12/6/13

Scars make a rider.

I'm 99.9% sure that every person who has been riding for more than a year has some amount of scars from their horse, lease or even their lesson horse. If you don't have any, don't worry, your flesh will surely be marked by that beloved horse.

I have quite a few. A scar on my knee from my mini mare biting me, a scar on my back from a horse trying to run into mine and I ended up being shoved into fencing, a scar on my finger from the second month of horse ownership when Red had zero respect for me and shoved me into tree's every chance he had. Another scar on another finger from the same thing as above, but this time it was my fault and I shoved my hand in the wrong place at the wrong time. The worst, a big scar on my lower leg from Red spooking-his second spook ever with me-he had side stepped and almost hit his leg on a metal post. I shoved my leg in the way so he wouldn't get hurt but I did. I noticed the huge bruise that night and sure enough, it scarred.

I have never regretted a single mark, a single scar. Even if I could go back to the painful scar on my leg, I would do the same thing. I saved my horse from a potential, pretty bad wound. Human's heal faster and easier than horses, and my leg getting a bruise wouldn't make me lame. Maybe sore, but not lame. If Red had cut his leg badly or even just made it sore, that could cause lameness and trouble for a long time. When I got him, I made a vow to myself that no matter what, he would come first. Him being comfortable is more important than me being comfortable. For the first few months-like 5-I rode him maybe twice because stuff kept coming up and I knew that if I put a saddle on him, or even if I was to ride bareback, he'd be uncomfortable. Even now, if he were to become so lame randomly-God forbid, I wouldn't just say, "okay, time to move on to another horse!" and sell him so he could be pasture ornament. I like to think that no matter if I'm just an okay rider, I'm a fantastic owner, friend, partner. I never want to push him to hard into something that could cause him any kind of pain or discomfort. I work him and I know when I need to push him to go a little harder, to prove that he can do stuff, that he can canter and trot, because goodness knows, he needed that when I got him, but I don't want to put my wants before his needs.

Every single one of my scars prove that I'm becoming a somewhat better rider and horsewoman, and I'm proud of them. The one on my knee from my mare? The two on my fingers? Those are from stupidity. The one on my leg? That was from being somewhat humble. Stupid to some, maybe, but like I said, my leg heals faster.

My horse isn't perfect. I'm sure he'll leave more scars, and I'll end up with more pain because of him. I'd probably be a more comfortable person without him, I'd probably end up with less bandaids on my body if I didn't have him, but my heart wouldn't be near as full and I think I'd go insane without having the peaceful barn to run to when I'm having issues with myself.

But I'll be honest, Red is pretty close to perfect, he has his quirks but so do I. So does everyone and every horse. I know that he'd never cause me pain on purpose, I know he loves me back, I know I've made a difference in his life. I know I could put an infant on his back without worrying about him hurting it, and I could climb on him and he'd do anything I asked, maybe a little stubborn for the first second but then once he figures out what I'm asking, he'd do it, no questions asked.. He may leave scars, he may even break a bone, but I don't even care. The scars make me who I am, somewhat of a dare-devil, I'll-try-anything, Equestrian who has a stupid habit of hurting my hands with branches.

9 comments:

  1. I agree! Having only perfect rides all the time never made a great rider. Getting injuries and cuts are a part of riding.

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    1. Just wait until you get your own horse! :) It's a lot more fulfilling, and pain seems to come more often, very worth it, though! Haha!

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  2. I have a giant lump on my butt. It is not awesome.

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    1. Haha!! I was talking about scars, my friend, scars. ;) I'd hate to know how painful that was!

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  3. Safety is key. Do be careful!

    I have a really huge ugly scar on my right elbow from falling off.

    I also have a nasty low scar on my right calf from flipping over a horse'a head and being stepped on in the process.

    Thanks to my helmet, my head had remained intact:)

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    1. Yeah, the scars should be prevented as much as possible!!!! They are necessarily a good thing but they aren't something to fret over or cover. :)

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  4. I liked this post : ) Although I'm weird- I actually don't have any outward scars from riding (with the exception of a minor bump on my left eye orbital- but you would never see a difference unless I pointed it out!) Mine are all inwards. A scar on the inside of my brain from a bad concussion. Two bulging discs in my neck, probably from the same concussion or one of the many times I've been thrown to the ground! An impaired right arm from where I crushed my ulnar nerve (works for the most part, just goes numb more easily than normal). A messed up hip that catches all of the time (I just now got up to get something and had to limp- sometimes it acts up like that). BUT, like you said, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I might could be more physically sound, but mentally I'd be a mess. Like they said in seabiscuit: "It's better to break a man's leg than his heart."

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    1. Wow! How on earth did you hurt your eye? Lol!! I've got a bad knee from riding, which obviously is inward but I have a scar on the other one, hahahaha!!! I love that quote!! Although my horse's have hurt my heart a lot, it's nothing permanent. ;)

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  5. I have been hurt heaps of times in my horse owning life so far but even the bad injuries (a horse rearing and landing on me, or my horse and I galloping over the finish line in a mounted games competition and slipping on uneven ground and sliding over, when I broke my arm - and many many more ) I have had no permant scars luckily. Im sure will be many more accidents to come and some that may leave scars but with horses you have to admit you are going to get hurt sooner or later it comes with the sport.
    Awesome post :)

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