The Cast....

Most people, at some time in their lives, end up with a cast on an appendage. A majority get that little "rite of passage" over and done with early, often before hitting high school. Most of the children I've seen with casts don't even pay attention to having a limb restrained. A day or two to acclimate and off they go, slamming it into doors and using it as a weapon against their friends or to garner sympathy from their elders.

I've already had one cast, on my leg to stabilize a crush injury which was a story in it self. I was about 27...later then most for their first cast. I was in a job that, while physically demanding, offered sick time and I was able to weather the incapacitation with a pair of crutches and good humor since my living wasn't compromised. It was an inconvenient vacation with no real harm done.

Skipping to 2008 is a different story. I'm self employed as a horse trainer, in itself physically demanding (at least the horses I train) and a job where you really need to be on your game all the time. Perhaps not always the "A" game, but certainly a decent "B" contest. Reasoning with a horse is not always an option and they just don't understand the concept of "could you take it easy on me for awhile, I have this broken bone". If they were capable of reasonable discourse, I'm sure it would go something like :

Horse: "Hey, what's that thing on your arm"?

Me: "It's a cast."

Horse: " What's that for"?

Me: "It's used to stabilize a broken bone"

Horse: " OH MY GOODNESS!!! YOU BETTER RUN AWAY!!!!!"

Me: "Why?????"

Horse: "Well, they'll SHOOT you!!!!!"

Me: "Um, they don't shoot humans for broken bones...."

Horse: " Whatayamean they don't shoot humans, they shoot horses!!!"

Me: "Well, um, they just don't...."

And I would walk away mumbling about how unfair life is for our furry and hooved brethren and the horse would walk away thinking, "easy on her? EASY on her??? They'd shoot me and SHE wants me to be EASY on her? Fat chance!"

Which puts me in the predicament of having to be VERY careful of which horses I ride while in a cast and to be careful even on the "easy" horses. Because it's usually the easy horses that get me. Not the fire-breathing, high jumping, eyes bugging out,quaking basket case of a 3 year old just off the farm for the first time. No, it's the been there, done that, seen that, got the t-shirt (OK, horse blanket) been around the block a zillion times older horse that will do it. You see, when I'm on the young, unstable (sorry, punny!) horse I have my "A-game" right there with me the whole time or I don't get on. I'm ready....I'm thinking......I'm reading every move that horse makes and it can't take a breath without me noticing. But put me on that older experienced horse on a nice sunny day with a good half hour training session behind and we're walking along enjoying the breeze, cooling off and KAPOW!!!!!! Just wasn't expecting that wasp to get stuck under the edge of that saddle pad and the rodeo begins and ends just as quick as it started. And I'm on the ground, spitting out sand and cleaning the dirt out of my ears waiting for the bells to stop and the world to come back into focus. With the horse standing there looking at me saying "Wow, did you feel that?"

Sadly, that's not how I came to have a cast on my wrist. I hate to admit it, but I don't know how it happened. Honest! When you work around horses and on a farm, bruises and pain are just a part of daily life. You shake it off, "cowboy up" and move on. The pain seemed to originate in my lower thumb joint. I thought it was arthritis....the Orthopedic Doctor thought it was arthritis for 3 months. Then, when it didn't get any better, the MRI was prescribed. Wasn't I surprised when I went in for my follow-up with the Orthopod who says "You have a fracture of your navicular bone as confirmed by the MRI and throws a cast on my arm. The only compromise he would agree to was to let me use my 4 fingers if I let him take my thumb. The whole thumb. And so it was done, in vivid purple. If I have to have it cast, why hide it? As I walked out of the office, I felt myself sinking a little lower on the evolutionary ladder. After all, thumbs are what separate us from the "lower" animals. Some people say it's brains, but there are alot of people out there who are significantly dumber then animals, but they still have a better job and benefits because of those thumbs.

The Grass Season..

