Wreck all alone.

Dislocated shoulder, 5 broken or cracked ribs and no cell phone service.
So, what happened? Stupid happened that’s what happened! Arrogant, over confidant, miscalculated and forgetfulness is what happened!
It started at home; I had a need to get to the mountains and be alone for awhile. It happens to all of us, the need to feel the mountain air, smell the pines and enjoy a good horse under you.
Well my first mistake was taking two green horses and not even one of my good horses. I told myself that it would be great to get 20 miles a day or so in on those babies and if I took a solid horse I might be tempted to spend most of my time on him. So I just loaded the 2 colts in our 4 horse living quarters trailer, man I love that trailer. I had it raised 4 inches so I could get that big thing in some rougher camp sites. Anyway, the site I went to is a little remote and at the base of the wilderness that leads to the famed Pacific Crest Trail. It is a dry camp with no water for the horses but nice sites to back into. Water is about a half mile away, down at the lake. Not many use this area because of the lack of drinking water or horse water and at times, clouds of blood sucking mosquitoes. Well there was no one in the camp and that was great with me! I unloaded, set up camp and got the horses on the highline. It was late in the afternoon so I just watered and fed them. Yes, I had two 50 gallon water barrels on my truck just in case I was feeling to lazy to ride down to the lake.
 
Day one; The next morning I had a plan to ride at least 20-25 miles and switch between the horses when I thought it was safe. The two I took, one was a 3 year old buckskin that I had ridden in the round pen and stole a couple rides outside on. He had a good mind and never offered to buck so I assumed all would be good. The other was a full polish Arabian stud colt that I had just started and had maybe 8 rides on him outside on the hills close to home. He had done really well and I had his trust. Problem was, both had been in the pasture for 2 and maybe 3 weeks without any rides. Well my plan was to fix that for sure.
It was a very nice morning when I threw a saddle on them both. I put the saddle panniers on the colt and I was going to ride the buckskin. I was back and forth between the camp and the horses and thought I had them both pulled tight for 15-20 minutes and nobody seemed to care. So I untied the buckskin and without much thought, I stepped in the stirrup.
Ever had one of those “O Dang” moments? Are you old enough to remember the Captain Kangaroo Show? Anyway there was this cartoon on after it with this turtle. Well, the wizard would send the turtle on great adventures and when he got in trouble he would yell out “HELP ME MR. WIZARD!” and no matter what kind of trouble he was in and no matter where he was at, the wizard would bring him safely back to his house like nothing had ever happened.
HELP ME MR. WIZARD! Did I say it was a great day? The pine tree smell in the air and the morning sun…I remember the sun, then the stars, lots of stars and then pain, lots and lots of pain!
I stepped in the stirrup…it did not remain where it should be…as I lifted myself up and toward the saddle in my usual swift manner…it failed me. My stirrup went down towards the ground where it did not belong, taking my saddle sideways with it. Being a little catty for an old fart (and very stupid), I was sure I could get in the saddle and then correct this problem. This is when any wise horseman/horsewoman (be advised, there are only men and women) would have stepped away in haste and corrected the position of the saddle and TIGHTENED the dang CINCH! But that would make way to much sense for an old cowboy that knows that at times like this you just need to cowboy up and getter done!  
I was half way, maybe more when the buckskin thought that the sliding of the saddle on him and my attempt to…well, never mind. He made a jump and I lite on the sideways saddle for a split second before he took the hop that put me on his rump behind the saddle. That is when he came totally unglued! Being on his rump gave him the perfect leverage and position to launch me maybe 1,000 feet in the air! I saw planes, the wide eyed pilots were looking at me and I heard air traffic control yelling at me to get out of the flight paths, I obliged. Down I came like Jack coming down the bean stalk. I remember hitting the tree very high up and sliding down as the bark tore at my backside. Head 1st I came down and then there was that loud crunch and cracking sound as I hit the ground and rock at the base of the tree.  
