Chris,

Sorry to hear about your ribs (Ow!). Glad you are doing OK!

Something similar happened to me a few years ago. Out riding alone on a weekday in the Wisconsin Southern Kettle Moraine Park, 5 miles from the stable and I decided to work on some galloping uphill. There was a nice place for it with deep sand and the trail opening up to 20 feet wide. Just as my horse and I were reaching the top of the hill I could see a flock of turkeys all over the trail at the top of the hill. My horse was older and almost completely bombproof (almost), but turkeys freaked him out ‘cause they are the same color as the rocks and moving rocks are not good. In that split second after I saw the turkeys and before the horse did there was that “Oh s***” moment and the thought of this may not be good. I don’t know maybe I tensed up but the next thing I knew the horse was veering right into a meadow, I was trying to run backwards down the trail and turkeys were going ten different directions. Maybe at a trot I could have kept my balance but at the speed of a gallop no way, so I tumbled ass over teakettle across the trail and into the waist high grass of the meadow for about thirty feet. I was lucky I didn’t hit my skull on a rock but I lost my glasses and I am completely blind without them. I figured the horse was on his way back to his stable buddies and I was in for a long walk and then an embarrassed phone call to have someone bring my spare pair of glasses. As I crawled back to the trail I put my hand down on something hard and realized it was my glasses - they were bent to hell but usable. Sitting up I looked around and my silly horse was 100 feet away eating the long grass in this meadow. He ran right up to me when I was able to stand and was completely calm but he did look back at me after I was in the saddle as if to say “What the heck were you doing?”
Lessons learned - always have glasses on a keeper, have a spare pair in the truck, and always tell several people where and for how long you plan to be out riding.
Hope you heal fast and are able to ride soon!!
BTW -- Great articles on trail hazards in the last few issues of Western Horseman.
Take care!
Craig J. in Wisconsin