A SCARY phone call...after her fall....

Lorri on Kite on one of our riding mini-vacations

Lorri at the hospital--may she not KILL me for posting this pic....

Yesterday was the day for BAD news. But it started out like any other! I was working in the newborn nursery with my bud/BO Linda and we were busy, but all was well, just the normal craziness. THEN...Linda's cell rang. Since we are getting ready for our scavenger hunt on Saturday, and we are helping with the trails at the Equitherapy facility where I volunteer, I had an ear half poked in that direction in case it was related to that. Well, it was. But not in the way that you would hope. Our friend Lorri (Linda's best friend) had been involved in a VERY bad accident on her horse Kite while working on said trails. EMS arrival it was so bad. It appears she bucked--Lorri thinks it may have been a stick poking her, as she really doesn't have bucking issues--and Lorri was thrown and rolled four times down an embankment. She has the obvious damage you can see to her face, along with three fractured spinous processess, the bones that support your spine. In the pic she is on Morphine so she was talking about getting back to work on Monday when Linda was visiting. Poor thing. No way is that gonna happen, she will need R&R, not to mention the PAIN she is gonna be in. Kite, her horse is just fine.

I would just like to use this opportunity to re-emphasize wearing your helmet. (And perhaps a full suit of padded gear :) Linda does not wear her helmet, and when I mentioned that, "Thank God Lorri was wearing her's yesterday," her reply was, "Well, her head isn't the injured part is it?" After seeing Lorri at the hospital she called (I was working until 11pm), and I got her to promise to wear a helmet at least when riding with me. I put in the guilt card....Who will take care of you if you were to go off? Who will have to run for help? Who will call EMS, worry, and just call you an ASS for not protecting yourself? ME!!!!

Lorri is the most accomplished rider I know and I look up to her. She has trained 6-8 horses from the ground up, and when you ride one of hers, you say to yourself, "Ahhh. What a well trained horse." She also helps me immensely with my own riding and training. She constantly strives to improve her riding and takes dressage lessons. Kite (who she was riding) is an Arab/Polish Warmblood cross. She also has Ozzie who is ALSO an AngloArab like my Jackson!!!!

HERE'S MY POINT FOLKS: No matter how good of a rider you are, or how well you think you know your horse, your head is only a little stronger than a watermelon (especially when you add speed) and the rate of death/injury in this country is very high for folks who go without a helmet and have an accident. She broke 3 of her spinous processes in her neck....who knows how her head would have fared without that helmet....

Stepping off my soapbox now....just scary when a friend gets hurt; also really brings home how EASILY it could be you....

Gotta go. Out to finish the trails for our scavenger hunt tomorrow and get Lorri a card and a little present....

PS. Lorri-Please don't kill me for posting your pic on the internet!!!! LOVE YOU!