Why I will not be a bull rider any time soon

Getting tossed to the ground from a live, bucking animal hurts. Like hell.

This weekend I came out to my mom's and we had another sleepover (there's something about getting fed real food and having someone else to play with the baby for a bit that does wonders for the spirit). So, on Sunday I decided to ride the horse for a while before we left. I've been meaning to jump on him for weeks now, and it was a beautiful day, so I hauled the saddle out to the barn and tacked him up.

Now, this horse has a very ornery streak to him. For years we've been working with him to not buck when he starts off loping. Not big bucking, just a little annoyed kick of the back feet. On Sunday, he was an angel. Not one buck, did everything I asked him to. And then, I made the mistake of thinking "just one more time around." Apparently he had had enough and made sure I knew it. He bucked and lurched and jumped all the way across the damn pasture. And I hung on almost the whole way. Until he headed towards the fence. I'm pretty sure I started to bail off, and got tossed at the same time. And I hit the ground hard. No tuck and roll here. Though I did roll as fast as I could in hopes of not getting stepped on, as I had visions of hooves smashing into my skull. That's always a pleasant thought.

Anyways, I was yelling as I went down and mom came running with E. She couldn't get me up, so I laid there trying to catch my breath while she caught the horse and stuck him in the barn (cause a loose horse was the last thing we needed). Eventually I crawled my way into the house and collapsed on the couch. Standing up made me blackout, and when I was still that way an hour later, we realized there was no way my mom was going to get me into the car and to anywhere to get x-rays, so we called an ambulance and I got my first ride in one.

I spent forever at the hospital - they forgot I was even there in the first place, forgot to put in orders for stuff, etc - and got sent home with a diagnosis of "contusions on the kidney and other bruising" and was prescribed nothing. They were kind enough to recommend some over the counter Motrin.

So, here I am, camping out at my mom's house for a while because I can't walk without supporting myself on something, can hardly pick E up and still almost pass out from time to time when I move. It took me 10 minutes to get from the bedroom to the kitchen this morning. I'm not a wuss or a hypochondriac, but I'm pretty sure this is not simply bruising when I can't put any weight on my one leg and have to shuffle everywhere cause I can't pick my feet up.

So yeah, no more bucking animals for this girl for a long time. There is nothing that makes you realize just how mobile you have to be with a 6 month old until you can't do anything but lay next to her on the floor and hope she's content to play like that for a long time.

20 years of riding and this is a first, so I suppose that's not too bad.