The sling shot dive

I have a scar to remind me forever of my horse Thunder I grew up with.  Like I said in the earlier story we rode bareback and we slide up his neck to get on.

I was out riding with some friends and we stopped at the small irrigation ditch to let our horses drink. It was a windy day and not real warm. My horse was down in the ditch with his hips still up on the ditch bank. He was at such an angle I kind of had to lean back where I would not slide down his neck. I lost my rein, instead of pulling his head up with the other rein and getting it I laid over on my stomach and slide down his neck.  As I reached for the rein a big gust of wind came and blew some paper up out of the weeds towards him. He threw his head up in the air and launched me like a sling shot. I flew way up in the air and came down head first in the ditch right where the cement ended.

It knocked me about half way out. I sat up but I could not talk. I could hear the other kids screaming and yelling that my eye was cut out. I could see blood everywhere but I could not talk or move. I kept thinking, shut up, I can’t move I have to get the rein or Thunder will run a way and I won’t be able to catch him.  They kept yelling and one took off on his horse saying he was going to get my folks.

My sanity finally returned and I still would not move, it was just a matter of seconds. Thunder came over to smell me and I grabbed his rein.  There was nothing to get on to crawl back up on the horse and no way was I going to get on that neck again so I started walking down the road leading my horse.

I was about half way home, about ¼ miles when here comes the pickup with my mom inside and my friend barreling down the road. According to her this is what happened. She was baking and all of a sudden she heard my friend yelling and he hit that door so hard she knew in her heart something really bad had happened. He was yelling “Linda got her eye cut out and it is laying on her cheek. “  Mom flew out the door and headed up to get me expecting the worse.

My eye was not cut out, it must have been because the water had pooled in the eye socket with the blood made it look terrible. Head wounds always bleed like you had cut your head off.

Mom told me to get in the truck. I did not want to let go of Thunder. I tried and tried to explain that I needed to walk my horse home or he would run off. She advised me to get in that truck right now or that horse was going to be gone for good. I climbed aboard the truck and let go of Thunder and he trotted off to eat as usual.

Mom took me straight to town to have the old doc sew me up.  I will never forget that experience. I thought it was so cool when he numbed it that I could not feel the pain. I was kind of used to pain as I was always doing something and this was the first time it did not hurt.  The doctor finally had to tell me to leave it alone. I don’t remember how many stitches I had but if it wasn’t that the cement edge was covered by several inches of water it probably would have killed me.

I did learn things for when my girls started riding. Safety comes first above all else. Expect the unexpected.  If you hurt yourself hope that you need stitches where they will numb it.

It took me a long time to catch Old Thunder when we got home too.