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Published: November 13th 2008
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We had a lazy morning at the motorpark before setting off on the scenic journey to Glenorchy. It was supposed to take an hour to get to the stables but we allowed ourselves a couple so that we had time to make lots of stops at view points on the way.
Lake Wakatipu looked beautiful as it glistened in the sun. The snowcapped mountains almost gave that perfect reflection. It was breathtaking. We stopped lots of times for photographs and just to drink in the view.
At one point we walked down to the lakes edge and looked into the clear, fresh water. It was so tempting to jump in, but even though it was sunny there was still a cold bite in the air and we knew the water would be freezing.
After stopping for a quick lunch by the side of the road, we arrived at the stables to see a yard full of horses all saddled up and ready to go. There were a few different groups going out on different rides; on ours there was one just other couple. We all mounted up. I was riding Cecil and Matt was on Dart.
The
instructor took us straight out onto the valley bed full of stones, which was streaked with fast moving glacial streams of clear bright blue water. We went through a shallow stream as a test, then went straight for a deeper one which got our feet wet. There were lots of slopes up and down to enjoy, and plenty of tree branches to duck under. We did some bursts of trotting in places, and then we were offered the opportunity to canter. Matt and I both accepted. We waited for the group to go further through the forest and then we both tried a caner towards them on a narrow windy track. I lost my footing in one stirrup but managed to cling on until we reached a stop. Matt was OK but felt quite unbalanced - the instructor told him he was holding his reins wrong and showed him how to correct it for next time. A bit further round the track we tried again. This time my foot slid right out of my stirrup and I couldn’t get it back. Before I knew it I’d lost my second stirrup and was losing my balance completely. I slid, in slow
motion, down the left side of Cecil’s neck and dropped onto the ground with a thump. I landed on my left thigh and spun around onto the right side of my back, then my shoulder. As I fell I heard Matt shout and had a second to see the concerned look on his face.
I rolled away to avoid being trampled as Matt rode past me. Just as I was stumbling to get up, I saw Matt slide straight off his horse and land with a bump just in front of me. I forgot about whether I was hurting and I jumped up to see how he was doing.
He was in pain and it took him a while to stand up. I felt terrible; going for the ride was my idea, and so was trying a canter. After a couple of minutes he was back on his feet and limping on his sore hip. The instructor pointed out that both of my stirrups had fallen off - they’re meant to quick release if you have difficulties to stop you from being dragged, although they’d landed quite a few metres from where I ended up so they fell
long before I did!
The instructor helped us back onto our horses which wasn’t easy as we were both quite bruised. The rest of the ride went without incident and when the others tried a trot we joined them instead of trying a canter again!
We were relieved to get off and have a look at our wounds. Matt had a big graze up his arm, and had landed on his hip quite heavily so was in a lot of pain with it. I had badly bashed my thigh and a lump and bruise were already starting to form, my back was quite sore, my upper arm had a few scratches on it and I also had a pain in my chest when I breathed but tried not to think about that.
Matt wasn’t sure if he’d be able to drive back to Queenstown so I dosed him up on painkillers and we set off to give it a go. I think a combination of adrenaline and paracetamol got us through and we got back, made up the bed and both collapsed in pain. Matt pointed out that a hot shower might help so we hobbled to
the shower block.
I let Matt choose dinner seeing as I was still feeling guilty (and he was milking it for everything it was worth!) He chose take away pizza, and as he was in more pain than me, I had to walk down the hill and down an awful lots of steps to get to the pizza shop. I was in agony by the time I got back to the van with the food.
We both drank beer and that seemed to help, then we tried to get some sleep which was easier said than done as every time we rolled it hurt.
Matt swore never to go horse riding again, and told me he’d rather I didn’t take it up as a hobby seeing as I’ve become so accident prone over the last few years. I met him halfway and agreed not to canter again while on this trip which seemed a fair compromise.
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