This is the story I was working on for my creative writing class - enjoy!
The Upset
I never imagined that I would end up lying in this hospital bed with my dreams and future crashing down around me. I don’t remember the impact or anything leading up to it, all I do know is that I should not be here.
“3…2…1...have a nice ride.”
With those words echoing in my ears, we thunder out of the start box. Within seconds, Watkins is powering toward our first fence. This is what I live for, the sudden rush of adrenaline and the power of a 1200 pound animal beneath me. Each stride gets longer and freer as we head down a galloping lane, his hooves beating in perfect time with my heart.
As I come back to consciousness the rhythmic galloping fades into a slow, steady, high pitched beep coming from the heart monitor. At least I am awake enough to know the consistent sound means that I am somewhat living although I feel as if I have been run over by a high speed train. With blurry eyes I try and gain my focus to look around the room but my eyelids grow heavy as I sink back into unconsciousness.
We are nearing a difficult part of the course, where combinations and meandering lines take the place of nice, galloping fences. Watkins has found his rhythm, each stride powerful and purposeful as we head toward the next fence. I see it growing larger between his ears as we approach, and before I know it we are safely on the other side. People cheer as we head through the water complex, droplets scattering and reflecting the light like a million tears. I check my watch – it’s time to speed things up.
I burst into reality and try to reach up to wipe the sweat streaming off of my forehead only to realize I cannot move my arms. A white alien walks into the room and introduces himself as Dr. Finkley. As far as I can tell his straining hospital gown is at least two sizes too small, but his short round stature seems warm and comforting.
“Glad to see you awake Ms. Carlson, we have been waiting for you to come around. Your mother is waiting outside, shall I bring her in?”
I blink trying to comprehend what the doctor is talking about and stutter,
“sure”.
In a second my curly haired, rambunctious mother runs through the door. She hurries to my side and reaches for my hand but quickly retreats unsure as to where to put her hands. I don’t even want to see myself from her reaction. Before I know it she has tears dripping down her face even though she is smiling ear to ear. Still no one has said anything as I give her a confused and scared look.
She begins to open her mouth to speak as I blurt out the words,
“Where is Watkins? What happened? Is he okay?”
The smell of the sterile environment and latex gloves wafts into my nostrils as I blink cautiously and try to steady the spinning room. The white walls, white lab coats and white equipment blur together as I fade back in time.
We near the end of our course and I can tell Watkins is laboring. Each breath comes with a little more effort than the last, and his neck is frothy with sweat. Even still, I push on, knowing that too many time faults will drop us out of the lead.
“This is what we’ve prepared for,” I whisper into his ears as we gallop along, “I know you can do this.”
Quickly I come around as my mother’s words become a reality.
“You had a bad fall at the last fence, honey; it was awful; he tried so hard…”
Before she finished I cut her off,
“Well where is he? Is he going to be alright? It was my fault; I shouldn’t have asked him for more than he could have given.”
As I speak I begin to taste the salt from my own tears streaming down my face.
“Yes honey, he is alright, he is at home resting, and has missed you for the last week.”
“A WEEK?!” I shriek in disgust. “What happened, when can I see him?”
It’s the approach to the final fence, and my watch, large and luminous, is ticking down the remaining seconds far too fast. I push Watkins for everything he has, asking him for the long spot to the big table jump. He hesitates, and then takes an awkward half-step before launching off the ground with every ounce of effort he possesses. Even from take-off, I know it will not be enough. The fence looms too large in my view, and within a few seconds the world is turned upside down. I feel a sharp pain sting throughout my body as I see Watkins coming down on top of me, a second before everything goes black.
“It was just a bad distance, neither of you saw your spot and he gave it all he had and you stuck with him until you couldn’t hold on any longer,” explained my mother.
I now remember bursts of consciousness that come with my shortness of breath and the numb sensation tingling through my body.
“It seems Leigh Carlson has had a bad fall at fence 25. Please hold the horses out on the course as we make way for the ambulance to come through,” the announcer booms over the loud speaker.
I see the flashing lights and scattering of people. As I blink in slow motion paramedics are asking questions but I can’t make my mouth form any answers. I try to look around for Watkins but cannot find him anywhere. I can tell people are touching me and moving me around, strapping restraints on me, sticking needles into my arms, a breathing device is secured around my face but still everything is moving so slowly.
“I saw the whole thing and watched in horror as there was nothing I could do about it. I was scared to death and rushed over to you. You were hardly conscious and struggling to breathe. Your limbs were mangled in ways that they shouldn’t have been able to bend. The paramedics secured you to a back board with breathing support and rushed you into the hospital,” my mother sighs and mumbles off into silence as Dr. Finkley takes over explaining what had happened.
