Mustering the Courage to Ride Again

Dear Horsetuner--

"Hi, I had a bad accident June 29th 2010. I was riding ( my first horse I had owned in over 15 years) and decided to canter him for the first time. I cantered around the ring once and he was fine I yelled for my kids to watch and cued him to canter again and he spooked ( I guess) don't really remember too much. and I fell off and he stepped right on my left ankle. He shattered my ankle and spent the next 7 months in a cast, after having surgery and having a lot of hardware put into my ankle to hold it together. I still loved my horse but my kids were afraid of him because they saw the accident so I bought a new horse who is very gentle my 5 y/o rides her. When I got on her she gets spooky and have fallen off 2x because of her spooks that are usually on my weak ankle side...On top of gaining 50+ lbs being stuck in a recliner for 7 months I am not in the best shape and any horse terrifies me. I desperately want to ride again but I have no confidence what so ever....I would love to have any input you can give me..."

Thanks, Karen

---

Leave a comment for Karen by clicking the comment link below.

Meet Molly | One Resilient Pony!

This was sent to me in one of those forwarded emails....so I can't state clearly its origin, but I thought I would share. (If someone knows, by all means let me know...) 


It is truly a reminder and a testament to how resilient and brave animals can be! Truly amazing...

---

She's a gray speckled pony who was abandoned by her owners when Hurricane Katrina hit southern Louisiana. She spent weeks on her own before finally being rescued and taken to a farm where abandoned animals were stockpiled. While there, she was attacked by a dog and almost died. Her gnawed right front leg became infected, and her vet went to LSU for help, but LSU was overwhelmed, and this pony was a welfare case. You know how that goes...

But after surgeon Rustin Moore met Molly, he changed his mind. He saw how the pony was careful to lie down on different sides so she didn't seem to get sores, and how she allowed people to handle her.  She protected her injured leg. She constantly shifted her weight and didn't overload her good leg.  She was a smart pony with a serious survival ethic.

Moore agreed to remove her leg below the knee, and a temporary artificial limb was built.  Molly walked out of the clinic and her story really begins there.

'This was the right horse and the right owner,' Moore insists. Molly happened to be a one-in-a-million patient. She's tough as nails, but sweet, and she was willing to cope with pain. She made it obvious she understood that she was in trouble. The other important factor, according to Moore, is having a truly committed and compliant owner who is dedicated to providing the daily care required over the lifetime of the horse.

Molly's story turns into a parable for life in Post-Katrina Louisiana...The little pony gained weight, and her mane finally felt a comb. A human prosthesis designer built her a leg. The prosthetic has given Molly a whole new life, Allison Barca DVM, Molly's regular vet, reports.

And she asks for it. She will put her little limb out, and come to you and let you know that she wants you to put it on. Sometimes she wants you to take it off too. And sometimes, Molly gets away from Barca. 'It can be pretty bad when you can't catch a three-legged horse,' she laughs.

Most important of all, Molly has a job now. Kay, the rescue farm owner, started taking Molly to shelters, hospitals, nursing homes, and rehabilitation centers. Anywhere she thought that people needed hope. Wherever Molly went, she showed people her pluck. She inspired people, and she had a good time doing it.

'It's obvious to me that Molly had a bigger role to play in life, Moore said. She survived the hurricane, she survived a horrible injury, and now she is giving hope to others.' Barca concluded, 'She's not back to normal,  but she's going to be better. To me, she could be a symbol for New Orleans itself.' 

This is Molly's most recent prosthesis. The bottom photo shows the ground surface that she stands on, which has a smiley face embossed in it. Wherever Molly goes, she leaves a smiley hoof print behind.

Girl + Horse Battle Grizzy & Win!!

Proof!

Proof that motherhood doesn't have to slow your horsey activities down!!...Hope Kali doesn't mind I'm sharing this...I think this is pretty amazing!! :)

Why Do Girls Love Horses, Unicorns And Dolphins?

by The Kitchen Sisters

NPR PODCAST & ARTICLE:

"Why Do Girls Love Horses, Unicorns & Dolphins?"

..."By identifying with these dynamic, strong animals, Orenstein says, girls are expressing their own power...."

Sent to Horsetuner by of Diane Davis.

“Of Women and Horses” By: Larissa Cleveland

“If you have it, it is for life, it is a disease for which there is no cure…I shall keep my horses as long as I can hobble about with a bucket and a wheelbarrow. And when I can’t hobble, I shall role my wheelchair out to the field where my horses graze, so that I may watch them.”

-Monica Dickens, author and great-granddaughter of Charles Dickens

The equestrian sport world is one of the few athletic competitions in which men and women compete side by side. It is a sport in which a man’s superior strength serves no advantage, and although physically taxing, a woman’s guidance, motherly instinct and intuition can serve as a gift more powerful than muscle alone. This body of work is inspired by my observations of horse and rider, and also by my own experiences as an equestrian for over fifteen years. It is my goal to illustrate the relationship between a woman and her horse through photography, resulting in a visual examination of the dedication and unspoken bond that exists between them. Larissa Cleveland

Click the images to enlarge.

Patches: The Coolest Horse!