Flying Along

Over the last few months I’ve taken to jumping horses with an “air-jacket”. That decision was justified recently when I had a fall about three weeks ago during the jumping at Blaye. After making an unforced error on the eighth jump on the first day, I managed to fly over a jump, all by myself. The upshot was that I broke two ribs and spent the afternoon on morphine in the local country hospital. The pain has been most uncomfortable, but I continue to be amazed at the body’s ability to reinvent and repair itself. I am at that enjoyable phase of recovery where every day I see a noticeable improvement and I feel increasingly stronger – I’m losing the small amount of weight I put on through inactivity, I can ride my bike up the hills in the Basque country sunshine, and I can throw the kids around in the pool again (much to their delight). The day after the fall was one of the most painful I’d had in a long time. Sandie and I both commented how important good physical health is for so many things we do – indeed I even had to postpone a trip to San Francisco the following week because I couldn’t bear the prospect of 12 hours in a plane. However the current feeling of “re-discovering” my physical capabilities possibly makes it all worthwhile; I can’t help but think that in some way, so long as the damage is not irreversible, then the ups and downs of injuries and recoveries makes life’s rich tapestry all the richer. All that's left at the end is the frustration of having made a silly mistake...