Rainbow's had a bit gentler time of late - hardly any schooling and we've been mainly hacking out. I think because I have quite a lot of stress organising myself, my stuff, two cats and a horse to Finland, I have been avoiding doing anything arduous with Rainbow and just to enjoy the outdoors and friends' company.
Saturday hack was lovely with Sarah and Sampson, but we were sprung into action as we walked straight into a scene of a road traffic accident which involved our friend's horse.
Our yard friend had been out with her horse when the horse had spooked at a bird or something - she had fallen off and the horse raced home. He had run down a steep downhill track and presumably slipped, then burst onto a busy village road and hit a car. When we got onto the scene we met our another yard friend (who lives in the village and had by the luck of it been on a walk with his wife) who had managed to catch the trotting riderless, bleeding horse on the road he'd been walking down just at the right time.
No one on the scene had mobiles on them and our friend's wife ran to us to ask if we did. It's funny how you spring into action when needed; without thinking much, I hopped off Rainbow and handed her to the friend's wife (who I knew was horsey, so could hold her) and called the emergency services. My friend Sarah phoned the yard owner at the same time to notify her and to summon help. We needed a horse box for the injured horse, which luckily, although bleeding, was standing on all four legs.
Luckily our friend, the rider and the driver of the car were both OK. Our friend had managed to get hold of the yard and told she was OK and running back to the village as fast as she could.
Eventually the police came. The our friend arrived too and so did the yard owner with the lorry. The horse was taken to safety back to the yard.
All this time and the commotion both Rainbow and Sampson were both very calm. Not bothered by the people, injured horse or lorry reversing up at all. And I surprised myself - this is what the adrenalin does - I hoisted myself back on Rainbow from a small curb with little effort, whereas usually I much prefer a mounting block...!
A vet came to see our friend's horse at the yard straightaway and he was cleaned and bandaged and given painkillers and antibiotics. He looked surprisingly sprightly in the end.
I'm glad our friend was OK too and we didn't have to send a search party or ambulance for her.
The driver of the car, although the car had taken a hit - the horse had tried to jump it (he's a TB ex-racer) - was OK and more apologetic for not being able to stop in time. She lived on a farm so was used to animals and I just tried to console her and say there's nothing you can do if a big animal like a horse jumps in front of you out of the blue. There had been two cars behind the lady, who had witnessed it, but they hadn't stopped, just apparently driven past her...! Really, some people just...Grrr.
Anyway, very proud of Rainbow, even though yesterday she managed to rear in front of me and get loose when I was trying to sedately take her for a bit of grazing with a friend who was taking her horse to grass.
Before I realised, Rainbow couldn't resist and went onto roll, and when she got up she tried to do a little buck-spurt but was attached to me and the lead rope. Cue full-height rear. The rope tied around her leg accidentally, so I had to let go. She bombed off to the other end of the field where her friends were grazing... My friend Anna was left to hold her now also very excitable horse, which was snorting, bouncing and scooping the ground in frustration....
She managed to take her horse back to the stable and Rainbow let me catch her straight away - and lead back to the stable albeit she was still quite strong and bouncy.
Never a dull moment with them...
Let's end on a calm note... some lovely early-morning pics from couple of weekend's ago of Rainbow out with her friend Neve.
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