Most people I know think the life my husband and I have on our farm is rather ideallic...green grass, horses calmly grazing, cats sleeping in the shade. Yes, it sounds delightful. Most of the time, it is. But there is a dark side to the pleasantness....a dark, sweaty side.
The grass is very green this year and is growing much better then the last few years. We will have hay this year in a fairly ready supply, something the horses worry about on a daily basis when they have nothing else to occupy their minds or when they are napping (yes, horses sometimes dream when they sleep). In the lean expensive times, the ponies get a little less hay then normal, cause for consternation when their breakfast doesn't last quite until dinner. Not that they are shorted in the grocery category by any stretch of the imagination. They just end up looking more like regular plump horses then 1200 pound ticks with fur and hooves. OK, so when the hay is cheap and plentiful, I tend to give a little more then I should. Sue me.
But green grass means mowing.....and mowing.........and mowing. Our farm is not fenced in around the perimeter so our guys can't mosey around the farm in herds eating as they will to keep the grass down. Besides that, horses only like the good grass, not the weeds. So even in their paddocks, we have to go in with the brush hog to cut down the weeds so the edible grass will grow. This year the farm is looking a bit wild and brushy since we haven't cut as much as we should. The diesel prices combined with time restraints have put a damper on the brush maintenance. Diesel prices go without saying as they are a harsh fact of life right now. But the time..well, let's say that cutting grass and brush on the farm is not as easy as just jumping on the lawnmower (though we do that, too).
We use a brush hog attached to a diesel tractor to cut most of our grass and weeds. It's not used every day, so we'll cut for a few days then change implements on the back of the tractor. To cut our brush down, it goes a little like this:
Take off whatever implement is on the back of the tractor. When lucky, this only requires a few kicks to each side of the implement to knock it off of the support arms that raise and lower the device. After removal, put hitch pins (they keep the implement from falling off the arms, like a cotter pin) BACK on the implement or in the toolbox on the tractor. Start tractor up, check fuel. See that there is almost no fuel, swear, go and get diesel can. Turn tractor off, open filler cap, pick up 6 gallon fuel container (weighing in at 42.9 pounds) (1 gallon US of diesel weighs 7.15 pounds) and climb 3 feet , swearing, onto tractor to access filler hole. Spill 1 quart of diesel all over engine and clothes before stream goes into filler hole or funnel. Swear more and more colorfully. Worry about spotaneously combusting. Finish filling and recap fuel tank. Put container away, go wash hands. Wash hands 5 times because diesel stink won't come off. Swear some more. Give up washing hands because the stink will wear off eventually.
Try to restart tractor. Hit starter on side of tractor with a hammer or big wrench because it won't start (mechanics have tried to fix this 4 times and continue to fail. Answer "it's a quirk of Ford tractors you have to deal with". Yes, we've tried new starters..) Catch finger between handle of hammer and protrusion on tractor. Swear. Suck on finger. Swear more when the diesel taste penetrates your numb brain and begin spitting out taste. Swear more.
Back up to brushhog. Pull forward because it's not lined up exactly. Repeat 10 times until arms of tractor are lined up with sides of brushhog swearing more loudly each time. Get out of seat and attempt to attach arms to implement. Realize that both are not quite lined up correctly, get back in tractor cursing colorfully and inventively. Look back at brushhog and notice a suspicious number of wasps flying around the hole in the top of the deck. Go into barn, get wasp spray, spray hole. Run around frantically, flapping arms and yelling as wasps fly out of hole. Stand 30 yards away waiting for wasps to go away and/or die. Walk back and kick side of brushhog. Stub to. Swear. Climb back on tractor. Go forward and pull back perfectly into place in one shot. Go figure. Swear for good measure. Kick arms onto brushhog, stubbing toe again. Swear. Look in toolbox for hitchpins. Realize there are none in the box, walk back to other implement, steal hitch pins. Prepare to mow. Get off tractor, walk back up to house to get hearing protection (with am/fm). Walk back to tractor and put on hearing protection. Turn around and walk back to house after realizing the batteries are dead in the "ears". Swear. Change batteries, turn on in house, walk back to tractor. Start tractor, pull forward, realize one front tire flat. Try to think of new expletives and use continuously while dialing tractor maintenence guy on cell phone (yup, speed dial). Leave message for him. Walk back to house, change clothes, wash hands 10 more times, make a Mojito in a LARGE juice glass. Sit down and watch the weather channel to see how tomorrow will be for mowing.......
Yup, farm life is definitely relaxing