I had a wreck

Thursday, I came off Nib. This was probably my worst fall to date. Here it is Sunday and I'm still very sore.

I was riding in the indoor arena, and we were trotting. Nib decided to turn left on his own, and I wanted him to continue going straight. So I picked up the right rein to put him back on the course I wanted, and he argued, pulling to the left. I asked with the right rein again, and at that point all I can do is guess that his left hind leg somehow collapsed.

I felt him starting to go down, and realized I was probably going for a not-very-fun ride. However, at the last second, he lurched in a last-ditch effort to keep on his feet, and I came off the side and hit the ground.

My left leg was still in the stirrup for part of the time I was falling, so I landed on the left side of my lower back, right in the kidney area. My upper body fell back and the back of my head hit the ground pretty hard. Luckily, I was wearing a helmet. At some point my left foot came out of the stirrup, wrenching my knee in the process. My elbow was also scraped and sore.

My first instinct was to get up, but the searing, screaming pain in my back stopped that. I leaned back on my right hand and rubbed my back, waiting for the pain to subside. It took about 3 minutes before I was able to get up. Nib stood quietly a few feet away the whole time.

I slowly got to my feet and led him outside to have someone watch him move to make sure he wasn't injured. He appeared to be moving ok so I got back on and trotted a bit in the arena, but his hip slipped again.

So I went out in the flat, freshly mown hay field and trotted a couple of circles there. He didn't take any bad steps, but was extremely stiff to the right side.

Video taken today shows that he's striding short on the left hind, and it doesn't look like his pelvis is straight. I'm trying to get a chiropractor out this week to see him.