Dang. I look forward to this vacation all year long because there is
canoing, sailing, hiking and, best of all, horse back riding. I take
riding lessons all year so that I can go on the advanced ride, galloping
through the woods and the jumping trails. There are a lot of old friends
who also attend regularly.

We stopped on the way and spent the night with my wife's sister and her
family. There are three hours away now and we don't see them very often.
It was just a short hop over to the camp. We got ourselves settled in
and went for a swim in the lake while the sun was still out. Then the
rain came. Riding was still on for the morning, but because of the rain
we had a jumping class in the arena instead of a trail ride.

I had a wonderful horse, I thought. She was very responsive. A little
nudge with the heels and she immediately started walking. Another slight
squeeze and she started to trot. Slide one leg back a little ans she
immediately went into a nice canter. The first time we went over the
canter poles she tried to go to the left, but I managed to get her over
toward the centre, and the next time around she went right up the
centre. We tried trotting to a single small jump and there was no
problem at all. Then we cantered the jump and raised it. No problems.

Then the instructor added a second jump. She flew over the first one,
but as we approached the second one she went left, then right and then a
sharp left. Off I flew, slamming into the dirt and hitting with my
face, chest and hip. I got up spitting out a mouthful of dirt. It hurt.
That's usually a good sign, because you don't usually feel bad injuries
right away.

I hobbled back to my cabin, almost half a mile away, and the more I
walked the more sore my hip got. Later in the evening my hip problem
cleared up and walking was easier, but my ribs started bothering more.
Sleep was impossible. In the morning we decided to pack up and go home.
I stopped at the local hospital on the way and the doctor confirmed what
I suspected... a fractured rib.

So now I am sitting at home, taking it easy and taking pain killers,
extra strength Tylenol and Ibuprophen and Ibuprophen and Tylenol 3 to
sleep.

The worst part is that I am going to have to consider giving up riding
lessons. I broke my collar bone 6 years ago but went back to lessons
when that healed and thought that I could keep doing it as long as there
were no more injuries. Now I have broken a second bone, and I am
getting close to 60.
:-(