“You had emergency surgery to repair a punctured lung, but thankfully that was the only internal damage you had. I’m sure you are pretty sore, you broke four ribs, one which caused the lung damage, multiple breaks in your pelvis, a bad concussion and broke the right side of your clavicle as well as your left humerus.”
My jaw dropped as the injuries were listed off and all I could think about was how this would ruin my plans to make it on the North American Young Rider Team in my last year I was eligible to ride as a Young Rider. Instantly my mind switched to how thankful I was that I would be able to walk into the barn and see my Watkins once again.
“Thankfully nothing more serious happened and Watkins is safe and sound at home,” my instantly cheerful mother piped in.
I smiled at her in agreement as I thought about the next time I would be able to see and ride Watkins again.
As I climb up the podium to accept my medal, tears come to my eyes as I think that only six months ago I was lying in a hospital bed watching my dreams and future crash down around me. Not only am I thankful to be alive but I am able to ride again and realize that my dreams have come true. I made it to the North American Young Rider Championships and though I did not win the individual gold, I know that I will be back on top again.
I looked into the bleachers and see my mother with tears in her eyes. As we make eye contact we both know how lucky I am to be standing here. Our team accepts our award and we mount our horses for a victory gallop. I am thankful for the opportunity to be back atop Watkins again.
I close my eyes and wrap my arms around his muscular neck.
In an instant my eyes snap open to the bright lights of the hospital room and I realize my perfect reality is just a dream. It will be a long, tough road to recovery, but I know that thundering hooves, flaring nostrils and the smell of leather will be my whole world again someday. This is what I love and this is what I will do.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Looking Ahead
Hi again!
It has been far too long since my last post - but late is better than never!!
I am sitting outside the trailer right now at Carriage House Farm having just finished my ride on Juliette (the wonder pony) in the Ralph Hill clinic. I thought it would be a perfect time to blog!
Well lets see what I have done since last time...I rode in the Jimmy Wofford clinic the weekend before my CIC2* at Otter Creek. I really enjoyed the ring work we did on Saturday and the different exercises Wofford set up. They really made you think about each step along the way. One interesting one I thought he set up was a vertical - perfect 3 strides to an oxer - perfect three strides to another vertical. It rode long from the vertical to oxer and short from oxer to vertical even tho mathematically it should have been perfect. It was a good exercise. The cross country day was pretty easy going and we just did a few small exercises - Hannah performed very well.
Then we were off to Otter Creek Spring and to our first CIC2*. With everything in line thanks to a lot of friends and family we arrived at Otter Creek on Thursday afternoon. Things were a little hectic at first as I had three dressage lessons back to back on all three of the horses I was competing but after that I was able to settle in, get everything organized, do my in barn and teach my own students later in the day. Friday I was up early for dressage. Hannah warmed up pretty well, she wasn't as soft and just stayed a little tense throughout her test but we scored a 64.2 to put us in 2nd place. The cross country looked challenging but very do-able. The three CIC2* riders all huddled in the barn as we waited for the go-ahead to get on our horses and start warming up. There were storms and we had a little over an hour delay then we all mounted and walked up to the warm up. Each rider ran clean on the XC, but we all racked up time because of the footing. We added 27.6 time faults to our score but kept our 2nd place position and the placings tightened up even more. Show jumping proved to be tough as I watched the first rider drop three rails. Hannah had a great warm up and didn't feel tired at all the from the cross country. She headed to the ring and knew what she was there to do. She jumped double clean - the only double clean at the 2* and Intermediate level! She was fabulous and we finished in 2nd place - couldn't have asked for anything more.
Juliette - also known as the wonder pony - was fabulous as well. She put in a lovely dressage test scoring a 40.5 to put her in 11th place out of 15 riders. No worries - she always makes up the placings on the cross country & in show jumping. She ran a lovely course - plenty of air time over the training level fences and of course no notice to the fact that she is just a 14.1 hand pony! She jumped a fabulous show jumping round and due to rider error she had a rail on the last fence. She moved up from 11th after dressage to finish in 4th place! What a good pony!
Just Truffle - a young horse owned by Ginny Buell was my third ride for the weekend. She was green and showed a little tension previous to mounting on Thursday so we decided to longe her a little before the lesson and before dressage on Friday. The longing helped her relax and she was able to focus on her test. She put in a steady test - a little behind the vertical at times but scored a 36.2. On XC she was a little green but jumped each fence and only added 4 time faults to her score. Show jumping she lost her head a little - each fence was fine but in between the fences was quite scary! She got around the course but definitely needs more ring experience! I wish Ginny the best of luck with her future shows!
Maria had a great weekend on Pete in the Jr. Training - to make up for the stop at Spring Bay early in the year she jumped a clean cross country round and Pete didn't even look twice at the water! She lost her mind a little in the show jumping ring and forgot where she was going, but thanks to her mega lead she was able to have two rails and still take first place!
