CONCUSSED IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED By Emily Harris “Whoa, Whoa, WHOA!” was all that I heard before I was slammed into the ground with my back and head taking the brunt of the force. I was schooling cross country and the horse I was riding ran out on a little log jump. He then turned sharply to the left which sent me flying in the opposite direction. I felt completely jarred and confused. “How did I get backwards?” I thought. A few seconds passed which seemed like minutes to me. A quick mental check of my extremities told me I hadn’t broken anything and I got up and dusted myself off. The horse I was riding was waiting patiently for me a short distance away as if nothing happened. Great! At least he didn’t run off like last time! This wasn’t my first fall on this horse, it was my second. I had fallen and hit my head two weeks before. As my trainer was talking to me, I noticed that my left side felt strange. As I shifted my weight to the left, my leg started shaking. I thought that was odd, but I continued to listen to what my trainer was telling me. I then decided to take the weight on my left leg hoping that it would get better.
Before I put my foot in the stirrup, I checked my left leg again. As soon as I put weight on that leg my eyes rolled up and I fell like a tree. I had fainted. I quickly regained consciousness and I was totally confused and scared to tears. I RARELY cry when I am hurt and I NEVER cry when I am scared. I tried to laugh it off but the tears kept coming. It felt like a computer crashing suddenly and then starting back up slowly. That was my first time fainting. My trainer, who was standing right by me, didn’t see me when I fainted and when she turned around, I was lying on the ground. She asked me what I was doing, and I said I didn’t know. My sister, who was also riding with me, had been watching the whole time. She was shocked by it and informed our trainer that I had fainted. Then came the round of the usual questions you ask a person when they are not acting normal. I was asked multiple questions, by three different people all at once! I was slow to answer but I did answer them correctly. They pointed out a jump for me to sit on but in my confusion I turned and went the opposite direction of the jump. They then redirected me to the jump. I sat for a while to catch my bearings, while also discussing what had happened. ponyclub.org
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