Did I say catty? A little waspy maybe?  How about a great dancer! Well those all came into play as I got off the ground and did my little dance of disbelief of what had just happened. My left shoulder was hanging like a lose lip of an over tranquilized horse. As I ran around in circles yelling out loud that I was going to be just fine and that I just need to walk this off…but I knew I was in trouble.
The buckskin put on quite the show, bucking like a pro and then running around camp as if he wanted to find me and finish the job of killing me. My good Doberman was having none of that! He saw what that nasty horse did to me, his buddy, his friend, his camarada! So Gus the 100 plus pound male Doberman joined it the mix. As the buckskin ran into camp, Gus met him and ran him and that hanging down saddle out of camp and down the road. Well at this point yelling was not working out very well for me, breathing was not working out very well for me and Mr. Wizard was not coming to take me back before all this happened, dang my luck!  
This was the 3rd time my shoulder went out, once with a mad Simbra cow and once with an unstable equipment trailer. 3rd time is not a charm! Without thinking about it, I slammed my shoulder down on the side of my flat bed truck. The warm wetness running down my leg confirmed that it was back where it belonged. I looked around for something to hold my shoulder in place and found a pack lash chinch. It was hard to breathe as I made a sling for my shoulder but I got it done. I had some pain meds and ice in the trailer and after taking 4 pills, bagging some ice and pouring a very full glass or wine, I tried to sit in a chair outside. The pain was full on right now and every movement and breathe hurt like hell. The ribs below my shoulder in my back were broke and a couple in front on my left just at and below my peck muscle. Everything hurt; I couldn’t sit in any position comfortably. Well Gus let the buckskin back into camp and the stud was still tied to the highline with his rigging on. The pills and wine had not seemed to help much but I wanted to get those saddles off at least. It hurt to walk towards the buckskin but I got his lead rope and tied him back up. That was all I could do. I was able to undue his chinch and drop the saddle down but I could only move it a couple of feet until I thought I would pass out. I decided to leave the horses alone and work at icing myself. There was no one else in that camp area and no one came in all day, or for the next 4 days for that matter. There was no cell phone reception and no one knew where I was at. The ribs in my back were killing me and so I did my best to sit back in the chair against the ice pack I made and drink wine, lots of wine and more pain pills. I did not eat anything that day and slept inside on the couch sitting up. There was no way I could lay down.
Day 2. It was a long night. If you ever had broken ribs you will understand that there in no comfortable position, everything hurts. Well I had a bellyful of hurting so I forced myself to wrap my ribs with 6 inch ace bandages that I have and some vet tape. That helped a lot! By midmorning I was feeling strong enough to get the Arab unsaddled. I got hay to them both and watered them at the truck, Spent the rest of the day icing and resting as much as I could. 
Day 3. I almost thought I could break camp but after just trying to sit in the truck seat I decided that was a bad idea. I did think I should call my wife but that would mean saddling up one of those colts and riding for 45 minutes up the ridge until I could get cell service. I was bored and so that afternoon I got the saddle on the Arab stud colt. He was smaller, 14 2 maybe, and I thought I could get the saddle on and me in it easier. That baby did outstanding and for once in my life I was correct! I lead him over to a stump and he stood there while I got on. Once in the saddle I was surprised that I was mostly comfortable. I still had my left arm in that sling to support my shoulder. I made it up the trail and sent a text message plus a FB post. I knew they would send when the phone got reception. Back at camp my colt stood for me at that stump again, I was so very happy! I had a pretty good evening and decided I would live. 
Day 4. My shoulder was much better but the ribs in my back stayed sore for about 5 more weeks. I enjoyed the day at camp and even rode back up to get reception and see if I had any messages. Rode the Arab again and stood him over logs to get on and off, what a nice colt!
Day 5. Well I did not get the rides in that I wanted but was ready to head home. If anything came of this trip, it was a reminder to never ever take short cuts with warming up a horse, especially when you are alone. And always have first aid equipment… and lots and lots of wine on hand!