Kelsie Holbrook rode Tess is the Jr. Beginner Novice and had a wonderful show. For never scoring under a mid to high 40 the 26.7 looked pretty good. She jumped double clean on the XC and a double clean show jumping round the finish in first place on her dressage score.
It was a great weekend for Liz Lund Eventing!!
Next we headed off to Carriage House Combined test to bump the horses up a notch. Unfortunately Pete, Maria's horse had some skin issues on his legs and wasn't able to attend (she is in Kansas now attending Queeny Park - her first show on Pete without me - good luck to her!) Juliette stepped it up quite a bit for her best dressage score to date! Not only was it her best score but it was her first time at the Preliminary level. She jumped amazingly throughout the show jumping course with once again (will I ever learn?!) having a rail at the last fence again! She jumped through the large course very well & finished in 4th place.
Hannah performed a lovely test at her first Advanced. She had lovely changes in the warm up but grew anticipatory in the test but scored a respectable 37.8. She jumped a double clean round in the show jump ring just in time to clear out before a storm hit...even though the storm only lasted about 10 minutes it was nice to be done before the bad weather.
Students Kristine and Janelle had a great show also. This was one of Kristine's first shows and she rode fabulously and finished successfully! Her daughter Janelle rode a lovely test and finished in the Beginner Novice in 2nd place. It was a great day again for Liz Lund Eventing!
The Ralph Hill clinic today went very well! Juliette jumped very well today we jumped a X from the trot (6 pony strides) to an oxer was one exercise. Then we trotted into a 3 bounce line. Then we had 3 - 10 foot canter poles to an oxer with a pole on the landing side. A tight turn to a 21 foot one stride vertical to vertical. They were all great exercises and the pony was great!
On Hannah we did something slightly different just to sharpen her up. We started with the X to the oxer exercise and the bounce exercise then just worked on jumping to oxer with a placement rail on take off from really tight turns. It really got her thinking and she was jumping very well.
Right now I am also working on finishing up one online class - creative writing - which when I am done I will post my story on here! Then I start two more online classes on Monday...eeek! Then one more late this summer and two in the fall and I should be done with school!! I can't wait!
So far I am off to an A rated Hunter/Jumper show the 23rd-27th of May at Alpine on Juliette to do some jumper classes with her and see if anyone in the jumper world is interested in her as a jumper pony. Sue Goepfert jokingly said she would find 2800 people to donate $10 so we could start a Pony Syndicate so I could keep the ride on Juliette! Wouldn't that be fun!
Following the H/J show I am taking Hannah to a dressage show at Alpine on July 3/4 to do some 3rd and 4th level tests to get some ring time. Then we are off to Montana to run the Open Intermediate at Rebecca Farm. I have heard wonderful things about the place!
After that I plan on doing the CIC2* at Richland Park HT in MI during August & then the Open Intermediate at Otter Creek in the fall. Following Otter Creek I will be aiming for a CCI2* at Fair or Chatahoochie in October...we shall decide as the time gets closer! I will try and keep in touch more often but with school and a busy teaching and training schedule who knows when I will be back next!
It has been far too long since my last post - but late is better than never!!
I am sitting outside the trailer right now at Carriage House Farm having just finished my ride on Juliette (the wonder pony) in the Ralph Hill clinic. I thought it would be a perfect time to blog!
Well lets see what I have done since last time...I rode in the Jimmy Wofford clinic the weekend before my CIC2* at Otter Creek. I really enjoyed the ring work we did on Saturday and the different exercises Wofford set up. They really made you think about each step along the way. One interesting one I thought he set up was a vertical - perfect 3 strides to an oxer - perfect three strides to another vertical. It rode long from the vertical to oxer and short from oxer to vertical even tho mathematically it should have been perfect. It was a good exercise. The cross country day was pretty easy going and we just did a few small exercises - Hannah performed very well.
Then we were off to Otter Creek Spring and to our first CIC2*. With everything in line thanks to a lot of friends and family we arrived at Otter Creek on Thursday afternoon. Things were a little hectic at first as I had three dressage lessons back to back on all three of the horses I was competing but after that I was able to settle in, get everything organized, do my in barn and teach my own students later in the day. Friday I was up early for dressage. Hannah warmed up pretty well, she wasn't as soft and just stayed a little tense throughout her test but we scored a 64.2 to put us in 2nd place. The cross country looked challenging but very do-able. The three CIC2* riders all huddled in the barn as we waited for the go-ahead to get on our horses and start warming up. There were storms and we had a little over an hour delay then we all mounted and walked up to the warm up. Each rider ran clean on the XC, but we all racked up time because of the footing. We added 27.6 time faults to our score but kept our 2nd place position and the placings tightened up even more. Show jumping proved to be tough as I watched the first rider drop three rails. Hannah had a great warm up and didn't feel tired at all the from the cross country. She headed to the ring and knew what she was there to do. She jumped double clean - the only double clean at the 2* and Intermediate level! She was fabulous and we finished in 2nd place - couldn't have asked for anything more.
