I’m a 21 year old equestrian who’s been on the back of a horse from before I could walk, and continued to ride after walking was basically taken away from me.
At age 16 i was kicked accidentally by my mare, who shattered my knee into more then 19 pieces. The initial break has been almost the easiest thing to endure on the journey since then. Bone infection set in and ate my bone from the inside out. We spent the first 2 years battling the bone infection with several antibiotics and multiple surgeries. Throughout all this time I spent every minute I could with my mares, including the one that kicked me. We continued to try to ride but we ran into the severe problem of the bone not being strong enough to support my weight in the stirrups.
I had no cartilage, and underwent another 4 surgeries attempting to smooth the joint and save the longevity of it. During this time I began riding bareback as a compromise to avoid the pressure in my knee and still get to ride.
As time and surgeries went on, the possibility of ever using a saddle or stirrups again quickly faded. Nothing about my drive to ride had faded though so I just kept doing what I could. Now 5 years and 11 surgeries later, I go ride and compete bareback almost every weekend. I have the best little quarter horse mare named Tiki who has independently recovered me from all of my surgeries. She taught me how to ride when I needed it, and now she teaches me how to walk and bend my leg around her after every surgery.
Tiki is the mare you can trust with anyone, therefore making her my official bareback broken leg eventing pony. She is always a good catch ride for anyone needing a safe and secure ride, no matter how big or small their difficulties may be.
The story hasn’t ended yet, as we have already undergone our last attempt at saving my leg just 6 weeks ago. If this surgery is to fail, I will be left facing amputation above the knee.
No matter what the outcome of my situation is, I will forever have horses in my blood, and make any compromise necessary to have them in my life forever.
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