I don't touch it. Otherwise, my back and shoulder muscles are just a little achy in general, but it's hard to say whether that's from the fall or from an hour of sitting perched on the edge of the wagon seat, back straight and arms held out in front while I drove the horse in the parade and got soaking wet and slightly chilled.

Parades are very high-stress situations; probably the single most dangerous thing that we do with our horses. The noise, crowds, etc. all add up to one big accident waiting to happen. No matter how well-trained a horse may be, it's still essentially an animal whose first instinct is "flight". On a crowded parade route, that's simply not something that can happen without somebody getting hurt, especially when the horse is hitched to several hundred pounds of wheeled vehicle. So, the driver and the header (person who walks alongside the horse for reassurance and extra control when needed) have to have 100% of their concentration on the situation at all times. Parades can be fun and rewarding - a few excited squeals of "A horse! A horse! Look, mommy, a horse!" can make the whole thing worthwhile - but they're also a lot of work and a lot of worry.