Juliette - also known as the wonder pony - was fabulous as well. She put in a lovely dressage test scoring a 40.5 to put her in 11th place out of 15 riders. No worries - she always makes up the placings on the cross country & in show jumping. She ran a lovely course - plenty of air time over the training level fences and of course no notice to the fact that she is just a 14.1 hand pony! She jumped a fabulous show jumping round and due to rider error she had a rail on the last fence. She moved up from 11th after dressage to finish in 4th place! What a good pony!
Just Truffle - a young horse owned by Ginny Buell was my third ride for the weekend. She was green and showed a little tension previous to mounting on Thursday so we decided to longe her a little before the lesson and before dressage on Friday. The longing helped her relax and she was able to focus on her test. She put in a steady test - a little behind the vertical at times but scored a 36.2. On XC she was a little green but jumped each fence and only added 4 time faults to her score. Show jumping she lost her head a little - each fence was fine but in between the fences was quite scary! She got around the course but definitely needs more ring experience! I wish Ginny the best of luck with her future shows!
Maria had a great weekend on Pete in the Jr. Training - to make up for the stop at Spring Bay early in the year she jumped a clean cross country round and Pete didn't even look twice at the water! She lost her mind a little in the show jumping ring and forgot where she was going, but thanks to her mega lead she was able to have two rails and still take first place!
Kelsie Holbrook rode Tess is the Jr. Beginner Novice and had a wonderful show. For never scoring under a mid to high 40 the 26.7 looked pretty good. She jumped double clean on the XC and a double clean show jumping round the finish in first place on her dressage score.
It was a great weekend for Liz Lund Eventing!!
Next we headed off to Carriage House Combined test to bump the horses up a notch. Unfortunately Pete, Maria's horse had some skin issues on his legs and wasn't able to attend (she is in Kansas now attending Queeny Park - her first show on Pete without me - good luck to her!) Juliette stepped it up quite a bit for her best dressage score to date! Not only was it her best score but it was her first time at the Preliminary level. She jumped amazingly throughout the show jumping course with once again (will I ever learn?!) having a rail at the last fence again! She jumped through the large course very well & finished in 4th place.
Hannah performed a lovely test at her first Advanced. She had lovely changes in the warm up but grew anticipatory in the test but scored a respectable 37.8. She jumped a double clean round in the show jump ring just in time to clear out before a storm hit...even though the storm only lasted about 10 minutes it was nice to be done before the bad weather.
Students Kristine and Janelle had a great show also. This was one of Kristine's first shows and she rode fabulously and finished successfully! Her daughter Janelle rode a lovely test and finished in the Beginner Novice in 2nd place. It was a great day again for Liz Lund Eventing!
The Ralph Hill clinic today went very well! Juliette jumped very well today we jumped a X from the trot (6 pony strides) to an oxer was one exercise. Then we trotted into a 3 bounce line. Then we had 3 - 10 foot canter poles to an oxer with a pole on the landing side. A tight turn to a 21 foot one stride vertical to vertical. They were all great exercises and the pony was great!
On Hannah we did something slightly different just to sharpen her up. We started with the X to the oxer exercise and the bounce exercise then just worked on jumping to oxer with a placement rail on take off from really tight turns. It really got her thinking and she was jumping very well.
Right now I am also working on finishing up one online class - creative writing - which when I am done I will post my story on here! Then I start two more online classes on Monday...eeek! Then one more late this summer and two in the fall and I should be done with school!! I can't wait!
So far I am off to an A rated Hunter/Jumper show the 23rd-27th of May at Alpine on Juliette to do some jumper classes with her and see if anyone in the jumper world is interested in her as a jumper pony. Sue Goepfert jokingly said she would find 2800 people to donate $10 so we could start a Pony Syndicate so I could keep the ride on Juliette! Wouldn't that be fun!
Following the H/J show I am taking Hannah to a dressage show at Alpine on July 3/4 to do some 3rd and 4th level tests to get some ring time. Then we are off to Montana to run the Open Intermediate at Rebecca Farm. I have heard wonderful things about the place!
After that I plan on doing the CIC2* at Richland Park HT in MI during August & then the Open Intermediate at Otter Creek in the fall. Following Otter Creek I will be aiming for a CCI2* at Fair or Chatahoochie in October...we shall decide as the time gets closer! I will try and keep in touch more often but with school and a busy teaching and training schedule who knows when I will be back next!
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