Totally almost broke my neck today!!

I fell so hard today on my back that I swear for a second I thought I had broken my back! It all started when I got home from work and it was snowing really heavy so I decided to see if the snow would quit before I went out to feed the horses and other animals. Just after 8:30 the snow died down so I headed outside to get chores done, and there was around 4" of fresh snow on top of the several inches already on the ground. I keep my horses with my friend Lisa's and we usually do chores together but I hadn't heard from her so I started feeding the chickens, goats, and the pig. I finished with the animals in the barn and decided to start feeding the horses cause I was cold and didn't wanna wait for her to get there. We are currently without a tractor and are feeding 14 horses out in the pasture with like 10 wheelbarrows of hay twice a day. I loaded up the first wheelbarrow and headed off through the snow towards the gate. Now the tricky thing is getting the first two loads out there when you are feeding by yourself because you have to deal with the wheelbarrow, the gate and 14 hungry horses all alone. I managed to get through the gate fine, my mare Tia parked herself in front of the gate to eat the little bit of hay that had dropped so none of the horses will pass her and get out. I was pushing the wheelbarrow down along the fence so I could make a few piles when it hit a rock. The ground right around the gate is marshy when its not frozen and there are quite a few rocks. The wheelbarrow handle stabbed my thigh and then the wheelbarrow tipped. I took a step back and bent over to pick up the wheelbarrow when suddenly my left foot twisted and shot out from underneath me. I had stepped on a rock(or a frozen poop pile). I tried to catch myself but ended up falling backwards anyways. As I hit the ground the very same rock that had tripped me jammed into my spine. I instantly felt a shooting numb feeling into my fingers and toes, and then a huge feeling of pressure in my back. That was followed by nothing, the feeling or lack there of, NOTHING!

I just stayed there, in the snow, on top of the tipped hay, amongst the hungry horses for at least ten minutes. I eventually attempted to get up, which honestly must have looked quite pitiful. I ended up grabbing my Belgian Rowan's knee as he had come over to poke at me(or eat the hay I was on top of) to pull myself up off the ground. After I got up and figured out that I was in fact okay, I thought do I finish feeding or do I go in the house and sit for a few minutes? Being a stubborn person I finished feeding which took forever, and as the minutes went on my back got tighter and tighter, and started to hurt more and more. By the time I finished and went into the house I could barely move my legs my back hurt so bad. I flopped on the couch for awhile to rest my back and passed out for a couple hours. When I got up I went and looked in the mirror and it looks like I have been savagely beaten or something because my whole back is black and blue!

I am gonna be sore from this one! I am just glad I didn't break my back!! I was bad and already missed my shift at work tonight and told them I can't come in for the rest of the week. That is the last thing I needed was more time off work after my last three months of sitting at home!!

OMG! Just glad to hear your okay though. It's a good thing you took that week off. You're going to need it. I took a nasty fall earlier feeding my horses as well. I slid across frozen pee puddles and landed flat on my face. Well as flat as I could go with a belly in front of me. First thing I thought of oh no the babies! But everything's fine. My worst slips and falls always happen well feeding either horses or pigs.

OMG - I am glad that you are okay. certainly sounds like you did have some sort of spinal cord impact. Sending vibes that you heal quickly and completely I hope that your friend can take over chores for you, for a few days, too

Ouch!, that sounded like it really took the wind out your sails

Lots of healthy coming over

Please consider getting your back checked out by your doctor. If you're in your mid twenties or older your spine may already being showing age, meaning you could have some back problems you don't know about. This could aggravate anything lurking. If you've ever been in any sort of accident - tossed off a horse, car accident, previous bad falls or such you probably do have something wrong with your back.


I also suggest you get someone else to do the feeding for a few days.